The activists who organized Tuesday’s nationwide strike against Walmart refused to criticize leftwing groups that have taken the mega retailer’s money.
OUR Walmart, whose membership includes workers from more than 600 stores and has received support from the United Food and Commercial Workers union, has blasted the nation’s largest private employer for discouraging unionization, paying low-skilled employees low wages, and offering minimal benefits.
The group announced on Tuesday that more than 100 employees would begin going on strike in the run up to the company’s June 7 shareholder meeting in Arkansas.
However, the protests highlight the fraught relationship between activists and the professional left.
Walmart has ramped up donations to liberal groups since Barack Obama’s 2008 election. The Nation recently revealed that the company was a member of the Center for American Progress’s Business Alliance, a secretive group of major corporate sponsors.
Some OUR Walmart allies expressed concern that the company was attempting to buy silence from potential critics in liberal ranks.
Erica Smiley, campaign director of Jobs with Justice, a nonprofit coalition of labor and inequality activists, said groups must be careful in choosing their partnerships.
"It’s certainly an attempt to silence community leaders," she said. "Organizations shouldn’t let that money buy their complacency because they support workers’ rights and dignity. They should still be able to do that."
However, even Smiley was hesitant to criticize CAP specifically.
"We wouldn’t want to take money from Walmart and wouldn’t encourage groups to take money from Walmart … [but] we don’t tell any potential allies not to take money from anyone," she said.
OUR Walmart did not respond to Washington Free Beacon inquiries into Walmart’s partnerships with progressive groups.
Dr. Steven Allen, labor research director at the Capital Research Center, said liberal groups operate under a "heavily regimented" umbrella with an eye toward politics rather than the interests of those they represent.
"They want the left to triumph in politics … even if they disagree or if their side is being worked against," he said. "They want to win the political fight; that overrides whatever concern they have for their members."
Allen is not surprised Walmart would invest in liberal groups that claim to oppose income inequality and big business. He compared their partnership with CAP to Churchill’s explanation of appeasement.
"Walmart always knew it had to play politics, especially with all the business it does with China," he said. "Big business is characterized by a mercenary attitude: They’ll hold hands with anyone in order to make money. They perceive it as their interest to finance groups on the left, feeding the crocodiles so they eat you last."
Organizers expect 300 to 500 activists to arrive in Arkansas; additional protests are being coordinated at other Walmart locations across the country, according to Smiley. Among them will be Dominic Ware, who walked out of his San Leandro, Calif., job on Tuesday.
"I wish we didn’t have to come to this; wish we could open door and have things fixed, but Walmart has shown time and again that one-day strikes are not getting positive, long term results," he said. "We’ve got to turn it up a notch."
Walmart did not return requests for comment.
"‘Our Walmart’ is comprised of a few number of people, most of whom aren’t even Walmart associates and don’t represent the views of our associates," a company spokeswoman told Business Week Tuesday. "This latest publicity stunt by the unions to generate attention for their fleeting cause won’t impact the festivities [of the meeting]."