A new student activist group that seeks to promote social justice is targeting Wal-Mart with a series of protests.
A group of ASU students plans to protest Wal-Mart's employment practices Saturday as part of a project for an introduction to justice studies class.
The protests will be held on Saturday and on April 30 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart at 1380 W. Elliot Road in Tempe.
The class required students to either complete a written assignment or dedicate 20 hours during the semester to a social justice cause.
Sarah Chesteen, a justice studies freshman and vice president of Students Against Wal-Mart, said she chose the hands-on project because she likes being involved in her community.
"When I see an injustice, I want to help out with it," she said.
The group, which plans to register as an ASU club, chose to target Wal-Mart rather than working more broadly to promote social justice because of the company's size, Chesteen said.
According to the Wal-Mart Web site, the company has nearly 30,000 employees in Arizona.
The protest is intended to raise awareness of gender discrimination in salaries and promotions, as well as the company's opposition to a unionized labor force, she said.
"[Wal-Mart's] a good place to start because once they do something, other companies will follow," Chesteen said.
Wal-Mart is in the middle of a class action lawsuit over its treatment of female employees.
Chesteen said the lawsuit isn't enough and more needs to be done.
"They were sued, but that doesn't mean that they're changing," she said.
The students will be recognized with the Award for Social Justice Contribution late next week, said Marie Provine, director of the School of Justice and Social Inquiry.
Michael Coyle, the doctoral student teaching the class, said students don't realize that "everyday people" can create justice.
"I think, especially in justice studies, there shouldn't be a course without [a hands-on project]," Coyle said.
Coyle also opposes Wal-Mart's treatment of its employees but said he has been careful not to influence his students on the matter.
Marty Heires, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said the "thousands of people" who line up for jobs in new Wal-Mart stores and the company's more than 1 million employees nationwide demonstrate its record of employee treatment.
"We feel that it's simply not necessary for a third party to insert itself between us and our associates," he said of the company's anti-labor union stance.
Heires said he doesn't think the protests will have an effect on Wal-Mart customers because the store's appeal is in its pricing.
"Our customers appreciate the fact that they can get the lowest prices, and that's what they care about," he said.
Reach the reporter at elias.arnold@asu.edu.
