More than 50 Walmart workers and supporters were arrested in downtown L.A. Thursday night fir protesting what they called the retailer's "poverty wages."
Surrounded by 100 police officers in riot gear and a helicopter circling above, organizers claim this was the largest act of civil disobedience in Walmart history.
The 54 arrestees, with about 500 protesting Walmart workers, clergy and supporters, obtained a permit to demonstrate outside LA's Chinatown Walmart.
Those who refused police orders to clear the street after the permit expired were arrested without incident. Those who fail to post $ 5,000 bail were jailed overnight.
Their primary demand to Walmart: pay every full-time worker at least $ 25,000 a year.
Anthony Goytia, 31 and a father of two, said he believes he'll make about $ 12,000. It's a daily struggle, he said, "to make sure my family doesn't go hungry."
"The power went out at my house yesterday because I couldn't afford the bill," Goytia said. "I had to run around and get two payday loans to pay for my rent."
"Yesterday we went to a food bank."
Goytia participates in clinical trials and sells his blood plasma for extra money. He has been asking his managers for full-time employment for a year and a half.
Instead, he said, they hire temporary workers, who can be fired at any time.
So Goytia was one of several dozen Walmart workers on strike, calling for an end to low wages, unpredictable part-time hours and retaliation for speaking out.
They were joined by other employees on their days off and dozens more who rode buses from Northern California to join their efforts outside the store.
The actions in Los Angeles this week are the first in what organizers said would be a series of protests leading into the holiday shopping season.
The protesters said that Walmart can afford to pay every worker at least $ 25,000 a year, pointing to Walmart's $ 17 billion profit from the latest year.
The founding Walton family's fortune alone, the protesters argue, is equivalent to the wealth of the bottom 42 percent of American families combined.
Walmart CEO Bill Simon disclosed in a presentation recently that approximately 475,000 Walmart employees are paid more than $ 25,000 a year.
That leaves 525,000 to 825,000 Walmart workers earning less.
U.S. House Democrats seeking to boost the federal minimum wage from $ 7.25 to $ 10.10 per hour have criticized Walmart in particular for its low wages.
The Hollywood Gossip
0 comments:
Post a Comment