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Wal-Mart Wants to Make Sure Its Employees Don’t Vote Democratic |
Wal-Mart and all its $13 billion in 2007 profits are quaking. The retail monolith is scared that Democrats will be elected to office this fall—and might pass legislation that would level the playing field for workers seeking to join unions.
The Wall Street Journal reports on Wal-Mart’s corporate tremors today, noting that
in recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.
Downsides, huh? Like getting paid enough to support yourself and your family. Or maybe even the real big downside of having affordable job-based health insurance so that the emergency room isn’t the only option when your child has the flu. Because by not paying its employees enough to afford the company health plan, Wal-Mart dumps the cost of health care onto all taxpayers, even making it a corporate policy to encourage new hires to use public emergency rooms, according to author Barbara Ehrenreich.
(You can tell Wal-Mart to stop its unfair and immoral workplace intimidation by signing a petition here.)
Wal-Mart has been so intent upon piling up its billions in annual profits, it has created a mini-industry of anti-unionism to ensure it keeps its employees at everyday low wages. So, Wal-Mart is stepping up its efforts to prevent Democrats from being elected this fall, by telling employees that “voting for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in.” And Wal-Mart employees report feeling pressured to vote for candidates who oppose the Employee Free Choice Act.
Wal-Mart is doing even more arm-twisting workers on their way to the ballot box. Rather than pay its employees a decent wage and provide affordable health care, Wal-Mart is putting mega bucks into front groups that are spearheading a multi-million dollar ad campaign to slam workers, their unions and their efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
For instance, Wal-Mart is the largest member of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, one of the main funders of the $30 million anti-union campaign called “Coalition for a Democratic Workplace.”
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says this latest revelation of Wal-Mart’s egregious meddling into its employees’ voting preferences
goes to show the extent that companies like Wal-Mart will go to maintain the status quo, which allows them to exploit workers to maximize profit. It’s clear the business community intends to spend heavily to protect its interests but working people know this election is about creating real, lasting economic change.
Wal-Mart is ready to use its corporate power as America’s largest private employer to corrupt the political system to safeguard its profits. American Rights at Work has lots of info on Wal-Mart’s actions attacking the Employee Free Choice Act here and has a detailed report here on how Wal-Mart rolls back workers’ wages in an assault on the American Dream. Plus the worker advocacy organization also tracks the front groups behind the Employee Free Choice Act smear campaign, with info here.
Take action now and tell Wal-Mart stop intimidating its employees. Sign the petition here.
13 Comments
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Every group uses its power to corrupt the political system to safeguard its interests. What the hell is labor doing! Labor wants to reward people with socialism and the redistribution of wealth because they support Obama.
Wal-Mart has deep pockets and their agenda. The EFCA is a good deal for workers but it doesn’t make any sense grouped in with universal health care, amnesty for illegals or that ridiculous carbon foot print.
I just received a “non deliverable” message from my attempt to send the Working Families petition to Wal-Mart concerning their attempted workplace political intimidation. I’d like to think so many people responded to the petition request that Walmart had to shut down that address. It’s more likely that Wal-Mart, as is their wont, decided to ignore any and every one who disagrees with their thuggish policies.
The union sends letters and calls my phone to tell me who to vote for I don’t know how this is any different. I think the unions with a problem with this are hypocrites
Actually, its much different. The AFL-CIO has a democratic process by which they endorse a candidate. The AFL-CIO is also a membership organization. It can, and should, communicate with its members on issues that are of importance and on decisions made by the organization.
Wal-Mart is a business. It does have a membership. It is not accountable to anyone. Also, Wal-Mart can use intimidation against its employees with threats of firing and the like.
There is a major difference between a membership organization communicating with its members and a business forcing its employees to listen to their position and rhetoric.
I sent the email but it bounced. I received the following error message:
frompostmaster@walmart.com
tostancatherine@gmail.com
dateFri, Aug 1, 2008 at 9:14 PM
subjectDelivery Status Notification (Failure)
mailed-bymailrelay02.walmart.com
hide details 9:14 PM (1 hour ago) Reply
This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.
Delivery to the following recipients failed.
hlscott@walmart.com
Final-Recipient: rfc822;hlscott@walmart.com
Action: failed
Status: 5.1.1
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: stancatherine@gmail.com
To: hlscott@walmart.com
Date: 02 Aug 2008 01:14:01 -0000
Subject: Dear Wal-Mart executives,
Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott
Dear Wal-Mart CEO Scott,
Dear Wal-Mart executives,
In your race to the bottom, you have reached a new low.
Intimidating your workers and telling them whom to vote for in
our elections is immoral and unfair.
We’re calling on you to stop this practice immediately, to
ensure the integrity of the voting process. America’s workers
have the right to freely decide whom to vote for independent of
employer pressure and intimidation.
Signed by:
Catherine Stanford
I was raised in a union household and my husband worked union for almost 30 years until his plant shut down and left town. I work at walmart for 17 years and I have never been told who to vote for or intimidated because my family is union. You as a large entity have used your power the same as you are saying walmart does. What is the difference? The difference is you as a union want inside the pockets of all those walmart associates. We have as good benefits as local union employees do and wages are the best our town has. I can’t with a good conscience vote for Obama and all his liberal beliefs. i don’t agree with more than I can think of to agree with him. I am that over 45 white woman group that he will never reach!!!!!!
After you use those benefits you think you have that is/was as good as the ones offered by the unions… Then Wal-Mart sue you. Want you to reimbursement of all moneys they paid to your doctors etc… to get you well. What Now? Who Are You Going To Call?
Please! Recall that moment in time when you pull that lever for mccain….
Also remember that same moment when ALL you sons and daughters go off to the MANY WARS mccain will have us in. As a result of being in the bottom of his class, he DOES NOT possess the SKILLS, INTELLIGENCE to communicate with world leaders (just like Bush) therefore, he will resort back to his strong suit, WAR! The only thing he knows.
Selah! (So think about that)
P.S. When did LIBERAL become a bad word? I’m 49 and I remember everyone wanted to be called LIBERAL which meant you were ca FAIR OPEN MINDED person. It matters not what… race, religion, income, neighborhood you lived in, sex, color of skin/hair/eyes, I.Q., clothes you wore… what ???, it just meant I will respect your right to be not just because it was/is the law but because it was/is the right thing to do.
But! I still see the word CONSERVATIVE hasn’t change… just the opposite of LIBERAL.
My email to Walmart was returned undeliverable, too. I hope that means he was swamped with emails from us.
Martmama, why is the Attorney General suing Walmart for treating their workers poorly. Walmart is facing up to 60 billion dollars in fines. Are saying the AG has nothing better to do with their time. Over one million Walmart employees complained to the Department of Labor. I will believe real workers before I believe a propagandist.
I wore an Obama t-shirt to work on a casual Friday and was told to “take it off”. Don’t tell me this kind of crap isn’t happening everyday in the workplace because it is.
I and my other co-workers will continue to wear our Obama shirts to work and nobody will stop us.
This white working woman is voting for Obama, so get used to saying President Obama, keep repeating until it sinks into your racist thick skull.
Become a Fed Up American! Like me. Pansies can exit the country now.
Now, you’re walking the walk; to hell with talking the talk. (Looks like martmama has just locked horns with a smart mama.) We all deserve better leadership from our Government than what we’ve been getting over the last 8 years.
Dignity and respect in the workplace are two of the chief essential aspects of the American Labor Movement. So yes, it does require a lot of grease to keep the Union wheels rolling; and that grease costs money in the form of dues.
The time has come to reclaim our flag from Corporate Special Interests! No one should be forced to relinquish their Constitutional Rights and Freedoms just because they are on the company clock. It’s time for Walmart and all other Companies that operate within the protected borders of the United States or any U.S. protected territory to start respecting the blood sacrifices and other military actions that were required to make their profits possible. Moreover; there needs to be a greater respect shown to the workers, whose tax dollars are required to fund such military protection for Corporate profiteering to exist in the first place.
Carry on, sister!!!
I am retired UAW working at Wal-Mart. All of the anti-union people who work there like “martmama”, think I’m some sort of a trouble maker. I never bring up unions. I may discuss our union with a co-worker who I retired with, but I never tell anyone there that they should unionize. The fact is, there are too many anti-union people like “martmama” who would lie and stop at nothing to get me fired if I did. But, I will truthfully answer questions about the benefits of being in a union if I’m asked. The one thing that get’s the most attention, and probably the most jealousy, is the fact that I live on the pension that MY UNION GOT ME!! I only work at Wal-Mart to supplement that pension. I don’t need Wal-Mart. There are low paying retail jobs to be had. Another thing that I’ve made people realize is that Wal-Mart is responsible for most of the good paying manufacturing jobs in this country being outsourced to China. Anyone who doesn’t believe that can watch the PBS documentory “Is Wal-Mart good for America?”. You can probably still find it on PBS.org. Wal-Mart is also, in a very big way, responsible for the high gas prices, for this very reason, by driving China’s economy and their demand for oil.
“Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” is a feature length documentary that uncovers a retail giant’s assault on families and American values.
The film dives into the deeply personal stories and everyday lives of families and communities struggling to fight a Goliath. A working mother is forced to turn to public assistance to provide healthcare for her two small children. A Missouri family loses its business after Wal-Mart is given over $2 million to open its doors down the road. A mayor struggles to equip his first responders after Wal-Mart pulls out and relocates just outside the city limits. A community in California unites, takes on the giant, and wins!
Producer/Director Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films take you on an extraordinary journey that will change the way you think, feel — and shop.
See it free at : www.freedocumentaries.org
I am so sorry I didn’t check my email in the last several weeks (be on family time).
I just stopped at wally world and it was busy with back to school moms.
Now I will not go back! I will go to dollar days and Krogers.
NOW I KNOW, I WILL SPREAD THE WORD!