Black Friday protestors target Walmart

By: Adam D’Andrea

 

Fair wages, job security and workplace safety were the concerns of a crowd gathered outside Walmart on Dougall Avenue Nov. 24.

Around 30 protestors met on the sidewalk outside Walmart as part of a North America-wide Black Friday weekend picket. There were approximately 1,000 protests in 100 cities in the U.S.

CAW Local 200 president Chris Taylor attended the demonstration and said he wanted to show support for Walmart employees and draw attention to what he believes to be unfair business practices.

“It’s just to bring some awareness and show support for the workers. You should be able to have a fair wage, work in a safe environment, expect some full time jobs and not just precarious part time jobs,” said Taylor. “That’s just a decent way to treat workers, especially for corporations that make billions of dollars.”

A few of the demonstrators, including Travis Reitsma, attempted to distribute flyers for the protest inside the store.

“We were in the store for maybe a minute, minute and a half, before plainclothes security guards approached us and asked us to leave,” said Reitsma. “We barely had a chance to put any of the flyers out yet so they must have been watching us do it in the parking lot. So they knew who we were when we walked in.”

Many of the protests in the U.S. were organized by the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, which encouraged Walmart employees to strike on Black Friday and join the protestors. Walmart vice president of corporate communications David Tovar issued a press release Nov. 23 and said the scope and size of the protests have been exaggerated by protest organizers.

“The number of associates that have missed their scheduled shift today is more than 60 per cent less than Black Friday last year,” said Tovar. “We had our best Black Friday ever and OUR Walmart was unable to recruit more than a small number of associates to participate in these made for TV events. Press reports are now exposing what we have said all along – the large majority of protesters aren’t even Walmart workers.”

Around five of the protestors at the Walmart on Dougall Avenue were Walmart employees.