With more than two million employees—and $524 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending January 31—Walmart is the largest employer in the United States. That makes Walmart heiress and shareholder Alice Walton the wealthiest woman in the world, with a reported net worth of $52.5 billion. Meanwhile, Walmart employees who work "full time," make just $19,000 a year—putting them below the poverty line for a family of three.
In response, hundreds of Walmart employees gathered outside Walton's New York City penthouse on February 18 to demand living wages and fair working hours. A United for Respect stream of the action lives here, and Colorlines talked to picketing Walmart workers about why they braved cold temperatures to demand what's rightfully theirs.