At 5 a.m. local time, workers at a Mira Loma, Calif., warehouse that ships goods for Walmart launched a two-day strike to protest alleged unsafe working conditions and retaliation against workers who are exposed to those conditions. The warehouse is owned by Olivet International, an apparel and luggage company.  Some 70% of the products that move through the warehouse are shipped on behalf of Walmart.

A new poll released today finds that 80% percent of Americans—including 62% of Republicans and 80% of Independents—support raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour and indexing it to the cost of living. It was last raised to $7.25 an hour in 2009.

The release of the poll came as low-wage workers and community, faith, union and other allies are staging a National Day of Action calling for passage of Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013.

Click here to sign our petition asking Congress to raise the minimum wage.

The Large Retailer and Accountability Act of 2013 (LRAA), passed by the Council of the District of Columbia last week, arrived on Mayor Vincent Gray’s desk Wednesday. The bill establishes a minimum wage of $12.50 an hour for workers at retail stores with more than 75,000 square feet and whose parent company makes more than $1 billion in gross revenues annually.

This bill was not controversial until Walmart, with plans to bring six stores into the District of Columbia, threatened to cancel three of those projects if the bill passed. Despite that threat, here are five reasons Mayor Gray should sign the LRAA when it gets to his desk. Are you listening, Mr. Mayor? Here we go:

The District of Columbia City Council today didn’t pay Walmart’s “blackmail” demand and instead told the giant retailer that if it wants to operate within the District, it must pay its workers a living wage.

In an 8–5 vote the council approved a measure that sets a $12.50 an hour wage for workers in “big box” stores like Walmart. The vote came the day after Walmart sent squad of high-level executives from its Arkansas headquarters to try and strong-arm council members to defeat the living wage bill.

Labor and student activists protested outside the Bipartisan Policy Center in downtown Washington, D.C., to highlight the hypocrisy of a corporate public relations spectacle led by the Gap and Walmart. The retail giants announced today yet another toothless voluntary private regulation scheme for the garment industry in Bangladesh. More than 1,800 workers have died in preventable factory fires and collapses since 2005. In response, workers and their allies recently negotiated an innovative and enforceable agreement to improve safety and rights for these workers. Since May 15, 80 companies have signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. 

When payday rolls around, more and more workers aren’t getting paper paychecks or direct deposits to their checking accounts, but instead are finding their wages on prepaid cards.

The new trend—especially  prevalent in low-wage industries—saves the employer money,  and means big (and mostly unregulated) profits for the banks and financial institutions that issue the cards. It also eats big chunks of the workers’ pay though a bevy of fees they must pay to access their accounts.

This Saturday, June 29, Students Against Sweatshops will lead a coalition of groups and individuals in an international day of action to pressure Walmart and Gap to stop the use of unsafe factories that have killed more than 1,800 workers in Bangladesh since 2005. To date, the two corporate giants have refused to sign on to an Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh that would go a long way toward making workers in Bangladesh safer. The accord would require independent inspections by trained fire safety experts, mandatory repairs and a central role for workers and unions.

Walmart workers, with assistance from the OUR Walmart campaign, launched the first prolonged strike in the company's history, capping it with a rally on Friday outside the company's shareholder meeting in Bentonville, Ark. Workers began the strike more than a week ago and went on a freedom ride-inspired trek, called the “Ride for Respect,” to Walmart headquarters in Bentonville. The strike is planned to extend until after the shareholder meeting.

We all know that working for Walmart is no picnic. It pays low wages, slashes hours, offers little or no job security, exploits and intimidates workers and uses sweatshop labor. That’s why Walmart workers are on strike this week, to protest the corporation’s greedy behavior and shady business practices. Learn more about the strike here.

James and Trina Vetato knew about the freedom riders from history books.

This week, the Paducah, Ky., couple expects to join a civil rights movement-style protest against the world's largest retailer. The Vetatos are activists in the employees’ group Organization United for Respect at Walmart, or OUR Walmart for short. Trina currently works at a Walmart store and James is a former Walmart employee.