About a hundred Walmart employees, religious leaders, and community members rallied in front of the Pico Rivera Walmart Thursday morning before embarking on a 1,500 mile “Ride for Respect” bus trip to the company’s headquarters in Arkansas. 

Chanting and holding signs that read “Walmart stop bullying employees!,” protesters denounced what they said to be the company’s intimidation tactics against employees who are vocal about unfair treatment and low wages. 

The Walmart employees who are on strike hope to bring the same message to the company’s corporate headquarters during their annual Shareholders’ meeting next week. 

The “Ride for Respect” bus trip was not exclusive to Southern California, rather many buses from across the country are making their way to company’s headquarters this week. And all of the trips were put together by OUR Walmart, a national organization that is focused on representing workers and their rights. 

Dan Fogleman, a spokesperson for Walmart said in a statement that the OUR Walmart and the “Ride for Respect” was in fact not representative of most of the company’s employees. 

“The union and its ‘O.U.R. Walmart’ subsidiary are comprised of a very small number of people, most of whom aren't even Walmart associates and don't represent the views of the vast majority of people who work at Walmart,” Fogleman said in the statement. 

Fogleman continued to say in the statement that Thursday’s event was more of a publicity stunt than a protest.

But Venanzi Luna, 34, who has been working at the Pico Rivera Walmart for seven years and an active member of OUR Walmart said that she has experienced first-hand retaliation from the retail chain for helping to organize the protest. 

In just one week Luna said she got a verbal warning, a write-up and a D-day, which is when management decides if they want to keep the employee. Luna also said that to receive all three in one week was unheard of. 

“You have to write a statement saying why you want to keep your job,” Luna said was one of the standard procedures in a D-day. “You basically have to beg for it.”

Dan Hindman, 28, who works at the Walmart in Paramount, is also a member of OUR Walmart, like Luna. Hindman said that because of his affiliation with the organization, he is treated differently from other employees. 

“I am part of OUR Walmart so I get more of an attitude,” Hindman said. “If I ask for help they will take longer to help me out. If I ask for a raise or to be promoted I will be the last person that is looked at.” 

Fogleman said in a statement that the company has strict policies in place to protect employees from such retaliation that Hindman and Luna both described. 

“One of our fundamental beliefs at Walmart is having respect for the individual, so when our associates have concerns, we listen,” Fogleman said in the statement. “We recognize and respect that they have a right to express their opinions, so long as they do so within the law. Walmart has strict policies against retaliation and if an associate feels they have been retaliated against, we will take appropriate action.”

But prominent community leaders like Andre Quintero, the mayor of El Monte, said to the crowd of people seeing the protesters off on their “Ride for Respect” journey, that Walmart does not in fact respect the individual. 

Quintero in his speech said that if Walmart invested in their workers a little more, the economy would improve. 

“Everyone deserves a little share of the American Dream,” Quintero said. 

Before loading up the bus Rev. William D. Smart Jr. asked the crowd to join hands. And as the crowd stood holding hands they prayed for a successful next few days and a better future at Walmart. 

“It’s a great day to struggle,” Rev. Smart said to the protestors before finally leaving on their journey. 

 

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