This campaign was started by former WalMart worker and SumOfUs member, Liz Loudermilk
My name is Liz Loudermilk and I’m one of more than 800,000 women who work at Walmart in the United States.
Too often, we’re forced to choose between our jobs, our health, and our families. My child is due in November and this pregnancy has been hard. I’ve had to miss work because I was sick and dehydrated. When I ended up in the hospital my manager texted not to wish me well, but to remind me that I had no excuse to call out.
You probably already know that Walmart is bad for women. But you might not know that Walmart also owns the online clothing store ModCloth, which markets itself as a principled company. ModCloth is known for being body positive, but there’s nothing positive about Walmart’s policies for women.
Don’t let Walmart hide behind ModCloth. This Cyber Monday, join me, my Walmart colleagues, and other ModCloth customers to say #ByeModCloth.
Here’s Walmart’s strategy: after years of complete dominance in the retail market, they’re now feeling threatened by Amazon. So, in order to win over young customers, they’ve bought brands like ModCloth, Bonobos, and Jet.com. But they’re not telling customers that the cool, indie brands they love are now part of a poverty-paying corporate behemoth.
Millions of women love ModCloth for their vintage designs and body-positive ads that celebrate women. But Walmart doesn’t celebrate women workers -- they treat us like garbage. When my baby is born, I’ll get barely any paid leave. I’m going to have to return to work soon after my baby is born, just to pay my bills.
If Walmart won’t treat women workers with respect, we won’t give Walmart our money -- directly or through ModCloth. Add your name to say #ByeModCloth.
Walmart thinks they can use ModCloth’s messages of equality and body positivity to distract from how badly they treat women workers like me. But if you’re not falling for it, add your name to say #ByeModCloth. Our work has earned tremendous wealth for the Walton family who own Walmart -- they’re the wealthiest family in the U.S. All we’re asking in return that they let us be there for our own families and be able to cover the basics.
More information
Refinery29. 19 March 2017.
ModCloth Blog. 17 March 2017.