Protesters picketed a Wal-Mart store in Mexico City to show support for employees who are trying to form a union at the company, the nation's largest employer. The protesters, who included labor activists and union members from other industries, urged shoppers to boycott Wal-Mart for the day. Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB, two-thirds owned by Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has about 160,000 workers in the country.

In the U.S., Wal-Mart faces more than 70 suits in which it is accused of wage-law violations. In response, Wal-Mart de Mexico issued two written statements in response to the demonstration, including a nine-point fact sheet with salary information, number of jobs created, number of female employees, and investment in training. It said its lowest salary is at least 18 percent higher than the minimum wage.

Wal-Mart de Mexico's salaries, benefits, and work conditions are similar to those of other retail chains in Mexico which take advantage of labor laws that favor employers, said Alfonso Bouzas, who has researched labor laws for 33 years for Mexico's National Autonomous University.