"Think about these things before you decide to shop here for the holidays," Alexandra Scholl said to a crowd outside the Wal-Mart off Jerusalem Avenue in Uniondale.
Wal-Mart officials did not return calls for comment.
Scholl was among two dozen people representing a variety of organizations, including the Long Island Federation of Labor, where she is a researcher, and Nassau Legis. Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead), who were protesting in front of the store.
"Put families first," they shouted, charging that Wal-Mart regulations - such as demanding its employees work flexible schedules - hurt families.
"Our future is being mortgaged so Wal-Mart can make better profits," said David Mertz, an assistant to the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, based in Manhattan.
All Wal-Mart employees are nonunion.
Kate Keller, of Middle Falls, N.J., regional coordinator of WakeupWal-Mart, noted that the chain faces the largest gender-based suit in history. The federal case, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart, is also the largest class-action suit ever filed and includes more than 2 million current and former female employees.
WakeupWal-Mart is a coalition of individuals, unions, community organizations, religious leaders and political activists, more than 300,000 nationally, according to Keller.
Mertz said: "We're asking people to take into consideration what kind of employer we're supporting when we shop at Wal-Mart, to make a choice between being a consumer and being a member of the community."
Jim McAsey, director of Farmingdale-based Jobs With Justice, said Wal-Mart "continues to push an anti-family agenda, including salary caps, poverty-level wages, unaffordable health care and a restrictive attendance policy."
The demonstration was part of a simultaneous protest that also took place in Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Seattle and Springfield, Mass.
