A rally against low paying jobs will be taking place in Los Angeles Saturday. The "March Against Low Wage Jobs" is expected to bring in close to 10,000 protestors, rallying against Walmart's first neighborhood based store in California.
Rally supporter Steve Earle sings in his song titled "Burnin' It Down," "I'm thinkin' 'bout burnin' the Walmart down." His album due to release next year called The Low Highway, is a musical demonstration of how workers feel about the store's payment of employees, their health benefits, and lack of unions.
According to Walmart's corporate website, "Walmart insures more than 1 million people in the U.S., and our health plans exceed the requirement of the reform law passed in 2010." The company hires 2 million workers in over 10,000 stores around the world. Additionally, Walmart did $443.9 billion in sales as of early this year.
Walmart's full-time hourly pay rate for California employed workers is averaged to be $12.79, which is much higher than the state's minimum wage salary of $8.00 an hour.
Earlier this year the Los Angeles city government voted to restrict large chain stores. However, this occurred after Walmart began progressing in their deal to create a store in Los Angeles' Chinatown.
"I just think Walmart could be particularly damaging in a neighborhood like that," Earle said to RollingStone. "There are neighborhoods that literally are their personality, and their livelihood depends on mom-and-pop businesses. Walmart sells everything. And when somebody comes in and they sell everything, what's left?"
Although Earle refuses to go into another Walmart again, his last album I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive can be found on Walmart shelves around the country.
The rally takes place on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Los Angeles State Historic Park.
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