Likened by Wal-Mart spokesperson, Kory Lundberg to the “Super Bowl for retailers,” November 23 is now D-Day in the brewing battle between bigbox retailer Wal-Mart and thousands of disaffected employees trying to organize for better pay, fairer schedules and increased health benefits.
OUR Walmart, a union-backed organization of Wal-Mart employees, says it has mobilized thousands of associates for a nationwide Black Friday protest to end the retailer’s retaliation against workers agitating for reform. Wal-Mart is entirely union-free in North America and has filed suit with the National Labor Relations Board, arguing that the sit-ins, protests and walk-outs over the past month are illegal.
Before you hit the streets on Black Friday to shop till you drop here are some key figures about Wal-Mart’s powerful position compared to its employees that might make you think twice about what retailers to support.
1.3 million – Wal-Mart employees in the United States. Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the world.
$15.7 billion – Wal-Mart’s 2011 profits. The company is currently number 2 on the Fortune 500.
$8.75 per hour – average starting salary for a new Wal-Mart employee. That’s turns out to be an annual salary of $15,500, which is about even with the federal poverty level for a 2-person household.
$8,653 per hour – Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke’s $18 million annual salary converted to a 40 hour-a-week hourly wage.
$13 per hour – Hourly wage the OUR Walmart group is demanding from Wal-Mart.
$4.83 million – The fine Wal-Mart agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Labor in 2012 for failing to pay overtime wages to more than 4,500 employees nationwide, .
$56,068.58 – Online donations received to sponsor striking employees on Black Friday.
12 – number of cities where Wal-Mart is currently facing strikes since October 4, 2012.
0 – number of strikes Wal-Mart has faced since 1962.
$312 billion — Wal-Mart’s revenue in 2005.
4,700 – number of children of Wal-Mart’s Alabama employees receiving Medicare assistance in 2005.
16 million – the number of US children – that’s 1 in 6 – that struggle with hunger. As Current has previously reported, roughly 20 percent of American children live in a home with parents who are unable to regularly put food on the table.
Check out Jennifer Granholm” at 10E/7P on Current TV,’ as we talk with striking Wal-Mart associate Martha Sellars about she’s planning to join Friday’s walkout.
Help us continue the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest! Watch “The War Room with Jennifer Granholm” Monday–Thursday at 10E/7P, Friday at 6E/3P.
