(CNSNews.com) - A labor union that wants ABC News to drop Wal-Mart as a sponsor of its "Only in America" series is enlisting the help of Congress.
Twenty-one lawmakers released a joint letter Tuesday, urging ABC News -- "in the name of honesty and accuracy in the media" -- to drop Wal-Mart as a sponsor of the series that airs on "Good Morning America."
The letter was addressed to David Westin, president of ABC News, and it was written at the urging of the United Food and Commercial Workers, which says it helps workers achieve better wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions.
"Wal-Mart values are not American values," said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), one of the letter-signers. "Crummy healthcare, an assault on small businesses, and poor wages is not what we value in America," he added.
Likewise, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) called it a "sad day when ABC News would allow itself to be used by Wal-Mart to sell a corporate image based on lies and myths. One only has to look at the real Wal-Mart record to realize the severe damage this company has done to American families and communities," Pascrell said in a press release put out by the UFCW.
Labor unions are perpetual critics of Wal-Mart -- a successful, expanding, non-union retailer.
Wal-Mart advertises low prices, and it is able to keep prices low by drawing on non-union labor -- and non-union suppliers, mostly in China.
The UFCW calls Wal-Mart's sponsorship of GMA's "Only in America" series an "attempt to wrap itself in the American flag" -- both "hypocritical and misleading," given its dependence on Chinese factories.
But Wal-Mart insists it does a lot for American communities, too. Aside from providing jobs, Wal-Mart says its property taxes, sales tax revenue and community giving help fund basic services such as police and fire departments, schools, and charities.
"The typical Supercenter raises or gives $30,000 to $50,000 a year to local charitable needs ranging from youth programs to literacy councils," the Wal-Mart website says.
In fact, Wal-Mart says it is the largest corporate cash contributor in America. In the fiscal year ending 2005, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and the Wal-Mart Sam's Club Foundation contributed more than $170 million to support communities and local non-profit organizations, the website says.
'Grassroots movement'
Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said he is "delighted" to see so many Members of Congress (21 so far) join in the growing movement to pressure ABC News to drop Wal-Mart as a sponsor.
"I join with other Americans who think it is time for Wal-Mart to stop relying on slogans and start doing what is right for our families and America," said Hansen.
The UFCW says the joint congressional letter is the latest step in a "growing grassroots movement" against Wal-Mart. The union also is circulating an online petition, asking ABC News to drop Wal-Mart as a sponsor of its "Only in America" series.
Some 13,000 people have signed the petition, the UFCW said.
The UFCW represents 1.4 million workers at the nation's major supermarket, food processing and meatpacking companies. UFCW members also work in the health care, garment, chemical, distillery and retail industries.
Wal-Mart is a sponsor of Good Morning America’s "Only in America" series, a series that features the patriotic and brave stories of so many Americans who make this nation better and stronger. With this sponsorship, ABC News provides Wal-Mart both a format and visual framing to perpetuate a long-term myth—that Wal-Mart possesses a unique American patriotism manifested in practices that promote American values, respect workers, and privilege American-made products. There could be no greater distance between “Only in America” and the reality behind Wal-Mart’s image machinery.
Wal-Mart’s use of its “Only in America” sponsorship is simply another cynical attempt to deceive customers about Wal-Mart’s responsibility for sending more jobs overseas than any other American corporation and lowering U.S. wages.
70% of Wal-Mart items are made overseas, often in Third World sweatshops. (China Inc., Ted Fishman, 2/12/05)
More than 80% of the 6,000 factories in Wal-Mart’s database of suppliers are in China. (Washington Post, 2/8/04)
If Wal-Mart were an individual economy, it would rank as China’s eighth largest trading partner. (China Business Daily, 11/29/04)
As documented by the PBS report on Wal-Mart, “only after Wal-Mart’s ‘Buy American’ ad campaign was in full swing did the company become the country’s largest importer of Chinese goods in any industry.” (PBS Frontline, Is Wal-Mart Good for America)
These facts, among others, raise damning evidence regarding the credibility of Wal-Mart sponsoring ABC’s “Only in America” series. More troubling is Wal-Mart’s long history of business practices that have cost so many Americans their jobs and their businesses, while undermining the uniquely American spirit embraced by the Good Morning America series.
Call on ABC News President David Westin to drop Wal-Mart immediately as a sponsor of this segment, and to take down the company’s internet ads which further attempt to connect Wal-Mart with the “Only in America” slogan.
Sign Now http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/abcnews/step1.tcl
WASHINGTON, March 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In Arkansas, the birthplace and headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the state's Department of Human Services released damning figures yesterday stating that the retail giant leads the list of top 10 employers whose workers are receiving state welfare. Arkansas is the ninth state to release such figures recently, showing Wal-Mart consistently ranking at or near the top in total employees on state aid.
According to a statement by the United Food and Commercial Workers at http://www.ufcw.org, "Wal-Mart is in the midst of a multi-million dollar media effort in an attempt to hide serious employment practice problems. When the company continues to price health care coverage out of reach of approximately 700,000 employees nationwide, it's bound to force workers onto state aid programs and force taxpayers to foot the bill for Wal-Mart's irresponsible corporate behavior."
The Arkansas study shows that nearly 4,000 of the companies 45,106 employees are on public assistance, with a vast majority of them receiving Medicaid for their children. Food stamps and transitional employment make up the rest of the public assistance, costing the state $39.6 million per year.
"Wal-Mart-one of the richest companies in the world-has cheated workers out of pay, shifts health care costs to taxpayers, faces the largest sex discrimination suit in history, and puts illegal operations into motion whenever workers seek a voice on the job," noted the UFCW statement. "It's a company where fairness for employees and taxpayers in communities where Wal-Mart operates is hard to find. Every one, in one way or another, has to pick up the tab for Wal-Mart's irresponsible conduct.
While Wal-Mart claims to have similar health care coverage as other large retailers, a recent Harvard Business School study shows otherwise. The study, conducted in 2002, shows that Wal- Mart spent an average of $3,500 a year on health care for each employee, compared with $4,800 for the average retailer and $5,600 for the average U.S. company. In Tennessee these numbers are even worse, with 9,617 of Wal-Mart's 3,700 employees, or 26 percent, on state aid according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
This nation-wide trend is putting pressure on state health care systems. To contrast the problem of employers like Wal-Mart shifting the cost of health care on to taxpayers, twenty-six state legislatures are currently considering bills to require states to disclose which employers are abusing state public health care programs.
Wal-Mart's auto repair workers in St-Hyacinthe, Quebec have voted to be represented by UFCW. The Quebec Labour Relations Board has now granted union certification for the repair shop. Already earlier, some 200 workers in the St-Hyacinthe Wal-Mart store were unionised.
- We are constantly working to improve the working and living conditions of Wal-Mart employees, and we will persevere, said Yvon Bellemare, president of UFCW Local 501 and the union's Quebec president, to CBC News
In Loveland, Colorado, Wal-Mart's repression has been stepped up after tire and lube workers were scared off from voting for union representation. Ryszard Tomtas, a former Solidarnosc activist from Poland, chained himself to a traffic sign outside the Wal-Mart store and announced that he would go on hunger strike.
Tomtas told ABC News that he had been fired for signing a UFCW union card. He has filed a complaint against Wal-Mart with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Solidarnosc, his former trade union in Poland, suffered from repression and union busting by the communist regime, acting under Soviet orders. Now, Ryszard Tomtas encounters a similar approach by the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart.
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Auto repair shop employees at a Wal-Mart store in St- Hyacinthe, Quebec, have been granted union certification by the province's labour relations board, Canadian Press reported.
The application to certify about 10 auto repair shop employees was submitted Jan. 28, CP reported.
About 200 workers at the store 60 kilometres east of Montreal were unionized Jan. 18, CP reported. Negotiations with the company are set to begin March 16, the United Food and Commercial Workers union said in a news release, CP reported.
We are constantly working to improve the working and living conditions of Wal-Mart employees, and we will persevere," said Yvon Bellemare, president of Local 501 and the union's Quebec president, CP reported.
A wide-ranging union drive is underway in Wal-Mart stores in Quebec and several other Canadian provinces, CP reported.
Wal-Mart workers in Windsor, Ontario, voted this week against unionization, CP reported.
The only two unionized Wal-Mart stores in North America are in St-Hyacinthe and Saguenay, Que., 250 kilometres north of Quebec City, CP reported.
Last month, after Saguenay employees voted to unionize, the company announced the store would close in May citing its unprofitability, CP reported.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world's largest retailer, has resisted increasing pressure to accept unionized stores, CP reported.
The UFCW has been attempting to unionize workers in seven Wal-Mart auto departments in British Columbia, CP reported.
WASHINGTON, March 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Joseph T. Hansen, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) was named to a 14-member Citizens' Health Care Working Group. Hansen is the only representative from organized labor working with the esteemed group of health care providers, economists, health care advocates and other leaders.
The 14 panelists, named by the Comptroller General of the United States David M. Walker, were assembled from more than 500 applicants and are charged with the duty of holding a national dialogue on issues relating to health care services, delivery and cost.
"I am deeply honored to serve in this vital endeavor to address the growing health care crisis and I look forward to working with my fellow panelists," said Hansen. "The nation's health care tab is already the highest in the world, and I am committed to exploring solutions that will reduce costs while improving care for the greatest number of people."
The working group was created by Congress and will hold hearings and community meetings across the country on health coverage and cost issues, and, ultimately, issue a "Health Report to the American People."
As the leader of the 1.4 million-member UFCW, Hansen represents America's neighborhood union. UFCW members put food on the table for America's families, working in neighborhood supermarkets, as well as in meatpacking, food processing and other industries.
With more than 40 years of experience negotiating contracts covering wages, health care benefits, pensions and other workplace benefits, Hansen is acutely aware of the nation's health care crisis. He understands how rising health care costs are forcing a downward pressure on workers' living standards. He also knows first-hand how skyrocketing costs are encouraging some employers to scale back and eliminate employee health care plans in order to gain competitive advantages in their industries.
"The health care crisis is a national problem that requires a national solution," said Hansen. "I have great confidence that our group can lay the foundation for bringing America together to confront this challenge."
For more information, contact Greg Denier, 202-466-1591 or e-mail press@ufcw.org
WASHINGTON -- Wal-Mart and other retailers are lobbying Congress to extend the workday for truckers to 16 hours, something labor unions and safety advocates say would make roadways more dangerous for all drivers.
Rep. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican whose district includes Wal-Mart's headquarters in Fayetteville, is sponsoring a bill that would allow a 16-hour workday as long as the trucker took an unpaid two-hour break. The proposal is expected to be offered as an amendment during debate over the highway spending bill on Wednesday.
"Truckers are pushing harder than ever to make their runs within the mandated timeframe," Boozman said. "Optional rest breaks will reduce driver layovers and improve both safety and efficiency."
Current rules limit drivers' workdays to 14 hours, with only 11 consecutive hours of driving allowed, union leaders and safety advocates say. That gives truckers three hours to eat, rest or load and unload their trucks.
Critics of the proposal accuse Wal-Mart of trying to fatten its profits by forcing truckers to spend more time waiting at the loading dock without getting paid.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters "hasn't gotten one complaint from drivers saying they don't have time for a break or a meal," the union's vice president, John Murphy, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Joan Claybrook, president of the safety advocacy group Public Citizen, said drivers could end up starting their workday at 8 a.m. and quitting at midnight.
"This is a sweatshop-on-wheels amendment," Claybrook said. "The last thing we need is for tired truckers to become even more fatigued and threaten the safety of those around them on the roads."
The current rule had been struck down in federal court because it didn't take into account truck drivers' health. In October, Congress reinstated the rule for one year. If the Boozman proposal is adopted, it would retain the 16-hour workday regardless of any new rule.
Nearly 5,000 people were killed in large truck crashes in 2003, and those vehicles were three times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than passenger cars, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
Wal-Mart spokesman Erik Winborn said the proposal has broad support among the trucking industry and other retailers.
"We support it because we feel it would actually enhance safety rather than hurt safety," said Winborn, whose company employs about 7,000 truck drivers.
Wal-Mart employees were Boozman's top contributors in 2003-04, giving him $48,152 for his re-election campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Wal-Mart and its employees gave $44,500 to Boozman for his first successful bid for Congress in 2001-02, the last year corporations could give to congressional candidates.
CINCINNATI (March 8, 2005) - Kroger here may be considering making a play for a large chunk of Winn-Dixie, according to a report in the South Florida Business Journal. Kroger would serve as a supplier to a portion of the bankrupt supermarket operator's 900-plus supermarkets at first. Eventually, it would take over Winn-Dixie’s operations in northern Florida and other states, the report said. Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie would retain a core group of stores in southern and central Florida. The report cited two anonymous sources, and noted that a final agreement had not been agreed upon. Spokespeople for both Kroger and Winn-Dixie declined to comment.
Unionizing vote scheduled today Sides file charges with labour board
DANA FLAVELLE
BUSINESS REPORTER
The fight to unionize the Wal-Mart store in Windsor has turned ugly as the store's more than 200 employees vote today on whether to become the giant U.S. retailer's third unionized outlet in North America.
Both sides filed charges of unfair labour practices with the Ontario Labour Relations Board yesterday containing a raft of allegations.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union says Wal-Mart is conducting a union-busting campaign similar to one that produced the failure of a former union at the store nearly a decade ago.
Wal-Mart, for its part, has accused the union of using force and intimidation to recruit the workforce.
Windsor is the latest battleground in the union's North American attempt to penetrate the world's largest retailer.
The fight is being closely watched by unions and employers because of Wal-mart's enormous size and influence over the economic landscape.
Last month, Wal-Mart announced it would close a store in Jonquiere, Que., amid bargaining toward a first contract, saying the store had become unprofitable.
The Windsor store is, however, a little different from the others because it was previously unionized, by the United Steelworkers of America. And although the union was later decertified, some of the same employees still work at the store and, the food workers union says, have provided the union with new ammunition.
For example, the union says in its complaint to the labour board that two anti-union Windsor Wal-Mart employees, who have since switched sides, say a mysterious figure who supported the two workers' efforts to get rid of the union last time has since reappeared.
"Some of the employees are still working at the store, and they have given evidence that the man who was the secret operative between them and Wal-Mart a decade ago has recently resurfaced and is behind a new campaign to make sure today's vote at the Windsor store fails," Michael Fraser, national director of UFCW Canada, said yesterday.
Wal-Mart said it is reviewing the union's complaint and will vigorously defend itself.
The union, in its labour board filing, also takes issue with the government of former Ontario premier Mike Harris, which subsequently brought in tougher labour laws.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart yesterday accused the food and commercial workers union of intimidating workers and, in one case, physically assaulting a store employee during an altercation over the weekend.
"It was an unfortunate incident, and we don't condone it in any way," union spokesperson Mike Forman said yesterday. The union organizer has since filed counter-charges against the store manager involved, Forman added.
A company spokesperson said "it seems to us that the union filed this complaint to deflect attention from the fact that a UFCW organizer beat up a Wal-Mart associate."
The results of today's vote aren't expected to be known for some time.
WINDSOR, Ont. - Five years after the first unionized Wal-Mart store in Canada was decertified without winning a contract, union organizers say they've signed enough workers at the same store to hold a new vote.
The United Food and Commercial Workers is asking provincial labor officials to hold a vote next week at a store in Windsor, Ont., according to a report in Thursday's edition of The Windsor Star. The union said Wednesday that more than 40 percent of workers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s east Windsor location have signed union cards — the minimum required to hold a certification vote.
Wal-Mart employees want to have a voice, want to have a say in what goes on with them at work," Andrew Mackenzie, the union's national representative, said at a news conference. "They want most of all to have respect at work."
The Ontario Labour Relations Board has not yet determined a date for the vote.
Mackenzie said his union would also like to represent workers at another Wal-Mart in the city, where he says he has fielded many requests for representation.
"It's our intention to unionize Wal-Mart stores wherever workers themselves are ready to stand up and try to make it happen," he said. "And there are workers in all the stores in the area who are having those kinds of feelings."
Wal-Mart Canada spokesman Andrew Pelletier said unionization votes at his company have failed because Wal-Mart is a good employer.
"We've always respected people's rights to decide on these issues," Pelletier said, according to the Windsor Star. "But we believe it's good for our associates when they can deal directly with the company. We believe in open communication."
Workers at a Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express in Loveland, Colo., voted 17-1 against union representation on Feb. 25, rejecting efforts to establish what would have been the second union inside any Wal-Mart store in the United States.
Reaction to potential unionization among Windsor workers was mixed.
"They say we can talk to the managers whenever we want to, but it really does not happen," maintenance worker Brent Fralic said.
But Brian Dickerson, a seasonal department manager, disagreed.
"Management treats us fairly," said Dickerson. "We don't need a union."
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer with more than 4,000 stores worldwide, has been facing increasing pressure to accept unionized stores, but has so far resisted.
The only two unionized Wal-Mart stores in North America are in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., and Jonquiere, Que., though neither negotiated a first contract.
Last month, Wal-Mart announced that it plans to close the Jonquiere store this spring, claiming it is unprofitable.
The organizing campaign by the UFCW is the second attempt at the Windsor store. Employees at the store voted in the 1990s against joining the United Steelworkers of America. But the Ontario labor board ruled in 1997 that the company engaged in a pattern of misconduct, and automatically certified the employees.
Workers turned down the first contract proposal. The Canadian Auto Workers (news - web sites) eventually represented them, but also failed to win a subsequent contract, and in 2000 decided to cut its losses. The union was decertified.