WakeUpWalmart.com Launches “Hope for the Holidays” Campaign to Highlight Walmart’s Track Record of Poor Product Safety

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 15, 2009  

WakeUpWalmart.com Launches “Hope for the Holidays” Campaign to Highlight Walmart’s Track Record of Poor Product Safety

 

(Washington, DC) - The 490,000 members of WakeUpWalmart.com today launched a consumer education campaign to highlight Walmart’s track record of stocking dangerous and unsafe products. Activists and community leaders from across the country will come together to inform consumers about Walmart’s business model and how it encourages the production of dangerous products and puts profits above the safety of consumers. Supporters of WakeUpWalmart.com and the National Consumers League will also send Walmart CEO Mike Duke an open letter asking him to put consumer safety ahead of profit this holiday season.

Walmart has repeatedly carried products that have been identified as unsafe or dangerous by reputable consumer safety organizations. Right now, there are children’s holiday gifts offered for sale at stores and online with high levels of dangerous substances including lead, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, and bromine according to HealthyStuff.org, a project of the Ecology Center and the Center for Environmental Health.

WakeUpWalmart.com and the National Consumers League are calling on Walmart to pull these dangerous products. These products include:

-     Zhu Zhu Pets

-     Mrs. Potato Head

-     Walmart brand black and yellow frog wallet

-     Disney Princesses pink belt

-     iCarly pink belt

-     10 Squirtin' Sea Buddies

-     A Touch & Feel Bedtime Book

-     Chux! Fling Shots

-     Our Good 5 Game Combo (Badminton, Volleyball, Shuttle Smash, Flying Disc, Jelly Ball)

-     The Original Little Red Wagon - Model #32

-     Small Bakugan Battle Brawlers Backpack

-     The Original - Butterfly Watch

-     Red Flame Watch

-     Green Giraffe Print Bag

 “As the world’s largest retailer, Walmart should be a leader in improving safety standards for the products it carries,” said Pat O’Neill, Executive Vice President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “Unfortunately, right now Walmart is using its size to push suppliers to produce at a lower cost which could end up compromising product safety. Saving money and living better should not mean pushing suppliers to cut costs that may result in cutting corners. Our wish list for Walmart is that they ensure their products are safe, so families don’t have to worry. Walmart can certainly afford to take extra precautions to inform customers of potential safety concerns.”

In addition to educating consumers about Walmart’s unsafe business practices and dangerous products, WakeUpWalmart.com, the National Consumers League, and their supporters will sign an open letter to Mike Duke demanding that Walmart take responsibility for the products on its shelves. In it, consumers tell Duke that, “We know Walmart can afford to do right by America’s families and help make this holiday a safe one. As the nation’s largest retailer, Walmart has an obligation to pull products with toxic levels of chemicals from its shelves—and end the unsafe practice of pushing suppliers into cutting corners.”

For more information please visit http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/holiday2009.

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UFCW News Service
www.ufcw.org

UFCW Coalition Launches New Wal-Mart Campaign,

“Nobody wants an economy where workers earn wages that can’t support a family. Nobody wants an economy where people who go to work everyday and work hard have to turn to public assistance for basic needs." 

-UFCW International President Joe Hansen, announced a new national comprehensive American values-driven agenda to hold Walmart accountable to its workers, our communities and the planet.

The UFCW announced a campaign challenging Wal-Mart to change its corporate practices for the sake of the economy and the communities in which it operates.

"We want to see some real change," said Patrick J. O'Neill, international vice president of UFCW in today's Washington Post.  You may watch the new advertisements here. Or Below

Week in Wal-Mart News

Wal-Mart continues to test their Latino thread of stores, hoping it will spark more U.S. expansion.

It's official a Wal-Mart will be built on a Civil War battle field.  But Preservationists say that the Wal-Mart Civil War battle is not over yet.

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Wal-Mart also spent $2.6 million lobbying in the 2nd quarter.

Wal-Mart uses recession in attempt to come to NYC

“Now, more than any other time in recent memory, New York City residents want and need better access to our stores so they are not forced to travel to New Jersey or Long Island to benefit from the savings Wal-Mart provides for working families,”... “Hopefully we will be able to bring a store to New York in the near future.” -a spokesman, Philip Serghini, in an e-mail message, in yesterdays Crain's.

Here is Wal-Mart once again using the recession as a frugal attempt to enter New York City.

Weekly Wal-Mart Round Up: July 20

Image by Lone Primate via Flickr

In Boston, a Superior Court judge here who refused to allow Wal-Mart to settle a class-action lawsuit involving off-the-clock work and shortened breaks has scheduled the case to go to trial Oct. 5, according to published reports.

In a long five year battle, UFCW Local 1400 (Canada) is appealing a decision by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Peter Foley, who ruled last month that the certification of a Wal-Mart, in the town of Weyburn, was wrong.

Workers in foreign factories that supply Wal-Mart can't blame the company for their alleged sweatshop conditions, despite the retail giant's code of conduct that's supposed to hold its contractors to decent labor standards, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

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OSHA cites Wal-Mart $7,000 for Black Friday Death.

A federal judge has given final approval to a $17.5 million settlement of a discrimination lawsuit that accused Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of not hiring black truck drivers.

The UFCW is appealing the decision in Canada which overturned the unionization of a Wal-Mart.

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A national Ad group has told Wal-Mart Stores yesterday that it should stop running TV ads claiming customers can save $700 a year by shopping its stores. This is not the first time Wal-Mart has been told to stop making claims like these in advertisements.

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Why Wal-Mart needs the Employee Free Choice Act.

Wal-Mart Watch Launches an NYC Watch Program

Our friends at Wal-Mart Watch have launched a site specifically designed to keep Wal-Mart out of New York City! Take a look for yourselves!

New York is the largest city in the United States. It's home to 8.3 million people – 27,147 persons per square mile – and zero Wal-Mart stores.

Much to the chagrin of Wal-Mart and its former CEO Lee Scott, Wal-Mart has had no luck in New York City. Masters of rural and suburban growth, Wal-Mart has never been able to circumvent the city's strong labor presence, activist population, and restrictive zoning laws. In 2004, Wal-Mart tried to open its first store in Rego Park, Queens and the move was met with opposition from a coalition of politicians, union organizers and community members. [New York Magazine, 8/8/05] Similarly, residents denied Wal-Mart when it attempted to open a store in Staten Island in 2005. [New York Times, 8/22/05]

big ups to everyone at Wal-Mart Watch!

Wal-Mart close to unionizing in Miami, Florida

Image by anonymonk via Flickr

Breaking news from Miami,
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Check their new video here.

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More Wal-Mart's around the country are showing signs of organizing.

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Image by AlaskaTeacher via Flickr

Wal-Mart was downgraded from 'buy' to 'hold' by Citi, why? Fear of the Employee Free Choice Act. [Reuters]

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Questionable donations in Chicago have spurred rumors and raised eyebrows regarding a development and Wal-Mart.

Supermarket News: "Wal-Mart denies interest in reported Manhattan sites"

Image via Wikipedia

Despite Supermarket News reporting this morning that Wal-Mart has declined interest in the Circut City and Virgin Megastore sites, Wal-Mart did acknowledge their continued interest in the "Jewel" of retail, New York City.

Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Applebaum called the move opportunistic:
"We don't need Wal-Mart to take a advantage of an economic crisis to sneak into New York and drive down standards and wages," he said.

He's right, the last thing this city needs is for Wal-Mart to continue to take advantage of the recission. Reports have surfaced in the past few weeks of their strategy to take advantage of the recession in order to "sneak" into cities, they've done so in Chicago and now California.


NYC Rumors

Gothamist: "Reverend Billy to send Wal-Mart back to lake of hellfire"

Sign the letter to the new Wal-Mart CEO

Today, Wal-Mart has a new CEO. Mike Duke has the historic opportunity to turn the page, and finally start doing things the right way at Wal-Mart. Sign our open letter of support to Wal-Mart workers, outlining what their new boss can do – starting today – to let them live better, too. We’ll be posting the letter on our website, and sending it to every employee that we talk with -- and we'll make sure to send Mike Duke a signed copy as well.

Follow this link to sign the letter: http://action.walmartwatch.com/page/s/mikeduke

Bruce Springsteen: "It was a mistake." (Doing business with Wal-Mart)

Image via Wikipedia

In the New York Times Sunday Bruce Springsteen expressed his regret on having his new album for sale exclusively at Wal-Mart.

“given its labor history, it was something that if we’d thought about it a little longer, we’d have done something different.” He added, “It was a mistake...."

You can read the entire piece here.

Wal-Mart Daily News...Bruce Springsteen regrets business with Wal-Mart

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Bruce Springsteen regrets the deal he made with Wal-Mart....

Bruce Springsteen calls his exclusive Wal-Mart deal a "mistake"...“given its labor history, it was something that if we’d thought about it a little longer, we’d have done something different.”

Netflix, the Web's No. 1 video rental service, and Wal-Mart are being accused in a class-action lawsuit of unfairly setting prices for their rental services.

More violence at Wal-Mart.

A woman was found dead at Wal-Mart in Albany.

The value of his Wal-Mart holdings went up $30.9 million to $202.6 million.

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Lee Scott, the outgoing chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores, asked business leaders to embrace such initiatives as universal health care, renewable energy and immigration reform during a presentation to attendees at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show here yesterday.

He [Lee Scott], also sees a new consumer mindset.

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Another Wal-Mart Tax loophole may come to an end, this time in West Virginia.

The UFCW is gearing up for their Wal-Mart battle in Canada.

More info on Wal-Mart's new private label line "the Wal-Mart Great Value line"

And if that's not enough Wal-Mart news, they're also on the verge of setting up shop in Russia.