Community Corner

Thousands March on Chinatown for Walmart Protest

The protest drew opponents of the ubiquitous department store chain.

Led by notable Angeleno musicians Tom Morello and Ben Harper, thousands of protesters marched on Chinatown Saturday to protest the proposed construction of a Walmart department and grocery store.

From the Huffington Post:

Several protestors told HuffPost that they did not want a Chinatown Walmart because they wanted to preserve the culture and businesses of Chinatown. Others expressed concern about Walmart's non-union jobs and reputation for low wages and lack of benefits.

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The call for union jobs was clear at the march's destination stage underneath the dragon gate entrance into Chinatown. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello performed a few union songs, including an "uncensored" version of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" that some protestors sang along to.

Several Walmart employees and members of other unions spoke, including Marta Madine, who works at a warehouse in San Bernadino that supplies to Walmart. "We demand to be respected as humans, not objects. We want to end retaliation against Walmart employees when they speak up," she said.

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