Wal-Mart workers around the country have courageously stepped forward to tell their stories. Here are a few examples of today's press coverage:

From News 8 WMTW in Maine:

AUGUSTA, Maine -- A former employee of Wal-Mart joined community and elected leaders in speaking out against the retail giant Wednesday.

At a news conference at the State House, Josh Smith said that the company’s low salaries make it hard for employees to afford the company’s health insurance.

Smith said, "I think it's inappropriate for the largest company in the world not to pay its employees enough to survive on, instead of relying on state subsidies."

From the Post-Standard in New York:

At the local news conference, three women who say they were wrongly fired in February from the Wal-Mart store in Camillus blasted the retailer.

"We always thought they were a great store. That's why I went to work for them," said Becky Lunn. "Once you get there, you realize it's not the best place to work."

Lunn said she was one of 15 employees fired in February. She said they shopped at Wal-Mart after work in December and bought various items at a discount price with a manager's permission. A few weeks later, the workers were accused of theft and terminated for violating company policy, she said.

Ann Brown, who said she was one of the 15, said many of those fired were overweight women with health problems. She thinks Wal-Mart terminated the workers are part of an effort to "get rid of overweight people and unhealthy people," she said.

From the Orlando Sentinel in Florida:

A nationwide campaign to make Wal-Mart Stores pay a larger portion of its employees' health-care costs reached Orlando on Tuesday with Wal-Mart workers claiming they cannot afford the company's insurance plan.

"I feel like Wal-Mart is not being fair to its employees," said Wal-Mart employee Greg Pierce at a news event co-sponsored by the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1625.

Pierce, a customer-service manager at a Wal-Mart in Ocala, said his hourly pay of $8.10 is not enough to pay for the company's health plan for his family of four and he's skeptical of Wal-Mart's plans.

"Once I get affordable health care, then I'll believe it," Pierce said.