Hundreds of people gathered outside a Wal-Mart in Los Angeles to protest in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15. Some of the protesters were employees of the megachain, while others were merely supportes and union supporters.
Striker Kiana Howard issued a press release about the protests: “I’m sitting down on strike today to protest Walmart’s illegal fear tactics and to send a message to management and the Waltons that they can’t continue to silence us and dismiss the growing calls for $15 an hour and full-time work that workers are raising across the country.”
Dozens were arrested after protestors sat down in the store and in an intersection in the streets nearby. Deputies loaded them onto a bus and took many of them to jail.
Kory Lundberg, director of media relations for Wal-Mart, countered the protestors rhetoric with their own statement saying: “Our workers have access to unparalleled advancement opportunties, cash bonuses, a 401(k) plan and many other benefits.”
The strike comes at an interesting time in the background of the bigger story of Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber claiming that the Obama administration relied on stupid voters who were economically illiterate to be able to pass the Affordable Care Act. The protestors seem to be doing all in their power to confirm that statement, seeing as how raising the minimum wage is widely seen by economists as having real costs and a deleterious impact on the unemployed seeking work.
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