Making Change at Walmart Releases Damaging Worker Testimonies: Who’s Really ‘Winning’ at Walmart?
Washington, D.C. – As Walmart’s 2018 shareholders meeting comes to an end today with an approximate 16,000-Associate celebration featuring celebrities, performances, and fanfare, Making Change at Walmart (MCAW) has released the following worker testimonies, telling the worker stories Walmart doesn’t want heard—stories about low, stagnant wages; inadequate health care; unfair corporate scheduling practices; and other pressing worker issues that were ignored by leadership during this year’s meeting.
“Walmart leadership talked a lot about who was ‘winning’ this year as they touted half-a-trillion in revenue and expansion into India and other markets, but failed to mention the thousands of workers who are losing out on living wages, employer-provided healthcare, paid maternity leave, holiday pay, and other basic middle-class needs,” said MCAW director Randy Parraz. “These are the stories that Walmart doesn’t want heard because it tells the truth about what it’s really like to work for the largest retailer in the nation,” said Parraz.
During this year’s shareholder meeting Walmart executives made a grandiose promise to provide college subsidies for its 1.4 million Associates. However, MCAW questions the move as it limits the school and type of degree available to workers.
“Instead of providing all Associates a living wage and schedules that work so they have the freedom to pursue education on their own terms, Walmart is yet again controlling its workforce and creating further dependence on a company that does little to promote self-sufficiency and financial freedom. The truth is, Walmart continues to create an oppressive culture that prevents workers from getting more hours, making more money, and living better,” concluded Parraz.
About MCAW:
Making Change at Walmart (MCAW) is a project of the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) International union that aims to hold Walmart accountable as a responsible employer.
MCAW’s shareholders campaign included a series of press releases, fact sheets, worker statements and digital ads targeting investors and Walmart workers leading up to the Associate celebration on Friday, June 1st, in Fayetteville, Ark.
The first fact sheet, titled “12 Things Walmart is Hiding from Its Shareholders and the American Public,” was released Tuesday, May 29th and can be found here.
The second list of facts, released Wednesday May 30th, titled “The Growing Wage Divide Between Walmart’s Top 1% and its Workers,” can be found here.
For more information on MCAW’s overall shareholders campaign, visit changewalmart.org/WhatIsWalmartHiding
For more information on MCAW, visit www.changewalmart.org.
