Walmart workers in two cities have walked off the job for one-day strikes this week. Tuesday, some Seattle-area workers walked out, and Wednesday, some workers from three different Chicago-area stores did the same. It's all part of an escalation building to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, when stores will be open on the holiday, forcing workers to be on the job rather than celebrating with their families and friends. Perhaps to counter some of the bad publicity, Walmart is really sweetening the deal for workers. It's:
... going to feed them a traditional Thanksgiving dinner during their shift, give them an extra day's pay, and offer them 25 percent off a future holiday shopping trip.
And who doesn't love the chance to eat Thanksgiving dinner in their workplace, with all their coworkers and bosses? The extra day's pay will come in handy, though, given Walmart's low low wages. Wages which, by the way,
Fortune magazine senior editor Stephen Gandel calculates
could be raised to an average of $33,315 without seriously affecting its stock prices.