Activists Gather at Las Vegas Wal-Mart to Protest Workplace Abuses

July 19, 2004

by NOW Staff

LAS VEGAS—Carrying blue umbrellas and signs declaring that "Wal-Mart is Anti-Women," hundreds of NOW activists braved 105-degree weather at noon on Saturday to make a point about reports of systematic discrimination against women at the country's largest employer.

Delegates to the National NOW Conference in Las Vegas converged at a local Wal-Mart superstore to protest discrimination against women at the country's largest employer. Photo by Lisa Bennett.

The demonstrators—many wearing buttons and T-shirts with the slogan 'Wal-Mart Always Discriminates'—marched en masse in the parking lot of a local Wal-Mart superstore, chanting and distributing informational flyers to prospective customers, some of whom turned back after seeing the materials and told activists they would shop somewhere else.

Earlier that morning, after hearing from former Wal-Mart employees who described the discrimination they endured on the job, hundreds of National NOW Conference delegates were inspired to pour out of a conference hall at the Riviera Hotel and Resort and travel by bus to the local Wal-Mart.

Addressing a Saturday morning plenary session, former Wal-Mart employee Stephanie Odle described how she was repeatedly passed over for promotions during her employment at the retailer, paid less than men doing the same job, and then unceremoniously fired when a man was hired to fill her position.

Photo by Lisa Bennett.

She is now the lead plaintiff in the massive class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart, originally filed in 2001, that charges the retailer discriminates against its female retail employees in pay and promotions. The class in this case includes more than 1.6 million current and former female employees of Wal-Mart retail stores in America, including Wal-Mart discount stores, super centers, neighborhood stores, and Sam's Clubs.

Odle was followed on stage by Jackie and Larry Allen, former Wal-Mart employees who described how the retailer ignored complaints of sexual harassment, and refused to provide affordable health insurance. Standing with the aid of crutches, Jackie Allen explained how she left Wal-Mart for a job at a different retailer that provided health insurance that allowed her to undergo knee surgery, coverage she was not able to afford while working at Wal-Mart.

Photo by Lisa Bennett.

Speaking Out for Women

Carolyn Sapp, a former 1992 Miss America who serves as an unofficial spokeswoman for the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit, addressed the crowd assembled in the Wal-Mart parking lot, along with NOW leaders, who explained how the organization named Wal-Mart a "Merchant of Shame" in 2002 to create awareness of the employer's practices.

"Consumers need to know the source of Wal-Mart's low prices," said NOW Action Vice President Olga Vives. "Those low prices come from the substandard wages and benefits that Wal-Mart provides to the employees—in particular, the women workers—who work in its stores each day."