Let's recap what we've learned about Walmart in the past few days: It
wouldn't have to raise prices to give workers a big raise, but instead of giving that raise, it's
asking its low-paid workers to donate food so that their co-workers in need can have Thanksgiving dinner. That's right, Walmart shows it cares for its employees not by paying them enough, not even by giving them charity directly so that they can afford what its wages won't allow them, but by pushing the worker "lucky" (in the Walmart context) enough to be making, say, $23,000 a year to help the worker making $14,000 a year put Thanksgiving dinner on the table. Happily, that food drive was grotesque enough to draw widespread attention, as the video above shows.
But don't worry! Walmart will provide Thanksgiving dinner for some workers—the ones working when its stores open at 6 pm Thanksgiving day. And one of its executive vice presidents assures us they're "really excited" to work Thanksgiving. Of course, he leaves unmentioned that if they are, it's likely because they're so underpaid that the small amount of extra pay they get for working a major holiday will make a real difference in their lives.
No wonder there are 1,500 protests planned for Black Friday at Walmart stores around the country.