On Thursday, Walmart workers and supporters gathered in New York City and Washington, DC to protest low wages. Twenty-six of them were arrested in New York and 16 were arrested in DC.
In New York, protesters marched to heiress Alice Walton’s penthouse.
Walmart workers and other retail workers hold protest in Manhattan to demand higher wages and full time schedule. pic.twitter.com/ZBPkH2pt5L
— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) October 16, 2014
They then sat down in an intersection, shutting down Park Avenue.
Protesters commit civil disobedience at Alice Walton's apartment building in NYC in push for higher wages at Walmart pic.twitter.com/Ocw5H16g8r
— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) October 16, 2014
That led to the arrests, including both workers and activists.
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LaRanda Jackson, who earns $8.75 an hour at a Walmart in Cincinnati, being arrested in NYC protest for a $15 wage. pic.twitter.com/sV5svu6EGM
— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) October 16, 2014
In DC, workers marched and then blocked the intersection at 18th and K streets in front of the Walton Family Foundation.
The workers are on the move! Heading to the Walton Foundation now to deliver #FightFor15 petition. pic.twitter.com/FwsapEUeq5
— UFCW (@UFCW) October 16, 2014
The Walmart workers are still here and showing strength as the police begin to arrive #FightFor15 pic.twitter.com/eDGVyeDzbd
— UFCW (@UFCW) October 16, 2014
“Getting paid less than $15 an hour I often find myself struggling to make ends meet to provide for my daughter,” said Isaiah Beamon, a Walmart employee who helped deliver a petition to the Walton Family Foundation in DC.
Awesome view from above of K St #fightfor15 #Walmart worker action. pic.twitter.com/mXLv904tLG
— Making Change @ WMT (@ChangeWalmart) October 16, 2014
Thursday’s protests came a day after workers delivered a petition to Walmart chair Rob Walton calling for $15 an hour and consistent, full-time hours. Employees in 1710 stores in all 50 states signed on. The petition warns that if the company doesn’t take action in time, workers have promised to once again stage widespread Black Friday protests as they have the past two years. On Wednesday, Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon said the company plans to raise pay at the very bottom so that no workers make the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, but that will only impact about 6,000 people out of a workforce that stands at 1.3 million.
In the past wave of strikes, workers had demanded that each worker make at least $25,000 a year — the company admitted that less than half of its associates make that level — and that the company end retaliation against those who organize.