Black Friday: Walmart Workers Angry Over Thanksgiving Sale Pushing Forward With Walkout Threats

Black Friday checkout lines may be a lot longer at Walmart than in recent years. Employees angry about working conditions and low wages have been threatening a nationwide walkout on the biggest shopping day of the year for several months. The early start to special holiday deals and doorbusters on Thanksgiving evening have reportedly added fuel to the fire for already disgruntled Walmart employees.

Tensions between workers and the company allegedly intensified significantly when many employees were scheduled to work through Thanksgiving to get ready for the early Walmart Black Friday sale, according to the Truth-Out website.

Making Change at Walmart Director Dan Schlademan had this to say about the Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day sale:

“This essentially cancels Thanksgiving for hundreds of thousands of workers. Lots and lots of Walmart workers are going to be forced to not have Thanksgiving because they’re going to be preparing all day for the busiest shopping day of the year.”

The Making Change at Walmart group reportedly used the internet to connect with workers at the more than 4,000 stores across the United States, according to the Huffington Post. Making Change at Walmart website visitors can opt to help “sponsor” a striking worker. Donations toward grocery gift cards totaled more than $13,500 by the middle of last month.

If Walmart workers leave their registers vacant on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the impact could be felt not only by the company but potentially by the non-union workers as well. Thousands of unemployed Americans may be all too eager to put on a blue smock and ring up Christmas purchases if the store decides to terminate workers who do not show up for their shifts.