Walmart workers who are on strike got the support of local union members. They are asking for higher pay and other changes from the largest retailer in the United States. They went on strike as shareholders of the company held their meeting in Arkansas.
Associates started their extended strike Tuesday to protest Walmart’s efforts to stop the calls for change at the company. Throughout the week, workers across the nation joined the strike. A Ride for Respect was organized. It is a week long caravan towards Bentonville. It tries to invoke the spirit of the civil rights movement. Workers and their supporters aired their grievances against Walmart that have an impact on their lives and the economy as a whole.
A couple of union supporters were outside the Walmart store in east Sioux Falls. They carried signs that showed respect for the retailer but also hoped for changes. They were not Walmart associates but they spoke for the workers.
The union supporters are aware of the large profits enjoyed by Walmart and they hoped that the company can use some of the profits to pay higher salaries for its workers and provide affordable health care to its full-time workers.
According to Mark Reichelt, president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 304-A, the union believes that an injury to one is an injury to all. Unions across the nation want to bring up the wages for everyone. He added that they were not supporting the associates to make them join the union. He said that they were there to give their support to the striking Walmart workers. He hopes that management respects their rights to ask for change. He said that Walmart is one of the most profitable industries in the United States. They earn billions of dollars but don’t share them with their workers.
