Walmart strikers

Walmart workers in Pico Rivera prepare to strike

Find a Black Friday Walmart action near you.

Firedoglake has been working with the Walmart strikers in preparation for Black Friday. We’ve been talking with young organizers across the country who are finally starting to have some traction against the big box monolith that has wiped out small American businesses everywhere they’ve been been built.

Walmart is not going to take this lying down.  They have filed a complaint with the NLRB trying to stop the strikers, and yesterday when an employee in Florida walked off the job, Walmart called the police who issued her a warning for trespassing.

Having worked with groups ranging from Occupy WallStreet to OccupySandy to the Keystone XL tree sitters,  we’ve learned an awful lot about supplying demonstrators.  We’ve consulted with experienced union strike bosses to anticipate needs that demonstrators will have that they may not even realize until they’re in the thick of it.  And ironically,  the Walmart strike organizers said they actually learned a lot from studying the FDL member distribution system we set up for Occupy Supply.

So once again we’re digging in behind the workers, sending supplies to the picket lines and directing nearby activists to attend the Black Friday protests in solidarity.

Public support for the strikers is going to be critical to the narrative that comes out of Black Friday.  If you’re inclined to show up and support the strikers, they can really use your help:

You can search for a Black Friday Walmart action in your area here.

We’ve seen that bringing change to Walmart and its third party contractors is possible. In September, 38 warehouse workers in Elwood, IL struck alongside 600 supporters, and were able to clog up an important national distribution point for Walmart facilities across the nation. The strike was successful, and the workers were allowed to return to work without retaliation.

But Walmart employees have a long way to go for justice, and the Black Friday actions are a major step in that direction. With your help, we’ll show Walmart strikers that we’ve got their backs and help them continue to strike until their voices have been heard.

We’ll continue to support the Walmart strikers long after Black Friday.  We hope you’ll join with us in supporting them.