Union Official Says Increased Retaliation 'A Real Possibility' When Strikers Return to Work [View all]
Source: The Nation
Josh Eidelson
11:40 AM: HANOVER, MD - This morning I caught up with United Food & Commercial Workers union Organizing Director Pat O’Neill, who said the unprecedented strikes demonstrate “the courage of the workers,” and shows “they’ve reached the end of their rope.”
Interviewed as a 400-person march wound towards Maryland’s Capital Plaza Walmart (full report to follow), O’Neill said that “the bar” for today to be judged a success “is really just to spread the word, so all the Walmart associates know they’re not alone, that they are supported by the communities where they work.”
What happens after Black Friday? O’Neill, a key strategist in the OUR Walmart campaign, answered simply, “What the workers want is a dialogue with the company, and to let their voices be heard.”
I asked O’Neill whether, when today’s strikers return to work, retaliation from Walmart would get worse before it gets better. “I think that’s a real possibility,” he said. “I think that would be a mistake for Walmart to do that. I think the workers are showing that they’re not going to be silenced
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://www.thenation.com/blog/171430/black-friday-begins-early-walmart-workers-already-striking-least-seven-states#
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