Across the United States in 100 cities, Walmart employees, union members and supporters came together to speak out against the largest employer in the world on Black Friday. More than 1,000 protests were held by Walmart workers and community activists who spoke out about poor working conditions, low wages, irregular hours and more. This year, many large retail chains began Black Friday sales on Thursday evening, forcing workers to miss out on the Thanksgiving holiday with their friends and families.

Walmart workers are asking people nationwide to support them today, Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. We're reminding supporters to take action today that spreads the word about their strikes and demonstrates to Walmart a wave of support for workers who are speaking out about poor working conditions, low wages, irregular hours and more. 

Here are some ways you can help from Making Change at Walmart:

Walmart workers around the country are mobilizing for a “Black Friday” strike to protest working conditions, wages and retaliation against workers who speak out. Last week, workers and their allies at a Walmart warehouse picketed and rallied in front of the Riverside County, Calif., facility following last Wednesday’s strike by some two dozen warehouse workers.

This is an excerpt of Through the Eyes of a Union Member: The Slow Demise of an American Baking Company, which appeared on the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) blog. 

The following story was sent to us by a retired BCTGM Local 24 member. It is a true account of a dedicated bakery worker who grew up in and with Interstate Bakeries Corp. (IBC), in its various forms. Like his father before him, he spent his career working hard and supporting his family with good wages and the protection of a union contract. And like his father, he watched as the company was mismanaged and began the spiral of demise.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that when cities, school boards and other public bodies bargain with workers’ unions, they must do so in good faith with the intention of reaching an agreement. While that may seem like common sense to most of us, two earlier rulings, including one from 1957, said that while such public entities are obligated to recognize the workers’ unions, they did not have to bargain.

Berry Craig, recording secretary for the Paducah-based Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council and a professor of history at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, is a former daily newspaper and Associated Press columnist and currently a member of AFT Local 1360. Craig sends us this.

James Vetato planned to spend Black Friday wearing out shoe leather on a picket line at the Southside Walmart in Paducah, Ky.

"Now I'll be there Thanksgiving night, too," Vetato said. "Walmart has announced it will be open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving night, which will prevent a lot of the associates from spending the holiday with their families.”

Help spread the word about Walmart strikers by sharing the United States of Walton infographic (above) on Facebook. 

T-Mobile, the telecom company that earlier this year closed seven call centers in the United States and shipped more than 3,300 jobs overseas, is running its remaining U.S. call center operations under what workers describe as a “climate of tyranny,” says Lothar Schroeder of German union ver.di, which represents workers at Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company. Schroeder spoke with Reuters. 

Since the nearly 10,000 passenger service agents at American Airlines said in 2011 they wanted to vote on joining the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the airline has battled every step of the way. Now it says it is going to the U.S. Supreme Court to block the workers’ right to vote.

The school bus drivers and monitors in Burleson and Weatherford, Texas, take their jobs of transporting “precious cargo” seriously—especially when it comes to safety. After recently voting (see video) to join the Transport Workers (TWU), they say their voice about safety can’t be ignored any longer. Says driver Amy Lytle:

We want safe buses to transport these children in. If you’re driving a bus with a bungee-corded door, they‘re OK with that. I’m not OK with that.

While Hostess Brands is trying to scapegoat the workers and members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), the real cause of the company's collapse can be traced back to its crony capitalism and consistently poor management.