Walmart shelves in Springhill, Mansfield, cleared in EBT glitch

Shelves in Walmart stores in Springhill and Mansfield, LA were reportedly cleared Saturday night, when the stores allowed purchases on EBT cards even though they were not showing limits. 

The chaos that followed ultimately required intervention from local police, and left behind numerous carts filled to overflowing, apparently abandoned when the glitch-spurred shopping frenzy ended.

Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd confirms they were called in to help the employees at Walmart because there were so many people clearing off the shelves. He says Walmart was so packed, "It was worse than any black Friday" that he's ever seen.

Lynd explained the cards weren't showing limits and they called corporate Walmart, whose spokesman  said to let the people use the cards anyway. From 7 to 9 p.m., people were loading up their carts, but when the cards began showing limits again around 9, one woman was detained because she rang up a bill of $700.00 and only had .49 on her card. She was held by police until corporate Walmart said they wouldn't press charges if she left the food.

Lynd says at 9 p.m., when the cards came back online and it was announced over the loud speaker, people just left their carts full of food in the aisles and left.

"Just about everything is gone, I've never seen it in that condition," said Mansfield Walmart customer Anthony Fuller.

Walmart employees could still be seen putting food from the carts away as late as Sunday afternoon. "I was just thinking, I'm so glad my mom doesn't work here [Walmart] anymore, that's the only thing I could think about, those employees working, that would have to restock all that stuff," said O.J Evans who took cell phone video of the overflowing shopping carts at the Mansfield Walmart..

Via: KSLA12

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DC MAYOR VETOES WAGE BILL AFFECTING WAL-MART

Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed a bill Thursday that would force Wal-Mart and other large retailers to pay their employees at least $12.50 an hour, calling it a "job killer" that would not advance the goal of a living wage for District of Columbia workers.

The bill put Washington at the center of a national debate on how far cities should go in trying to raise pay for low-wage workers _ and whether larger companies should be required to pay more. Supporters _ including unions, clergy and other labor advocates _ said Wal-Mart could afford the higher wages, while opponents said the bill unfairly singled out certain businesses and would have a chilling effect on economic development.

Wal-Mart fought the legislation vigorously, pledging not to build three of the six stores it has planned for the nation's capital if the bill became law. But Gray, a Democrat, said the bill would have a much larger impact than many people realized.

"The bill is a job-killer, because nearly every large retailer now considering opening a store in the district has indicated they would not come here or expand here if this bill becomes law," Gray said, citing Target, Home Depot, Wegmans and others.

The D.C. Council approved the bill in July on an 8-5 vote, one short of a veto-proof majority. It will consider overriding the veto on Tuesday.

Councilmember Vincent Orange, a lead sponsor of the bill, said Wal-Mart's threats had prevented the mayor from standing up for the working poor.

"Wal-Mart put a gun to the mayor's head, and the mayor capitulated," said Orange, a Democrat. "Wal-Mart and the mayor should be ashamed that they're going to provide poverty wages to people who get up every day and go to work."

Via: Breitbart

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Wal-Mart mocks union walk-outs

Wal-Mart released a statement Friday mocking the low turnout for this week’s staged walkouts by members of OUR Wal-Mart, an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).

Protests and walkouts were held in 15 cities Thursday, with three protesters arrested in New York City on trespassing and disorderly conduct charges while trying to deliver a petition to a Wal-Mart board member, according to Berlin Rosen, the public relations firm representing the protesters.

“Once again, it looks like the UFCW threw a party and nobody showed up. Despite promises of ‘thousands of workers’ protesting this week, the union failed to deliver more than a smattering of paid protesters at their 15 orchestrated events. At most, 50 of the participants actually work for Wal-Mart, put another way, that’s less than one-tenth of one percent of our 1.3 million associates,” Wal-Mart vice president of corporate communications David Tovar said in a statement.

“You see so few current associates participating because they understand the unparalleled opportunity Wal-Mart provides. For example, 75 percent of our store management teams started as hourly associates, we have more than 300,000 associates who have been with the company for 10 years or more and every year we promote 160,000 associates to jobs with higher pay and more responsibility,” Tovar said.

“The UFCW is quickly becoming the boy who cried wolf. They put out news releases with big promises, but fail to deliver on those promises. It was proven again this week that the OUR Wal-Mart group doesn’t speak for the vast majority of Wal-Mart associates,” Tovar said.

Via: Daily Caller

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Three arrested in Wal-Mart protests that extend to 15 cities

Wal-Mart workers and supporters launched protests in at least 15 cities Thursday, urging the world's largest retailer provide higher wages, better jobs and the right to unionize.

OUR Wal-Mart, a coalition including Wal-Mart workers, community organizers and the United Food & Commercial Workers organized day-long protests, urging Wal-Mart to pay full-time wages of $25,000 a year, or $12 an hour. It says many of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million associates are part-time employees averaging just $8.80 an hour.

The Wal-Mart protests - which follow ;ast week's broader, widespread strikes among fast-food industry workers seeking $15 an hour wages from fast food chains - were scheduled for Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Boston, Orlando, Minneapolis and Washington D.C., where Wal-Mart is threatening to cut expansion if it's required to pay a city mandated "living wage" of at least $12.50 an hour.

At least three current or former Wal-Mart employees were arrested in New York City Thursday morning for disorderly conduct as they attempted to deliver a petition to the office of Wal-Mart director Chris Williams. The independent board member is CEO of New York-based investment bank Williams Capital Management Trust. About three dozen protesters, some wearing green shirts with OUR Wal-Mart stenciled on them, participated in the rally.

Protesters also planned to rally outside of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's San Francisco apartment building. Mayer was appointed to Wal-Mart's board of directors in 2012.

Via: USA Today

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Black Preacher Calls Walmart A “Cracker Corporation From Arkansas” At D.C. Protest…

Living-Wage Bill Backers Make Final Push for Mayor’s Signature

With Mayor Vince Gray expected to receive the Large Retailer Accountability Act for a signature or veto by the end of the week, supporters of the bill rallied last night at Ward 7's Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church. Gray says he hasn't made up his mind on the bill yet, although statements from Deputy Mayor Victor Hoskins and threats from Walmart to pull out of proposed stores in the mayor's home Ward 7 point toward a veto.

Gray didn't attend the rally, but that didn't stop several speakers from addressing the mayor directly. Arguing that the decision to sign the bill is "black and white," a labor organizer lead the crowd in a "No Gray area!" chant while holding up a picture of Gray. 

"How will history record his use of this pen?" said At-Large CouncilmemberVincent Orange, waving a pen.

Following Orange, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson defended his decision to hold up the transfer of the bill from the Council to the mayor for 48 days (and counting). "That's 48 days of pressure on the mayor," Mendelson says.

Rev. Graylan Hagler asked the mayor why he was letting a "little bitty cracker corporation from Arkansas" push the District around. Then, closing the rally, Hagler asked audience members to come to the church's altar for an altar call, where they promised to lobby Gray over the bill.

Via: Weasel Zippers

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