As we begin the holiday season, we at the Housing Alliance wanted to take a moment and wish you a happy and joyful Thanksgiving filled with family and friends and love. We also want to recognize that not everyone in our communities will spend the holiday in a safe, stable home. Too many people in our state continue to struggle to meet their most basic needs like food and shelter.

As a way to honor those struggles, we encourage you to consider an alternative to the Black Friday shopping frenzy. If you're looking for something active that makes a difference, our friends at UFCW 21 (United Food and Commercial Workers representing 38,000 members in Washington State) are organizing a community effort to hold Walmart accountable and to make sure any new Walmart jobs in our state meet strong standards for healthy, growing communities. This Friday, November 23, community members will stand with striking Walmart workers at three stores in Western Washington.

We're sharing information about these events because the struggle for economic justice is deeply tied to the struggle for housing justice. The average full-time Walmart worker earns about $15,500 annually. At that wage, the average Walmart worker couldn't even afford to live in the communities where Walmart is located. As the largest private employer in the world, Walmart is setting a standard that puts an affordable home out of reach even for full-time workers.

Black Friday Events in Western Washington

• Mount Vernon Supercenter, 10:30 AM - 12 NOON (2301 Freeway Dr., Mount Vernon 98273)
• Port Angeles Supercenter, 9:30 AM – 11 AM (3471 E Kolonels Way, Port Angeles 98362)
• Renton Walmart, 9:30 AM – 11 AM (743 Rainier Ave S, Renton 98057) – Led by Washington YELL (Young Emerging Labor Leaders)

To RSVP or for more information, please contact Elena Perez at 206.359.1885 or changewawalmart@gmail.com.

If you don't live near any of these locations, but want to attend, you can check for an event near you at http://corporateactionnetwork.org/campaigns/black-friday.

If you'd like to support this effort, but can't attend an event, you can sponsor a worker by donating toward a grocery gift card here: https://www.wepay.com/donations/dont-let-walmart-silence-workers-support-worker-leaders-who-are-calling-for-change.

Learn more at UFCW's website: http://www.ufcw21.org/take/walmart.

If you attend an event, we'd love to hear about it! Share your thoughts on the connections between economic justice and housing justice here at our comment section. You can also share photos from the event with us on Facebook or on Twitter.

This video explains why Walmart workers are striking this Black Friday.

Happy holidays,
Rachael Myers

Edit: UFCW's role in the actions.