Demanding Respect From Walmart

By Anita Nath

A fundamental right of workers should be to work in a safe environment and to be treated with respect. Unfortunately, there are many retail employers – including the largest, Walmart – who do not always provide such a workplace, particularly in regard to the treatment of older employees.

Of the 1.4 million Walmart workers in the US, 300,000 are 55 and older. Many are hired on a part-time basis and paid a low wage.

Despite many older employees being cashiers and door greeters, they are repeatedly required to perform physical work outside of their job duties, including washing toilets, cleaning windows, and lifting heavy items. When refusing to complete these tasks, the employees are often reprimanded or fired.

It is reported by older workers that Walmart regularly violates their own policy of providing 15 minute breaks at regular intervals. These older workers report that their breaks, when they get them, are often not spread out over the shift but rather put at the end of their work day.

These are just some of the issues that older employees have with the retail Goliath that made billions in profit last year.

Change is clearly needed at Walmart for workers to get fair and respectful treatment.

OUR Walmart is a new organization made up of current and former Walmart “associates” who care deeply about providing good customer service and making Walmart better. The lack of respect of workers by Walmart led to the creation of OUR Walmart. There are currently 201 local OUR Walmart members in the Puget Sound area, 11 of whom recently went to Bentonville, Arkansas to corporate headquarters to demand respect on the job. OUR Walmart asserts that the treatment of older workers, in particular, has deteriorated at Walmart.

After launching their organization just last month, OUR Walmart is growing. It has served to empower Walmart employees to stand together. They are already seeing an impact. Some recent accomplishments include returning wrongfully fired employees to work, protecting employees from harassment from management, and being a resource when employees experience disrespect.

In order to support the local efforts to change Walmart, PSARA members voted to join the Making Change at Walmart coalition at PSARA’s July 7th membership meeting. The goal of that coalition is to hold Walmart accountable to local workplace and community standards. That means supporting OUR Walmart workers in the Puget Sound area as they organize for respect at their stores, and also support local communities as they organize for standards that promote good jobs and healthy communities.

If you would like to be more involved in the coalition work in your area, please contact Elena Perez at eperez@ufcw21.org, 206.436.6544.

(Anita Nath is a member of the PSARA Executive Board)