Walmart workers and their allies plan to take part in what they expect to be the largest Black Friday strikes and protests ever at 1,600 Walmart stores nationwide, including in Chicago and other Illinois cities. 

Some workers with OUR Walmart, a group that formed in 2011 and is connected to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, started their protests for better wages and working conditions Wednesday that will continue through Black Friday.

OUR Walmart has protested the mega retailer on Black Friday for the past two years.

The biggest Black Friday Walmart protests this year are expected in Chicago and other major metropolitan areas across the nation. Details on the protests, which are also expected to be held in Normal, Springfield and elsewhere in Illinois, can be found here.

"Black Friday is a day when we will all come together to show the power that we have to create real change in this country," said Nikki Lewis, executive director of DC Jobs with Justice. "On Friday, tens of thousands of Americans like me will join workers to say the days of going to work hungry or struggling to pay bills at a company owned by the richest family in the country must end. Our communities cannot thrive when they are held back from earning a decent living by the biggest corporation in our country."