Let me tell you something about working at Wal*Mart- I worked there. [View All]

I worked at WalMart- one summer during college when I could not otherwise find a temporary job. This is a walmart in a working-class area of Maine. Bad economy- of course, WalMart is doing very well there.

I was lucky to only be there for 3 months. But even these 3 months were hell. And many of the older women cashiers that I worked with are STILL THERE- doing the same boring, crappy job 10 YEARS later. They haven't moved up- they still get strickly timed 15 minute breaks. Walmart workers are VICTIMS of larger social problems- poverty, fewer factory jobs, and a lack of better jobs in that area. They are trapped there- there are NOT other alternatives.

Retail sucks regardless (since working at walmart I worked 7 years of retail and retail management) but working at WalMart sucks even more as their labor is more exploited and they have less of a voice, less autonomy as workers, and they are kept at low-skilled work instead of being empowered to move up. The way walmart treats their employees is EXACTLY the opposite of their commercials- the ones where the happy walmart employee talks about how they moved up in the company and how good the healthcare is.

ANY direct action that makes walmart workers days WORSE than they already are is JUST CRUEL. Walmart workers need support- they need literature about how to organize. They need alternative means of incomes-more jobs, companies that want to hire them etc... They need a stronger economy.

They DON'T need us making their days suck any worse than they already do.