An unprecedented strike that began at a Walmart store in Los Angeles, has spread to 28 stores in 12 cities, including Chicago, Dallas, Miami Orland and Seattle.

More than 70 workers walked off their jobs within 24 hours at nine stores in Los Angeles October 4, and though they returned to work within days, the action against the notoriously anti-union retailer did not go unnoticed by other Walmart workers and management. The labor actions were foreshadowed when warehouse workers in Southern California and Illinois, who objected to loading goods for Walmart stores, went on strike in September.

Although there are no unions at Walmart, an organization of employees with support from the United Food and Commercial Workers has put together a network of employees numbering in the thousands in stores across the country. OUR Walmart activists complain of low pay, inadequate health insurance, short or unpredictable work weeks and understaffing.   

Walmart is the nation’s largest employer, and has an estimated 2.2 million workers in 27 countries. The company was responsible for 2.6% of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2006 and its influence is so pervasive that when one of its super centers opens in a community, the obesity rate and body mass of nearby residents increases. The company made $16 billion last year and pays its employees an average of $12.54 an hour.

The Walton family, which owns Walmart, is by far the richest in the country. Six members of the family control as much wealth as the bottom 30% of the country.

Walmart officials have downplayed the labor actions as insignificant, isolated instances that are of little concern to the public or the company. One Walmart official told the Huffington Post, “There is a very small number of associates raising these concerns, and they don't represent the views of the vast majority of our 1.3 million associates.” Walmart calls its workers “associates.”

But according to an October 8 internal Walmart memo obtained by HuffPo, the company takes the walkouts seriously. In marked contrast to hardline attitudes struck by the company in response to past labor challenges, the seven-page memo instructs supervisors to take a hands-off approach to strikers: don’t threaten them with retaliation, don’t order protesters off company property and don’t violate workers’ legal rights.  

But the memo also encouraged its managers to “coach” the staff, by walking around the store and reminding them that “this coaching technique gives you an opportunity to for face-to-face contact with your “Servant Leaders.”

United States union membership has been declining for years. In 2011, unions represented 11.8% of the workforce, a tick down from 11.9% the year before, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 1983, 21.1% of the workforce were union members.

Most of the union membership in 2011 was contained to the public sector, where 37% of the workers were in unions, compared to 6.9% in the private sector. The largest number of union members lived in California (2.4 million) and New York (1.9 million).

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Walmart Strikes Extend to 12 Cities, Black Friday Actions Planned (by David Dayen, FireDogLake)

Walmart Strikes Mark New Chapter In Labor's Fight With Mega-Retailer (by Dave Jamieson, Huffington Post)

Walmart, the Most Powerful Company in the World, Admits that Protests and Strikes Lead to Wage Increases (by Matt Stoller, Naked Capitalism)

Walmart Strike Memo Reveals Confidential Management Plans (by Christina Wilkie and Alice Hines, Huffington Post)

Walmart Strike: Dozens Of LA Workers Walk Off The Job In First-Ever Strike Against Retailer (by Kathleen Miles, Huffington Post)

California Walmart Store Workers Go out on Historic Strike (by David Moberg, In These Times)

Union Members 2011 (U.S. Bureau of Labor) (pdf)