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.

Wal-Mart Stores here will discuss the development of a new index that measures the "social and environmental impact" of its products at a press conference today, reports said yesterday.

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.

Wal-Mart, messes up sales tax in second state, makes another false claim in new Ad...

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.

Wal-Mart has also named a new diversity officer.

Wal-Mart is also having yet another 'sales tax mishap', overcharging customers, this time in Missouri. If you remember this was previously an issue in Connecticut.

Lee Scott, the former chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores, called on attendees at the CIES World Food Business Summit here on Friday to join the Global Social Compliance Program to help ensure that suppliers are adhering to local wage and environmental regulations.


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,
Miami may have the first Wal-Mart to unionize in the United States.

Walmart Workers for Change, a new campaign claiming to represent thousands of the Bentonville, Ark.-based mega-retailer’s 1.3 million associates across the United States, the campaign has employees in over 100 stores in 15 states who have signed union representation cards, alleging a lack of respect from the company, in addition to low wages and inadequate benefits as reasons to become unionized.

Check their new video here.

Chicago's Wal-Mart super-center is now back on the table.

Exon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart Stores to top the Fortune 500.

UFCW steps up organizing efforts at Wal-Mart.

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

Questionable donations by Wal-Mart, Employee Free Choice...

Image by AlaskaTeacher via Flickr

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

Wal-Mart's Sam's Club has a new CEO.

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.

Image via WikipediaLee Scott scores again, even in a 'recession', a CNN Money Blog analyzes how bad CEO's did in the market, then they look at Lee Scott...

Wal-Mart continues world domination, acquiring over 58% of a Chilean supermarket.

Weekly Wal-Mart News, Tax loopholes close, Lee Scott for Universal Healthcare and a new private label line.

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeYesterday Lee Scott addressed the National Retail Federation in New York City, urging cooperation to solve the nations health care crisis.

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.

Local retailers throughout China are teaming up to battle Wal-Mart.

The recession finally hits Wal-Mart.

The first Wal-Mart neighborhood market opened in Virginia...They also opened one in Florida today.

Wal-Mart also continues to violate Connecticut state tax laws, even after promising to comply.

The Animal Defence League of Canada is celebrating a "major victory" after Wal-Mart Canada agreed to pull a type of Chinese-made slippers that contained real rabbit fur from its shelves.

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.

Wal-Mart still not good for NYC

A study released yesterday by the non-profit Fiscal Policy Institute shows that retail is the industry sector that employs the biggest chunk of the 1.3 million low-wage workers in this city -- that is, workers earning less than $13 per hour. Nearly half of these 176,000 low-wage retail workers earn less than $10 an hour, and the majority lack health insurance.


This re-affirms our belief that Wal-Mart's business ethics and practices are not good for our city. There is more to life than cheap underwear.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Headlines...

Image via Wikipedia
Wal-Mart refused to allow a Salvation Army Volunteer to ring his holiday bell inside the store in the midst of a blizzard.

Wal-Mart may try to open a second Chicago store...

An Arab- and Muslim-American man filed a $12 million lawsuit Thursday against a Wal-Mart store that caters to his community -- saying employees discriminated against him and fired him because of his background.

About 150 workers at a Wal-Mart store here became the ninth group of Canadian Wal-Mart employees to be granted union certification, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said Thursday.
Read more of this story

3 Years Later, another Wal-Mart unionized in Canada

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After three-and-a-half years of legal wrangling, over 150 Wal-Mart workers in Hull, Que., have become the latest Canadian “associates” to join the union.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Ufcw-Canada-931602.html

Attention: Assignment Editor, Business/Financial Editor, City Editor, News Editor, Government/Political Affairs Editor

HULL, QUE., NEWS RELEASE--(Marketwire - Dec. 18, 2008) -

Over 150 Wal-Mart workers in Hull, Que., have become the ninth group of Canadian "associates" to join the country's largest private-sector union after a Dec. 17 decision by the Quebec Labour Board awarded bargaining rights for the Hull location to the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW Canada).

"After nine times, the message coming from Wal-Mart workers in Canada to Wal-Mart executives in Bentonville, Arkansas, couldn't be louder or clearer: Canadian Wal-Mart workers want to be union members," says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley.

"Hopefully, this decision will help Wal-Mart to understand that Canada is a place where labour rights are human rights, and where people take their rights very seriously. Hopefully, Wal-Mart won't squander another chance to prove its critics wrong, and it will take this opportunity to show the world that it believes in human rights by sitting down with these Hull workers to negotiate a contract in good faith," said Hanley, making reference to Wal-Mart's past practice of closing stores or departments shortly after becoming unionized.

The Dec. 17 decision affects the Hull main store, and comes three-and-a-half years after the union originally made an application for certification. The store's adjoining Tire & Lube Express was certified as a separate bargaining unit in 2005. The labour relations process for the main store was drawn-out by several legal challenges put forward by the company.

According to Louis Bolduc, executive assistant to the UFCW Canada National President, negotiations for the two Hull Wal-Mart units will commence as soon as possible, but bargaining dates have yet to be scheduled.

UFCW Canada is Canada's largest private-sector union with over 250,000 members coast to coast.

/For further information: Guy Chenier, President UFCW Canada Local 486 (819) 777 – 8822 /


IN: ECONOMY, JUSTICE, LABOUR, RETAIL

For more information, please contact

Derek Johnstone, UFCW Canada National Communications Dept., UFCW CANADA
Primary Phone: 416-675-1104 ext. 222
Secondary Phone: 416-720-8858

It's only Tuesday...

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeAnd here is what Wal-Mart has accomplished this week:

NYSUT and the state Labor-Religion Coalition are sounding the alarm over a recent report that links a popular school-uniform clothing line sold at Wal-Mart to a Bangladeshi factory that forces its workers to labor in extreme sweatshop conditions.

Wal-Mart has also finally come clean and fessed up to charging illegal taxes in Connecticut.

It keeps getting better for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., they were ordered to pay up to $54.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the discount giant cut workers' break time and allowed employees to work off the clock in Minnesota.

Moscow News picked up the death on Black Friday story.

The Seattle Times writes the audio accounts leading up to Damour's death.

Yet the shoppers don't stop, Wal-Mart, adding to its counter-trend achievements this year by posting the highest earnings among retailers, $13.7 billion. The profit is more than earnings projections for the next three companies' combined,

The Building Blocks Project

Every family needs access to healthy, affordable food; and every worker has the right to organize, earn a living wage, and have quality health insurance and benefits. That is why the Building Blocks Project brings together so many different people—workers, healthcare professionals, hunger and nutrition advocates, food access experts, elected leaders, community activists and faith-based leaders—to ensure that all communities are built on a solid foundation of three Building Blocks: Good Food, Good Jobs, and Good Health.

Be part of the conversation and join the movement! Learn more about the Building Blocks Project, find the facts about food justice, become involved in your community, and stand in solidarity with other workers and eaters so that we can all share in the American Dream. Please visit the Building Blocks Project’s new website (http://buildingblocksproject.org/), which we are happy to launch today

Wal-Mart sued for 'Mind Control'?

A man in Canada is suing Wal-Mart, Microsoft, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for alleged mind control, satanism and witchcraft. The man claims he was "subject to invasive brain computer interface technology, research, experiments, field studies and surgery." He is seeking $2 billion in damages.

Read the entire story here.

Unfair labour practices case against Wal-Mart moving forward

Unfair labour practices case against Wal-Mart moving forward

Leader-Post

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=43147640-9156-46ec-aae2-f13e31c2291f

REGINA -- An unfair labour practices case -- involving allegations that Wal-Mart Canada tried to intimidate workers in Saskatchewan by closing a store in Quebec -- can proceed, according to a ruling by the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board.

The board, in a decision released Oct. 24, dismissed a "preliminary application'' by Wal-Mart to quash the application by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which is seeking permission to represent Wal-Mart workers in Weyburn, North Battleford and Moose Jaw.

The UFCW argued that the threat of closure and the closure of a Wal-Mart store in Jonquirere, Que., after it was unionized was an unfair labour practice designed to intimidate workers, including Wal-Mart workers in Saskatchewan.

John Beckman, a lawyer who represents Wal-Mart, argued against the union application on several grounds, including one that the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board had no jurisdiction to make rulings on events which occurred in Quebec.

But the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board ruled that it "has the jurisdiction to inquire into, hear and determine the application'' made by the union.

"The fact that the actions of Wal-Mart upon which the allegations are based were committed outside of Saskatchewan does not mean that they cannot constitute violation of the restriction on intimidation of its employees in (Saskatchewan),'' the labour relations board ruled.

The ruling by the board is the latest one in a long-standing fight between the UFCW and Wal-Mart about the unionization of Wal-Mart workers in Saskatchewan and about related legal and labour relations issues.

© Leader-Post 2008

Wal-Mart Closes Tire Center after workers vote to Unionize...

Image via Wikipedia

Wal-Mart closes unionized Canada center [Associated Press] 

Union-backed groups Wal-Mart Watch and WakeUpWalMart criticized the company for the closure. "The Gatineau workers have merely exercised their human rights under Canadian Law, something that is clearly unacceptable to Wal-Mart," Wal-Mart Watch director David Nasser said.

 

Wal-Mart Closes Quebec Tire Center After Labor Accord [Bloomberg News]
Wal-Mart Watch, a U.S. worker advocacy group, said the shop closing shows the retailer is willing to do anything to prevent workers from receiving better wages and benefits. "The closure in Canada clearly shows that Wal-Mart has no desire to change," it said in an e-mailed statement.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., known for its strong stance against workers unionizing, on Thursday closed a tire and lube center in Canada where workers had voted to organize.
A Wal-Mart spokesman said the five workers and one manager at the center were offered jobs at comparable Wal-Mart facilities or elsewhere in the store, which is located in Gatineau, Quebec and has more than 250 workers. The store itself will remain open.

Wal-Mart stories of the week

Newsday covers the barred opening of the Riverhead Wal-Mart.

Another Wal-Mart supplier has been accused of sweatshop conditions, employees were forced into 19 hour work days while being paid sometimes less than $20.00 a month.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have reached a settlement over alleged violations of the Clear Air Act, which prohibits the sale or distribution of nonessential products containing ozone-depleting substances.