While thousands of Americans plan to shop on Black Friday to save a couple bucks, others will spend their day at WalMart stores across the country to demonstrate in a call for the world's largest retailer to offer its employees better wages and working conditions.
The group, organized under the name "OUR Walmart," is hoping the visible protests at more than 1,600 Walmart stores from coast-to-coast will increase pressure for the company to take the lead in increasing employee pay absent of an increase in the federal minimum wage, which is currently just $7.25 an hour.
The movement has the energy of the early Occupy Wall Street protests, when a steadfast opposition to the growing economic disparity was organized and combined with youthful rebelliousness. Although the Occupy movement lacked a specific focus or goal, which some say led to its demise ahead of the 2012 elections, the primary mission of OUR Walmart is clear- persuade the company to raise the minimum wage of its employees to at least $15 an hour.
In a petition on the OUR WalMart website, the group offers up the following as a lead in to the national protests.
In addition to labor groups like the United Food & Commercial Workers and activists who plan to demonstrate at WalMart stores, employees from more than 2,000 stores have pledged to strike and stand with them, according to the OUR Walmart website.
This week, the movement got a boost as U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., came out in support of the call for Walmart to raise wages and ensure its employees don't face scheduling irregularities which negatively affect families.
Warren also said she is supportive of legislation to prevent employers from punishing employees for openly discussing their compensation. That comes after the National Labor Relations Board previously charged Wal-Mart with illegally firing, disciplining or threatening more than 60 employees in 14 states for participating in legally protected activities to complain about wages and working conditions.
"Hardworking men and women across the country want a fighting chance to build a future for themselves and their families," Warren said in a statement. "We need to give workers this chance by raising the minimum wage, providing some basic fairness in scheduling, and fighting for equal pay for equal work."
This map shows the approximate locations of Walmart stores in Massachusetts which the group OUR Walmart plans to demonstrate at in an attempt to convince the company to take the lead in boosting employee minimum wages to at least $15 an hour.
In Massachusetts, protests will target stores from Pittsfield to Plymouth. In the Pioneer Valley, Western Mass. Jobs with Justice is leading the charge.
The group created an event page on Facebook which highlights the coordinated protests which will crisscross this part of the commonwealth, culminating with a demonstration in Springfield around 3 p.m.
Walmart has repeatedly denied the assertion that a majority of its employees are low-wage workers and that it keeps people stuck in part-time positions with no benefits. In response to the 2014 protests, a spokesperson told Reuters that just a "a very small fraction" of employees would be protesting.
Below are photos from the 2013 Black Friday protests of Walmart stores across the U.S.