Walmart shoppers may get more than they bargained for on Black Friday.
Activists plan demonstrations at Massachusetts Walmarts on the day after Thanksgiving to call attention to the retail giant's alleged retaliation against employees who speak out for better work conditions and unionization.
The actions are part of a nationwide "Making Change at Walmart" campaign led by a United Food and Commercial Workers International Union-affiliated group. They follow the first-ever strike against Walmart last month and worker walkouts in California and Seattle last week, with promises of future walkouts and Black Friday strikes in other states.
Workers' complaints include health-care cost hikes, hours and the opening of stores outside of Massachusetts on Thanksgiving.
"Hours are a big issue," said Russ Davis, executive director of Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, a coalition of community, faith and labor groups that's leading Black Friday actions in Massachusetts. "People don't get enough hours to get by, and hours are random. A lot of them are part-time workers, so they don't know how many hours they'll get per week."
Community delegations plan to be stationed at Walmart stores in Methuen, Salem and Northampton, and faith-based groups plan vigils at the Walpole and Fall River stores. A light brigade will demonstrate at an overpass in Framingham, and there will be a customer "speak-out" in Northboro.
"Right now we have activities at 30 stores, and we're trying to cover all 48 of the (Massachusetts) Walmart sites by Black Friday," Davis said. "Different unions and community organizations are adopting stores."
A spokesman for Walmart, which filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the UFCW with the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday, called the actions "just another exaggerated publicity campaign aimed at generating headlines to mislead our customers and associates."
"We've been working on our Black Friday plans for almost a year now, and we're prepared to have a great event," spokesman Dan Fogleman said. "The fact is, many of these ongoing tactics being orchestrated by the (UFCW) are unlawful, and we will act to protect our associates and customers from the ongoing illegal conduct."
The UFCW has been trying to organize a union at Walmart for years with no success. OUR Walmart (Organization United for Respect at Walmart), an employee group, was founded last year with support from the UFCW.
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