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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Black Friday Walmart Protests in Indiana: Workers Want Better Wages

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Friday, November 28, 2014   

INDIANAPOLIS – Some Indiana activists will join others from around the nation today outside Walmart stores, but instead of shopping for Black Friday bargains they'll be protesting against what they consider low wages.

Walmart reports that it pays the average worker about $11.82 an hour, which Mary Kate Dugan, executive director of the advocacy group Central Indiana Jobs with Justice, says is barely enough to cover the basics.

"U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing Walmart's wages to the tune of $6.2 billion a year,” she maintains. “That's in public assistance including food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing. So we know a lot of their workers just aren't making it."

Dugan says her group is calling for the company to pay workers $15 an hour and provide more full-time work.

"It doesn't matter how much you make per hour if you're not guaranteed enough hours to make enough money to live,” she stresses. “So scheduling is as big of an issue as wages themselves."

Demonstrations in Indianapolis, Kokomo, North Vernon and South Bend are among the more than 2,200 planned at Walmart stores in almost every state.

While many other retailers pay similar wages, Dugan says Walmart stores are being targeted because the company sets an example for others as the largest employer in the country.

"They really set the standard for how workers are paid and how they're treated,” she points out. “And when Walmart changes its ways and pays people more, that's going to change the entire economy. They set the standards right now."

In published reports, the company has said the protesters represent a small percentage of its workforce of 1.3 million in the United States.





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