To: Rob Walton, Chairman of Walmart's Board of Directors
Rob Walton: Respect Your Employees Right to Speak Out
For over a year, Walmart workers and workers throughout Walmart’s supply chain have been coming together to speak out for change. They have called on the company to ensure safe working conditions, adequate hours, sufficient staffing, a living wage, regular schedules, and above all, respect in the workplace.
Instead of listening and learning from your workers, you have sought to silence them and retaliate against those who dare to speak up. Warehouse workers who work for your contractors have also experienced retaliation for speaking out. Now, your workers and our communities have had enough.
Walmart makes close to $16 billion in profits and its executives brought home more than $10 million each. Six members of your family, who own half the company, are worth more than the bottom 42% of American families combined. Those profits are made by keeping all workers in poverty.
We call on you to immediately end your illegal retaliation against Walmart workers who speak out for change and mandate your warehouse contractors to do the same. You must improve standards for Walmart's retail, warehouse and supply chain workers now.
Why is this important?
Instead of listening to and learning from its workers, Walmart has sought to silence us and retaliate against those who dare to speak up. Warehouse workers who work for Walmart contractors have also experienced retaliation for speaking out. Now, Walmart workers have had enough.
It's not an easy decision. But without an end to the retaliation in sight, workers Walmart workers from coast to coast are walking off the job in protest.
On Black Friday, and throughout the Holiday Season, we're standing up for an end to the retaliation against workers who speak out for what's right for our families, our communities, and our country.