Walmart Workers Speak Out

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)“I came to (Walmart) through ‘welfare to work’ and now it’s welfare AND work,” Girshreila Green told Metro Council delegates Monday night. Green, who’s making just $9.80 an hour after three years and three promotions at a Walmart in Los Angeles, warned delegates “Don’t listen to Walmart’s promises of jobs; they promised us 400 jobs in LA and haven’t made good. Get it in writing!” Green appeared with Kenny James, a former Walmart Support Manager from Seattle. James was on track for higher management “but they said that I was too nice to Associates.” Green and James are touring the country on behalf of OUR Walmart; the Organization United for Respect at Walmart for all hourly associates nationwide. Green added that Walmart’s vaunted policy of an “Open Door” to worker concerns is really “a broken door” and said that over-worked and underpaid Walmart workers are “just trying to earn a living wage and do our job.”  Said James, “There’s a lot of fear among Walmart workers who are afraid of losing their jobs,” urging metro-area unionists and supporters to “stand in solidarity with us!” - photo by Chris Garlock