Citing Wal-Mart’s deplorable record of workplace abuses, the National Organization for Women (NOW) will hold a National Day of Action against the nation’s largest retailer tomorrow. Activists from NOW chapters in more than 20 cities will hold protests against Wal-Mart at stores in their area, and President Kim Gandy will lead a protest, along with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, at a store in Alexandria, VA. Wal-Mart has been named a “Merchant of Shame” by NOW for charges against it that include discrimination in pay, violation of child labor laws, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, NOW reports. “The nation’s number one company should be a model workplace, not the worst of bad examples,” said Gandy.
According to NOW, Wal-Mart is the most sued retailer in the country. Most recently, Wal-Mart service manager Lisa Smith Mauldin has filed a suit charging the company with gender discrimination for failing to cover prescription contraceptives in its employee health plan. The suit won class-action status earlier this month. Approximately 400,000 women out of one million employees are eligible to join the lawsuit.
