Laurel Walmart Workers Join National Strike

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The wave of Walmart strikes spread to the Washington area yesterday morning when over a dozen workers struck the Laurel Walmart as part of a national walkout that included Dallas, Miami, Seattle, and Northern, Central, and Southern California. “We have had enough”, said Alan Forrest, who works at the Laurel Walmart. “We are no longer afraid and are standing together with our fellow associates from across the country to say we will not be intimidated as we stand up for respect.” The strike -- protesting Walmart’s attempt to silence workers who speak out for better pay, staffing and working conditions -- is open-ended, and some of the Laurel workers are joining other Walmart workers for a demonstration outside the company’s annual investor meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas today. The strikes are just the latest in an unprecedented wave of Walmart supply chain strikes across the country in recent weeks, from shrimp workers in Louisiana, to warehouse workers in California and Illinois, to Walmart store employees in five states. “We cannot stand by while the country’s largest employer tries to silence workers who stand up for a better future for their families,” said Pastor Edwin Jones, of Living Faith Baptist Church and International Ministries in Washington, DC.  “We are here to tell Walmart the company must change the way it treats workers and our community.  Our city and our country need big profitable corporations like Walmart and billionaires like the Waltons to take responsibility for rebuilding our economy – and stop squeezing the middle class to the breaking point.” Supporters will gather today at 11a in the parking lot of the Home Depot at 901 Rhode Island Ave NE (Metro Red Line Rhode Island) and then head to Laurel, arriving at noon, and then Capital Plaza, arriving at 1:30. RSVP here and/or sign a petition in support of the striking workers. - photos by @RespectDC (above) and @Sara_Jeans