Dear Daniel, Last Thursday night, dozens of my fellow Walmart workers and our supporters were arrested while committing an act of peaceful civil disobedience to challenge Walmart on its low wages. The day before, Walmart workers in Los Angeles went on strike to protest the company's illegal retaliation against workers who have come together to speak out for fair wages, adequate hours and respect in the workplace. These are just the first of the actions Walmart can expect throughout the holiday season and on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. While we're keeping the pressure up at stores and in the streets, we need your help to take this fight to the next level. That's why I started my own campaign on CREDOMobilize.com, which allows activists to start their own petitions. My petition, which is to President Obama, says the following: President Obama, we ask you to make good on your promise to stand up for working people by meeting with the courageous workers who are risking termination or other disciplinary action by joining together as Organization United for Respect at Walmart. We would like you to hear firsthand why they are appealing for respect and calling on Walmart to pay them enough to feed and support their families.
Tell President Obama to stand with Walmart strikers fighting for decent wages and respect. As a 61-year-old African-American grandmother who marched with Martin Luther King Jr., I felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and hope on the day President Obama was inaugurated. Like many others, I felt we were closer to realizing King's dream of good jobs and freedom. But as an associate at a Walmart store in Evergreen Park, Illinois, I've seen firsthand how the country's largest employer is helping to hold America back from this dream. At an event in 2008, then-candidate Obama said, "I don't mind standing up for workers and letting Walmart know they need to pay a decent wage and let folks organize. ...This is about reminding [Walmart] that...the well-being of their workers and other workers should matter to them." But five years later, Walmart still refuses to pay me and my co-workers enough to get by or treat us with respect. With $16 billion in profits and wealth equal to the bottom 42% of Americans combined in their pockets, the Walton family, which owns Walmart, can afford to create good jobs. Yet Walmart continues to trap workers in poverty, forcing us to rely on taxpayer-funded programs and live in fear of losing our jobs if we speak out. Our country is at a crossroads. We no longer have segregation by law but we have it in practice, thanks to the economic realities of our country. For people to sit at the same lunch counter, regardless of race or upbringing, they have to be able to afford the same lunch. That's why I'm speaking out and asking you to join me in calling on President Obama to keep his promise and stand up for working people by meeting with me and my fellow Walmart workers. If you sign my petition and put pressure on our president to stand with us, we'll be able to put even more pressure on America's largest private employer to pay workers like me a living wage and treat us with respect. Will you join me and add your name to my petition to President Obama to meet with Walmart strikers fighting for fair wages and respect? Thank you for your support. Charmaine Givens-Thomas | 
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