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Black Friday protests loom as Walmart hits a new low

Jeremy Sprinkle
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Walmart holds food drive for its own employees

Last week a Walmart store in Canton, Ohio decided to do something for its employees who don't earn enough money to afford a Thanksgiving dinner - give them all raises ask their low-wage coworkers to give them food.

Watch the video, Tell Walmart: Decent Pay, Not Handouts.

By the company's own admission, most Walmart workers earn less than $25,000 a year. Many earn far less than that - less than $9 an hour or just $17,000 a year. Meanwhile, the ONE family that controls Walmart is sitting pretty:

The Walton family is the richest family in the world and they collectively own over 50% of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer and second largest corporation. The family is worth a combined total of $150 billion as of August 2013 and the six most prominent members of the family have approximately the same net worth as the bottom 30% of American families combined.

Get the facts about wages at Walmart.

It would take a Walmart worker earning $9 an hour 8.8 million years to amass that kind of fortune. But the Waltons didn't do anything to earn their money; they inherited it all. And it is only the Walton family's greed keeping Walmart's low-wage workers from raises that would allow them to afford to buy their own Thanksgiving dinner and more.

Sign the petition demanding decent pay from Walmart - not handouts.

Last year Walmart spent $7.6 billion to buy its own stock, driving up share prices and further enriching the Walton family in the process. According to a new report by the think tank Demos, the company could make a different choice and instead use that money to give each of its low-wage "associates" an immediate pay raise of $5.83 an hour without having to raise prices by one dime.

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Join the Black Friday protests

Walmart workers and community supporters will be going on strike and protesting because Walmart pays poverty wages and has retaliated and threatened workers in an attempt to silence them for speaking out for good jobs and a stronger company. Walmart workers who are fed up with take-home pay so low it forces many to rely on public assistance, illegal retaliation and threats against workers who are standing up to live better, understaffing that keeps workers from receiving enough hours and hurts customer service, and safety issues are demanding respect. Instead of going shopping or boycotting Walmart on Black Friday, stand with Walmart workers and show them they do not stand alone! Visit http://blackfridayprotests.org/ to find a Black Friday protest near you. What: Southern Solidarity with Walmart Workers When: Friday, November 29, 2013 - 1:00 PM rally, 2:00 PM store action Where: Walmart Supercenter 5292 located at 4431 New Bern Ave, Raleigh, NC 27610Click here to RSVP and get the latest updates about this planned Black Friday solidarity action. Join Walmart workers on November 29 to call for decent wages, not handouts, poverty pay, threats and retaliation.