Vanessa Ferreira, age 59, informed her manager publicly Wednesday morning that she was going on strike. The other employees watched her walk out of the store, then went back to doing their jobs.
Within a half hour, Ferreira would be told by police outside that she was trespassing and ordered to leave.
She's worked in the store's cake department for eight years, and she earns $11.90 an hour, she said.
"I love to decorate cakes," Ferreira said Wednesday. "That's my priority -- to do my cakes the best I can."
As much as she loves her job, there's plenty Ferreira doesn't like about her employer. According to Ferreira, Walmart's wages are too low for workers to survive on, and the company keeps too many of its employees on part-time status, leaving them to rely on government assistance to get by.
"They pay low wages, then the taxpayers pick up the tab for food stamps and Medicaid," Ferreira said. "They need to take care of their people. They need to be responsible to their workers."
