For many, Black Friday represents an opportunity to kickstart the holiday shopping season. For others this year, it was a chance for activism.
Protesters gathered near Massachusetts Walmart stores to demonstrate against what they consider poor treatment by the massive retailer toward its workers. At around noon in Quincy, about 25 protesters stood at the four corners of the intersection outside Granite Crossing, which has a Walmart store. Protesters held signs calling for a $15 hourly wage for store employees, and encouraged drivers to honk in support. (Some did.)
The Massachusetts protests were organized by the labor advocacy group Jobs With Justice. This marked the third year in a row that protesters demonstrated outside of Massachusetts Walmarts.
Weymouth activist Casey Doyle, who does not work for Jobs With Justice, helped to organize the Quincy protest. Doyle told Boston.com that activists’ criticisms of Walmart—particularly the wages it pays its workers, and the instability of part-time work—could be applied to most retailers. But, she said, Walmart’s size and notoriety make it “symbolic” of the broader industry. Doyle asked demonstrators and passersby to sign a petition calling for higher wages at Walmart.
Other Walmart protests happened at stores across the U.S., with many in other states organized by the labor group OUR Walmart. That group is backed by the UFCW and has some Walmart employee participation. But in the Bay State, Jobs With Justice’s Massachusetts executive director Russ Davis said, there were just a few Walmart employees involved in the protests. “We’re more there to show support,” Davis told Boston.com.
A Walmart spokesperson told The Boston Globe that Black Friday protests “are not an event that seems to make much difference to customers or associates.”
Meanwhile, protesters in cities across the country said they were boycotting Black Friday as a result of a grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for killing teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. They instead headed to retail outlets to protest.
In Boston, a group of at least 75 people gathered at the Prudential Center to demonstrate before marching down commerce-heavy Newbury Street, with chants such as “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” and “Black lives matter.” The group then marched back toward the Pru on Boylston Street, stopping outside the Apple Store for further demonstrations. A police officer on the scene told Boston.com that the protest was “very peaceful.”