The voices of Walmart workers who hail from around the world were heard loud and clear in Hialeah Friday.
With multiple flags waving to the beat of the drum, about 40 people were out protesting what they call unfair treatment.
Elaine Rozier said she has experienced that during her seven years working at Walmart.
“Stop discrimination, retaliating against associates. Give them more hours and benefits,” Rozier said.
Andre Prevot has glaucoma and broke his expensive reading glasses twice on the job. When he asked for help the second time, he said, Wal-Mart turned its back on him.
“He tell me don’t come to see him anymore. Now I cannot see good,” Prevot said.
He said he knows what he has to do and is working hard, but he cannot read now because he has no glasses.
Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman said that 86 percent of the company’s associates love their jobs. Their wages and benefits are typically as good as or better than the retailer’s competitors, including those that are unionized, Fogleman said.
The Hialeah protesters said they’re not alone, as similar rallies are being held in nine other countries to show that workers are united, including with factory workers killed recently in a garment factory in Bangladesh. A total of 112 people were killed in the Nov. 24 fire that raced through the factory, where workers made clothing for several retailers including Wal-Mart.
The Hialeah protest included a street performance to illustrate the rough conditions that demonstrators said they face on a day-to-day basis.
The belief is that by standing together they’ll make a change for all Walmart workers throughout the supply chain, they said.
