Two Victories in US Walmart Campaign
Walmart workers in the US who have organized with the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) and their allies to take up critical issues that workers have raised regarding scheduling and discrimination against pregnant workers. Because of the continued leadership of Walmart workers, Walmart was forced to listen to them. UNI Global Union stands behind these brave workers and congratulates them for these victories:
- Walmart has announced a new policy that will allow workers to get more hours when workers want them.
- Walmart recently announced a major policy shift that will ensure that women with pregnancy-related complications are given some basic accommodations that will help them keep their jobs and provide for their families.
Since the group’s inception, members of OUR Walmart have spoken out about the need for access to full-time work, and the struggles of being scheduled for fewer hours than they need to survive. At the same time, as a result of chronic understaffing in stores, there have been reports of empty shelves and lower customer satisfaction. Most recently, OUR Walmart sent delegations to countless of store managers across the country, and launched a national petition asking for access to full- time work. In Laurel, Md., OUR Walmart members stood together and got their manager to post open shifts in order to give more access to hours to part-time employees.
Walmart workers from across the country kept the pressure on for more shift access in stores. They went on strike to protest Walmart’s attempts to silence them when they spoke up about inconsistent scheduling, insufficient hours, and low wages. Shortly after worker’s Black Friday actions, Walmart announced it would increase transparency in scheduling, but few stores saw these promised changes take effect.
With the support and the signatures of thousands of Walmart workers and community members, the company finally responded by posting important changes to its scheduling policy that will now allow workers to get more access to the hours they need to support their families.
In addition to the long term struggle for access to better scheduling, mothers working in Walmart stores and women’s groups led by members of OUR Walmart’s “Respect the Bump” campaign, have spoken out so that women with pregnancy-related complications could be considered temporarily disabled and eligible for reasonable accommodations. While the new policy does not go far enough to provide reasonable accommodations regarding physical demands for all pregnant women, it’s a step forward in protecting the jobs and the health of the most vulnerable pregnant women and their babies.
For decades, Walmart has been lowering the standards for retail workers. These victories are an important step toward ending the erosion of retail jobs and improving jobs at Walmart, and shows that by standing together, workers can make changes even at the largest private employer in the world.
To read stories about the workers’ victories, please visit the Making Change at Walmart Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/MakingChangeWMT.