Hundreds of Moms Protest Wal-Mart This Week
Following last month's gathering of fast food workers outside McDonald's headquarters, moms are organizing for a living wage, too. Ahead of Wal-Mart's annual shareholder meeting in Arkansas tomorrow, hundreds of so-called Wal-Mart moms are staging strikes this week in 20 cities across the country. At one candlelight vigil held outside board chair Rob Walton's Phoenix home this Monday, 25-year-old Bene't Holmes told CNN Money, "I am trying to tell Wal-Mart that they should not retaliate against workers, and that they need to raise wages and respect us." Holmes earns $8.75 an hour at a Chicago-area store. The picket line moms say they want more full-time openings, wages of more than $25,000 a year and an end to retaliation against outspoken workers. Should Wal-Mart implement these demands, it would signify widescale change throughout the retail industry.
Wal-Mart employs about 1.3 million people or 1 percent of the working population in the U.S., making it America's largest private employer. The Guardian reports that the company posted a $16 billion profit last year and the Walton family, which owns more than half of Wal-Mart, is worth almost $145 billion.
(h/t CNN Money)