Wal-Mart workers call for improvements to safety, wages

UFCW Canada activists join global protest

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada activists joined workers across the world on Nov. 19 to protest for better working conditions at Wal-Mart.

Workers called for improved wages and the security of full-time positions. According to UFCW Canada, employees are “fed up” with current conditions.

Hundreds of Wal-Mart employees gathered in more than 10 countries, including Canada, the United States, Mexico, India and South Africa. Activists are calling the gathering the Global Day for Decent Work at Wal-Mart.

“As the world’s richest corporation, Wal-Mart needs to start paying living wages and offer secure, safe, full-time work,” said UFCW Canada national president Paul Meinema.

“Whether it is a store associate in Canada or a garment worker in Bangladesh, Wal-Mart workers deserve to be treated with respect and that means no retaliation for organizing collectively.”

UFCW Canada — which represents more than a quarter million workers across the country — is the only union to successfully negotiate a collective agreement for Wal-Mart workers in Canada.

Latest stories