Several thousand anti-corporate protesters have staged a march in Los Angeles's Chinatown against the continued expansion of Wal-Mart stores across the United States, Press TV reports.
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© Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
Myca Tran, 23, shows her opposition to a new Wal-Mart store in Chinatown. Wal-Mart got building permits one day before the Los Angeles City Council approved a moratorium on big-box stores.
Labor activists and union workers from across California gathered in a Saturday rally which organizers said was the biggest demonstration against the company in its 50-year history.

Protesters voiced their anger at Wal-Mart's attempt to open a store in the historic Chinatown area of downtown Los Angeles.

"We're not gonna continue to let Wal-Mart be the biggest retailer in the world and set the pace for corporate America that will oppress and keep our communities at 99 percent," a protester told a Press TVcorrespondent.

"I am not against Wal-Mart. They could build one but they have to fix the problem we have now. Give us respect. Give us better pay. Get us our welfare," another protester noted.

Wal-Mart says the store will provide the neighborhood with fresh groceries and other items currently unavailable in the area.

But activists accuse the world's largest retailer of destroying communities by driving down wages and forcing out local businesses.

In June, Latino labor leaders in Los Angeles complained that workers at major retailers like Wal-Mart had to work in hazardous conditions for very low wages

A new report released by the National Employment Law Project, titled Chain of Greed, also blames the world's leading retailer for using its influence against workers across the country.

It accuses Wal-Mart of outsourcing most of its supply chain to third-party contractors, who rely on temporary warehouse workers, mostly Latinos, to unpack and reload items onto trucks.