Ellsworth - Family and Friends of Wal-mart Employees took to the streets on Black Friday. They believe a large companies like Wal-mart should give more to their employees.

Ellsworth Community Member, John Curtis said "Six Wal-mart heirs own as much as 93 million Americans, I mean that seems a little unbalanced to us."

These protestors want higher wages for hourly employees, especially around the holidays.

"We think it's time for Wal-mart to sit down with their workers and offer them a more living wage," said Curtis.

A Wal-mart Spokesperson, Bill Wertz said the average hourly employee earns $13.41 an hour and a 10 percent discount. "When you look at the retail industry as a whole, Wal-mart's pay and benefits are very, very competitive."

The spokesperson adds that people who work for the company can have a real future. "We offer a real career path for our associates, 75% of our management team started as hourly employees," said Wertz.

Despite the protest, Wal-mart endured it's most successful Black Friday with over 5,000 transactions per second around the country.

These protestors say they don't oppose Black Friday as a whole, but they would encourage people to shop on Small Business Saturday instead. Curtis said "That's the day I prefer to shop and I'll be shopping in local stores in Ellsworth."

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