Which side are you on?
Come all you WalMart workers,
Good news to you we'll tell,
Of how Human Rights Watch
Has described your living Hell.Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?Don't scab for the Waltons,
Don't listen to their lies,
The working poor have got no chance
Unless we organize.They say in Walton's WalMart
There is no neutral tent,
You'll either be for a union
Or a thug for management.Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?-- Adapted from Florence Reece, "Which side are you on?" Harlan County KY Coal Miner Strike, 1931
5-1-07
Washington Post
Wal-Mart's union stance attacked...Ylan Q. Mue and Amy Joyce
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR200704...
Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group based in New York, released a report yesterday detailing what it called excessively aggressive tactics by Wal-Mart Stores to stop union organization in its stores...report is the first comprehensive look at the retailer's anti-union operations...said, though much information had previously been reported. Most of Wal-Mart's actions were legal but heavy-handed, the report says, including a rapid-response team to prevent organization, a hotline for store managers and tips on staying "union free." In addition, the report cites more than a dozen rulings against Wal-Mart by the National Labor Relations Board that found that Wal-Mart illegally confiscated union literature, prohibited discussions of unions and retaliated against union supporters. Wal-Mart criticized the report as relying on "incomplete interviews and unsubstantiated allegations." It accused the group of using the findings to bolster support for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it easier for workers to organize unions and would represent one of the most significant revisions of federal labor law in 60 years. One of the most-cited examples came in 2000, when 11 meat cutters at a Texas store won union recognition, the first in the company's history. Soon after, Wal-Mart eliminated the positions at 180 stores in six states. It has said the two events were not related. In 2005, Wal-Mart shuttered a store in Canada after workers voted to unionize. At the time, the company said the employees' demands would have made it impossible for the store to sustain its business. But last year, Wal-Mart said it would allow the All-China Federation of Trade Unions to set up outlets in its stores in China. The report says there were 15 rulings against Wal-Mart by the National Labor Relations Board between January 2000 and July 2005 that still stand... In one case in Pennsylvania, the report says, the NLRB found that Wal-Mart illegally transferred union supporters out of a store and brought in union opponents to dilute efforts to organize. Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in labor issues, called the report "a devastating critique of Wal-Mart's labor practices."
4-28-07
Merced Sun-Star
Wal-Mart foes seek documents...Leslie Albrecht
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/local/story/13530939p-14134877c.html
Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now, a Florida-based anti-Wal-Mart group, filed a public records request with the city Wednesday asking for all Wal-Mart-related documents -- including e-mails between city staff and Wal-Mart officials -- from 20 city departments. WARN organizer Nick Robinson said the request is designed to bring more public scrutiny to the planned distribution center... Opponents say trucks servicing the center will damage Merced's already poor air quality; supporters say it will eventually create 900 jobs. The City Council will vote on the distribution center later this year. Such requests are standard practice for WARN, which has stopped new Wal-Mart supercenter stores from being built in 24 Florida counties, said Robinson...Wal-Mart isn't going to give us records." The fight against the Merced distribution center is the first campaign WARN has waged outside of Florida...
Quick facts: Wal-Mart Distribution Center
WHAT: The 1.2-million-square-foot distribution center would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week sorting merchandise for Wal-Mart stores. There are currently nine Wal-Mart distribution centers in California.
WHERE: The site is a 275-acre parcel between Childs and Gerard avenues west of Tower Road in southeast Merced. The site is about three-quarters of a mile from the new Mission Avenue interchange.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY: Proponents say the center will bring an economic boost, eventually creating 900 jobs that pay $13 to $14 hourly. Opponents say the estimated 450 trucks that will drive in and out of the center every day will worsen Merced's already poor air quality.
WHAT'S NEXT: Consultants are writing the environmental impact report about the distribution center. The report will likely be released in the fall. After public hearings, the City Council must vote to approve the distribution center if it is to move forward.