How I Spent Thanksgiving

  by Alan Grayson


I did not spend Thanksgiving evening with my wife and my five children. I spent it, instead,
handing out turkey sandwiches to workers in Walmart. And showing my support for one brave
soul who walked off the job in protest against exploitation.

Knowing that Walmart employees were missing dinner with their families, we walked into the
local Walmart and handed out dinner to them. We gave them a paper bag that had three things:
(a) a turkey sandwich, (b) a bag of chips, and (c) a letter explaining their right to organize.

Walmart "associates" average about $10 an hour. If they manage to get a full 40 hours a week
-- and many don't -- they get paid $1,700 a month, before taxes. Somehow, that is supposed to
pay for their food, shelter, clothing and medical care, and that of their children. Quite a trick.

In state after state, the largest group of Medicaid recipients is Walmart employees. I'm sure that
the same thing is true of food stamp recipients. Each Walmart "associate" costs the taxpayers
an average of more than $1,000 in public assistance.

How underpaid are Walmart employees? If every one of them got a 30 percent raise,
Walmart would still be profitable.

Walmart employees in the United States are not unionized. Walmart has used every trick in the
book to prevent its employees from organizing. In 2005, in Canada, Walmart closed a store that
had voted to go union. Recently, in Orlando, Walmart fired an employee who had just talked about
unionizing. When he came back into the store, many days afterward, to say hello to his former
colleagues, they handcuffed him.

It's time to do something about this.

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