Walmart Strikes Seem to Be Spreading

It seems that the initial Walmart strike that was reported on this blog last week is spreading to other stores.  From TheRawStory.com:

The strikes on Tuesday were just the second time in more than a half century that Walmart workers walked off the job at multiple stores, and comes on the heels of strikes at nine Walmart stores in Los Angeles. Those followed a 21-day action put on by Chicago-area Walmart warehouse workers, whose strike recently ended after their employer agreed to a major settlement over allegations of wage theft. 

In the wake of these two strikes and the ripple-effect being felt across the company, it suddenly looks like a whole new ballgame for organized labor. 

One of the problems striking workers cite is the lack of access to full-time working hours, which prevents them from obtaining even the meager health benefits the company offers. The National Consumer’s League (NCL) told Raw Story that Walmart’s refusal to provide those benefits by exploiting part-time labor leads to a number of spillover costs that taxpayers ultimately pick up. 

“Many Walmart workers are dependent on public assistance programs due to their low wages and not having access to full time jobs and being denied benefits because they’re not working the number of hours required to get access to those benefits, or the benefits are just so expensive that on their low wages they just can’t afford them,” NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg said in an exclusive interview. “Walmart has a record of even working with employees to sign them up for public assistance programs, which we think is really atrocious.”

At Long Last...An Honest to God Walmart STRIKE!

From HuffingtonPost.com:

For the first time in Walmart's 50-year history, workers at multiple stores have gone on strike, even though their jobs are not protected by a labor union. 

More than 70 Los Angeles Walmart workers from nine stores walked off the job Thursday, Allison Mannos, of labor advocacy organization the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, told The Huffington Post. 

Workers and supporters protested outside the Pico Rivera Walmart store, carrying signs that read, "On Strike for the Freedom to Speak Out" and "Walmart Strike Against Retaliation." The workers said their complaints about working conditions and low pay have been met with threats, suspensions and terminations. 

The strikers said they plan to return to work Friday. Some of the workers will speak at LA City Hall Friday to relay Walmart's response to the strike. The strike was coordinated by OUR Walmart, a labor group backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) that defends Walmart workers' rights.

Teamster strike, local picketing, ends in pipeline industry

From the Towanda Daily Review:

A strike by Teamsters Union members working in the gas and oil pipeline construction industry has ended, though some issues remain unresolved. 

During the strike, which began the during the first week of January, Teamsters Union members picketed against pipeline contractors in Troy and North Towanda Township. Teamster workers across the country in the pipeline construction industry returned to work Friday following an agreement between the union and the Pipe Line Contractors Association (PLCA) to extend the previous labor agreement for three months, according to a press release posted by the Teamsters Union on its national website. 

This will mark the third time the National Pipe Line Agreement, which expired on Jan. 31, 2011, between the Teamsters and the PLCA has been extended. The full term of the extension will run from Nov. 15-April 13, 2012.