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Take Action to Stop Wal-Mart from Telling Workers How to Vote
Workers across the country are outraged that Wal-Mart is trying to squelch the Employee Free Choice Act by encouraging its managers and supervisors to vote against Democratic candidates this fall because the Democrats would make it easier to form unions in stores like Wal-Mart.
You can take action in two ways. First, tell Wal-Mart to stop intimidating workers. Send a message here. Next, sign a petition urging the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate Wal-Mart’s electioneering to see if any laws were violated. The workers’ advocate group American Rights at Work says its petition drive has garnered more than 25,000 signatures.
Click here to join them and sign the petition. But act fast. The petition will be delivered to the FEC on Thursday. According to The Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart is telling employees if Democrats like Sen. Barack Obama are elected, they will pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which levels the playing field and allows workers to make a free choice of whether to join a union without employer interference. In one such meeting at a Wal-Mart store, according to the Journal:
The meeting leader said, “I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won’t have a vote on whether you want a union,” said a Wal-Mart customer-service supervisor from Missouri. “I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote,” she said.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says Wal-Mart’s 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’s actions coincide with a broader effort by corporate groups to stop the Employee Free Choice Act. In state after state, deep-pocket front groups, such as the so-called Center for Union Facts and the Employee Freedom Action Committee, are running ads that assail congressional candidates for their support of the Employee Free Choice Act.
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.”
American Rights at Work has lots of information on Wal-Mart’s actions attacking the Employee Free Choice Act here and 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.
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6 Comments
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A long time friend of labor, George McGovern, is against EFCA and has written a very compelling editorial in the Wall Street Journal. I don’t know all the in’s and out’s of the EFCA, but on the surface I’m inclined to agree with him. Labor as a whole may want to re-think the EFCA push. Careful what you wish for!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121815502467222555.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
Thanks, bgordon. The worker advocacy group American Rights at Work has uncovered an unfortunate reason why McGovern wrote that article: He’s a front guy for lobbyist Rick Berman, the leader of a $30 million front group interfering in key Senate and House races this cycle.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/07/30/begich-kilroy-udall-speak-out-for-employee-free-choice/
McGovern sits on the board of FirstJobs, another Berman initiative and front group, alongside DOL head Elaine Chao, and the head of Sam’s Club: http://www.firstjobs.org/participants.cfm
And in 2006, right when Berman started his purposely-misnamed “Center for Union Facts,” McGovern took to the LA Times op-ed page to both bash unions and the multiple anti-Wal-Mart intiatives in full swing at the time:
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/22/opinion/oe-mcgovern22
How sad it’s come to this for McGovern.
Tula
Better to have the EFCA than not. I read the article by McGovern, and I found myself thinking how much this man has changed since the ‘old days’. The only thing that is a given in the EFCA is that if 50% or more of the workers want a union, then they are entitled to have one where they work. Collecting signatures is just one way this could happen. Besides most people wanting a union are proud to admit it. NOTHING is said about all employees having to become a member. The workers could still vote in private, but basically they don’t have to. With the signatures, they could already have a union. Why would anyone object if others found out they voted for a union. Everyone will find out anyway once union meetings are held. McGovern is spewing hot air. The only ones who would interfere with a worker’s right to form a union would be the corporate bosses. They’re the ones throwing a negative spin on the EFCA process, and sad to say, McGovern included.
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I just have one question regarding the ability of Wal Mart to ‘force’ it’s emloyees to vote or not to vote for a particular candidate or party. How are they going to KNOW who their employees vote for? They can’t very well follow them into the voting booth!
And as for trying to ‘influence’ them into voting for one or the other, don’t unions do that?
And before you get your shorts in a bunch, I am pro-union. However, I am also anti-halftruths. And I want ‘full disclosure’ before I draw MY conclusions.
No, unions ‘don’t do that’, but during elections almost every organization, ‘and their brother’ endorses someone. A discerning voter has to look at the endorsements with a grain of salt, and then look further as to why the candidate was endorsed: e.i candidate’s platform, voting record on issues, where they stand on basic civil rights, the Constitution, taxes, education, and yes, unions.
I always look at endorsements, because I want to see how the groups I support feel about the candidates as well as pending legislation. However, I do not always agree with them, and I will vote accordingly.