In June, more than 100 Wal-Mart workers went on strike to protest low wages paid by the billionaire Walton family, the richest family in the world. The Waltons own Wal-Mart and pay barely above minimum wage. The strikers, including Aubretia Edick, who works at the Chicopee Wal-Mart, drove to Arkansas and held a protest rally at Wal-Mart’s annual shareholder meeting. The workers’ right to strike is protected by federal law. But Wal-Mart broke the law and fired 10 of the strikers. Edick’s boss told her after the strike that if she went on strike again she will be fired. “When he told me that he was reading from papers,” Edick told the Valley Post on July 3. “I told him what I did was protected by labor law. I want this removed from my employee file. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
On July 6 at 3 p.m., supporters of Edick will join her in asking for a meeting with her boss. She and her supporters will ask for the warning to be rescinded. The public is invited to join the delegation. Meet at the store’s main entrance at 591 Memorial Drive in Chicopee. The delegation is being organized by the western Massachusetts chapter of www.jwj.org. Organizers are asking people to RSVP by e-mailing wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
On July 11 at 2 p.m. in West Springfield, people will protest at Wells Fargo Corporation, which has been forcing poor people out of their homes, while paying its CEO millions of dollars a year. The protest is being organized by www.SpringfieldNoOneLeaves.org. It will be at 171 Park Avenue. The public is invited.
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