More than 150 demonstrators marched outside a Walmart store in Lakewood on Friday to protest working conditions — though it was unclear whether any employees walked off their jobs for the protest.

The protesters, most carrying signs and chanting slogans, appeared to outnumber shoppers at the Supercenter.

At 9 a.m., seven of the 36 checkout lanes were open, and there were no lines. The parking lot at the store at West Colfax Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard was mostly empty.

The rally was organized by OUR Walmart — Organization United for Respect at Walmart — with support from United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 7 and other labor groups. Community leaders, religious leaders and neighbors also attended.

Their signs read: “Walmart: Always low wages. Always,” “Pay us enough to raise a family,” “Give us full-time hours and affordable health care,” and “Walmart: Stop bullying workers who speak out.”

They chanted, “Shame on Walmart,” “They say cutback, we say fight back,” and “Give them a raise.”

The rally was peaceful. As protesters walked back and forth, Walmart assistant managers politely cleared the way for shoppers to pass through.

UFCW organizing director Mark Belkin, who led the marchers, said some current and former Walmart workers participated. Store officials declined to comment.

“We’re here to make Walmart a better employer, a better neighbor, to treat its workers fairly by paying them a decent wage and give them enough hours so they can raise their families,” Belkin said.

Many Walmart associates were upset at having to leave their dinner table on Thanksgiving to begin work at 8 p.m., he said. That’s when several national retailers launched their Black Friday sales this year.

After the Friday-morning rally, the group dispersed to about a dozen other Walmarts in the area, including Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Commerce City and Colorado Springs, Belkin said.

Nationwide, protests began Thursday night, including two in Colorado, Belkin said. OUR Walmart, whose members are Walmart employees, called for protests at 1,000 stores on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

OUR Walmart said “hundreds and hundreds of workers” walked off the job Friday.

David Tovar, Walmart’s vice president of corporate communications, called that estimate “grossly exaggerated. … The number of associates who have missed their scheduled shift today is more than 60 percent less than Black Friday last year.”

John Mossman: 303-954-1479, jmossman@denverpost.com