Walmart shoppers may have more than large crowds to deal with the day after Thanksgiving this year, they’ll also have to negotiate with protesters.

According to Sarah Bigney, of the Maine AFL-CIO, community groups, union members, and other concerned citizens will protest at Walmart stores in Scarborough, Auburn and Ellsworth.

“Pointing to poverty wages that have forced Walmart workers to rely on food drives even though they work at a company with $17 billion in profits, the protesters are calling on Walmart to publicly commit to paying $25,000 a year, providing full-time work, and ending the retaliation against workers who have been speaking out for better jobs,” Bigney wrote in a press release issued Tuesday.

The Scarborough protest will begin at 1 p.m. at the Walmart located at 500 Gallery Blvd. It is one of many that will take place around the country on what is usually the busiest shopping day of the year.

“Nationwide protests on Black Friday follow revelations last week that Walmart workers don’t have enough money to cover Thanksgiving dinner for their families, as well as the historic federal government finding that Walmart has been violating workers’ rights nationwide,” Bigney wrote. “Inspired by actions in recent weeks, including the largest-ever civil disobedience against the retail giant in Los Angeles; strikes in Miami, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Ohio and Dallas; an online petition to President Obama and new web portal where associates can request protests at their stores, workers say they can no longer wait to demand an end to illegal retaliation and better pay.”


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