Protesters target every Walmart in Washington over low pay

If you shop at Walmart this week, there’s a good chance you’ll run into protesters calling attention to what they say is the retailer’s deplorable treatment of employees.

Union members, community groups and others plan to stage demonstrations at all 64 Walmart stores in Washington state this week, according to Tom Geiger, a spokesman for OUR Walmart and United Food and Commercial Workers Union 21.

“It’s a call so they have better hours, a voice on the job, decent wages,” says Geiger.

The annual demonstrations are part of a nationwide series of actions, says Geiger. The size and scope vary by location and will be determined by the local organizers for each location, with some picketing, others handing out informational literature.

“The message is this is the largest employer in the U.S. and the richest family, and they can afford to pay people enough so they don’t have to go to a food bank or worry about whether they have a roof over their head,” Geiger says.

Geiger says the demonstrations are in no way a call to boycott Walmart or discourage shoppers. Rather, they are intended to get customers to join the call for better conditions for workers and pressure the company to make changes.

“We see customers as a way to create change at Walmart and would encourage customers to ask managers to treat their workers better,” he says.

The annual protests have drawn plenty of criticism. The effort has been roundly panned by a number of people who argue the organization is nothing more than a veiled effort by the union to promote its own agenda. Walmart has even created a dedicated website to counter the claims of the group.