Wednesday, November 30, 2005
One Battle Won in the Long War
East Orange County residents fend off Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has abandoned plans for a, are you sitting down?, 130,000 square foot superstore in East Orange County.
The initial objection was that the stores are ugly so Wal-Mart said they'd pretty up the exterior but residents still objected.
"I'm glad they listened to the citizens in this instance, but I still don't trust them, and I still won't shop in any of their stores," said Joey Jackson, a resident of Royal Manor Estates on Curry Ford Road.
But not every area has been successful in repelling the corporate raider that is Wal-Mart. We need to stand together, remain vigilant and fight this evil empire whereever it decides to try and settle its monopolostic backside. Where Wal-Mart goes, we must beat them there and send them away again. Let's force Wal-Mart to wander the desert for 40 years and see if they find a more enlightened path.
There's still more work to be done though so let's keep some soldiers on the ramparts just in case they try to slink away only to come rushing back in a surprise attack (it has happened before and they are not the most honorable of warriors). Vigilance is our ally, information is our weapon and communication is the way we can beat them.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Slow to React but Reacting Nonetheless
The initial objection was that the stores are ugly so Wal-Mart said they'd pretty up the exterior but residents still objected.
"I'm glad they listened to the citizens in this instance, but I still don't trust them, and I still won't shop in any of their stores," said Joey Jackson, a resident of Royal Manor Estates on Curry Ford Road.
But not every area has been successful in repelling the corporate raider that is Wal-Mart. We need to stand together, remain vigilant and fight this evil empire whereever it decides to try and settle its monopolostic backside. Where Wal-Mart goes, we must beat them there and send them away again. Let's force Wal-Mart to wander the desert for 40 years and see if they find a more enlightened path.
There's still more work to be done though so let's keep some soldiers on the ramparts just in case they try to slink away only to come rushing back in a surprise attack (it has happened before and they are not the most honorable of warriors). Vigilance is our ally, information is our weapon and communication is the way we can beat them.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Del.icio.us It
Digg It!Slow to React but Reacting Nonetheless
Wal-Mart memo proposes cost cuts by not hiring unhealthy people, by not keeping longer employees on staff, by hiring more part-time workers.
To discourage unhealthy people from applying the memo calls for a bogus physical activity like "cart-gathering". And less than 45 percent of Wal-Mart employees have company health insurance coverage now but it gets worse.
Here's a link to the PDF and another to the PDF as HTML (both are NY Times links and may require a BugMeNot or registration). Or, no wait, here's a link to my own version of the HTML'ed PDF file (which may not format or render in a pretty way but it should work without having to open Adobe, so there!). WalMartMemo.htm
Tags: Wal-Mart, WalMart
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Some Bite Size Wal-Mart Facts
To discourage unhealthy people from applying the memo calls for a bogus physical activity like "cart-gathering". And less than 45 percent of Wal-Mart employees have company health insurance coverage now but it gets worse.
The memo also proposed that employees pay more for their spouses' health insurance, called for cutting the company's 401(k) contributions to 3 percent of wages from 4 percent and for cutting company-paid life insurance policies.
The memo acknowledged that Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, had to walk a fine line in restraining benefits because critics attacked it for being stingy on wages and health coverage. Chambers in the memo acknowledged 46 percent of the children of Wal-Mart's 1.33 million United States employees were uninsured or on Medicaid.
Here's a link to the PDF and another to the PDF as HTML (both are NY Times links and may require a BugMeNot or registration). Or, no wait, here's a link to my own version of the HTML'ed PDF file (which may not format or render in a pretty way but it should work without having to open Adobe, so there!). WalMartMemo.htm
Tags: Wal-Mart, WalMart
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Some Bite Size Wal-Mart Facts
- Wal-Mart sales clerks made an average of $8.23 an hour—or $13,861 a year—in 2001. That's nearly $800 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. (Source: Business Week)
- In Georgia, Wal-Mart employees are six times more likely to rely on state-provided health care for their children than are employees of any other large company. (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Reliance on public assistance programs in California by Wal-Mart workers costs the state's taxpayers an estimated $86 million annually. (Source: UC Berkeley Study)
- In the first decade after Wal-Mart arrived in Iowa, the state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building supply stores, 161 variety stores, 158 women's apparel stores, 153 shoe stores, 116 drugstores, and 111 men's and boys' apparel stores. (Source: Iowa State University Study)
- Every year Wal-Mart purchases $15 billion worth of products from China. (Source: Washington Post)
- Today Wal-Mart uses over 3,000 Chinese factories to produce its goods—almost as many factories as it has stores in the U.S. (3,600). (Source: L.A. Times)
- All else being equal, U.S. counties where new Wal-Mart stores were built between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates than other U.S. counties. (Source: Pennsylvania State University Study)]
[Update 12/20/04: A new article about WalMart's business practices has just come to my attention. Inside the Leviathan. Scary stuff indeed!]
[Update: 4.7.04 CNN: California voters say 'no' to Wal-Mart]
Friday, November 18, 2005
Spread The Facts On Wal-Mart
- In Georgia, Wal-Mart employees are six times more likely to rely on state-provided health care for their children than are employees of any other large company. (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Reliance on public assistance programs in California by Wal-Mart workers costs the state's taxpayers an estimated $86 million annually. (Source: UC Berkeley Study)
- In the first decade after Wal-Mart arrived in Iowa, the state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building supply stores, 161 variety stores, 158 women's apparel stores, 153 shoe stores, 116 drugstores, and 111 men's and boys' apparel stores. (Source: Iowa State University Study)
- Every year Wal-Mart purchases $15 billion worth of products from China. (Source: Washington Post)
- Today Wal-Mart uses over 3,000 Chinese factories to produce its goods—almost as many factories as it has stores in the U.S. (3,600). (Source: L.A. Times)
- All else being equal, U.S. counties where new Wal-Mart stores were built between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates than other U.S. counties. (Source: Pennsylvania State University Study)]
[Update 12/20/04: A new article about WalMart's business practices has just come to my attention. Inside the Leviathan. Scary stuff indeed!]
[Update: 4.7.04 CNN: California voters say 'no' to Wal-Mart]
Friday, November 18, 2005
Spread The Facts On Wal-Mart
Spread The Facts On Wal-Mart
What Every American Needs to Know
What Every American Needs to Know
Excerpted, with permission, from James Hightower,"Thieves in High Places"
The owners of one of America's premiere retail corporations is comprised of five of the ten richest people in the world, all from the same family.
Their personal wealth eclipses $100 BILLION dollars. Last year the company's CEO was paid a cool $11.5 million, more than the annual salaries of 765 of his employees combined! The company's profits are over $7 BILLION annually.
In these difficult economic times how do they do it?
* This company runs ads featuring the United States flag and proclaims "We Buy American". In 2001 they moved their worldwide purchasing headquarters to China and are the largest importer of Chinese goods in the US, purchasing over $10 BILLION of Chinese-made products annually. Products made mostly by women and children working in the labor hell-holes China is famous for.
* Their average employee working in the US makes $15,000 a year, $7.22 per hour!
* These employees gross under $11,000 a year.
* The company brags that 70% of their employees are full time, but fails to disclose that they count anyone working 28 hours a week or more as full time.
* There are no health care benefits unless you have worked for the company for two years.
* With a turnover rate averaging above 50% per year, only 38% of their 1.3 million employees have health care coverage. -In California alone it's estimated that the taxpayers pay over $20 million annually to subsidize health care benefits for these employees who get none from this behemoth corporation.
* According to a report by PBS's "Now" with Bill Moyer, their managers are trained in what government social programs are available for these"employees" to take advantage of so that the company can pass on those costs to you and me. It allows them to not only keep their $7 BILLION in annual profits, but to do so by substituting benefits they refuse to provide with benefits paid for with taxpayer dollars.
* This company holds the record for the most suits filed against it by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A lawyer from "Business Week" (not exactly the bastion for supporting Labor) said, "I have never seen this kind of blatant disregard for the law." They had to pay $750,000.00 in Arizona for blatant discrimination against the disabled! The judge was so incensed that he also order them to run commercials admitting their guilt.
* The National Labor Relations Board has issued over 40 formal complaints against the corporation in 25 different states in just the past five years. The NLRB's top lawyer believed that their labor violations, such as Illegal spying on employees, fraudulent record keeping, falsifying time cards to avoid paying overtime, threats, illegal firings for union organizing etc., were so widespread that he was looking into filing a very rare national complaint against the company. (The company contributed $2,159,330.00 to GW Bush and the GOP in 2000 and 2002. The NLRB attorney was replaced when President Bush took office.).
* Nearly 1 MILLION women are involved in the largest class-action suit every filed against a corporation. Although women make up over 65% of this corporations work force only 10% of them are managers. The women who have become store managers make $16,400 a year LESS then the men.
* The corporation took out nearly 350,000 life insurance policies on their employees. They did not tell the employees and then named the corporation as the beneficiary. They are now being sued by numerous employees, and although the corporation has stopped this practice of purchasing what is known as "Dead Peasant Policy's", a company spokesperson stated, "The company feels it acted properly and legally in doing this."
* They force employees to work after ordering them to punch out. In Texas alone this practice of "wage theft" is estimated to have cost employees $30 million per year. Wage theft or "off-the-clock" lawsuits are pending in 25 states. In New Mexico they paid $400,000.00 in one suit and in Colorado they had to pay $50 MILLION to settle one class-action case brought against them. In Oregon a jury found them guilty of locking employees in the building and of forcing unpaid overtime.
* With 4,400 stores they practice "predatory pricing." They come into a community and sell their goods at below cost until they drive local businesses under. Once they have captured the market the prices go up.
* Locally owned and operated businesses put virtually all of their money back into the community which helps keep the local economies vibrant. This corporation sucks the money out of the local community, decreases wages and benefits and ships the profits out of state.
* This company doesn't buy locally or bank locally. They replace three decent paying jobs in a community with two poorly paid "part-timers".
* In Kirksville, Missouri when this company came to town, four clothing stores, four grocery stores, a stationary store, a fabric store and a lawn-and-garden store all went under. Eleven businesses are now gone.
(The above information can be found in "Thieves in High Places", James Hightower, The Penguin Group, New York, NY, 2003 p. 166 - 193.)
Now you know how they can claim, "Always low prices." Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world, larger than General Motors and ExxonMobil. Wal-Mart will reap over 250 billion in sales in 2003, which is larger than the entire gross national product of Israel and Ireland combined. It has over 1.3 million employees. It sells more groceries, jewelry, photo processing, dog food, and vitamins than any other chain in the world. Wal-Mart refuses to stock Emergency Contraception at its pharmacies. Wal-Mart & Sam's Club is owned by the Walton family.
They will also never see a dime from my wallet again.
Please feel free to circulate this memo to everyone on your email lists.
Only we, the citizens of this great country can stop this race to the
bottom.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Wal-Mart the Movie, a Free Screening
The owners of one of America's premiere retail corporations is comprised of five of the ten richest people in the world, all from the same family.
Their personal wealth eclipses $100 BILLION dollars. Last year the company's CEO was paid a cool $11.5 million, more than the annual salaries of 765 of his employees combined! The company's profits are over $7 BILLION annually.
In these difficult economic times how do they do it?
* This company runs ads featuring the United States flag and proclaims "We Buy American". In 2001 they moved their worldwide purchasing headquarters to China and are the largest importer of Chinese goods in the US, purchasing over $10 BILLION of Chinese-made products annually. Products made mostly by women and children working in the labor hell-holes China is famous for.
* Their average employee working in the US makes $15,000 a year, $7.22 per hour!
* These employees gross under $11,000 a year.
* The company brags that 70% of their employees are full time, but fails to disclose that they count anyone working 28 hours a week or more as full time.
* There are no health care benefits unless you have worked for the company for two years.
* With a turnover rate averaging above 50% per year, only 38% of their 1.3 million employees have health care coverage. -In California alone it's estimated that the taxpayers pay over $20 million annually to subsidize health care benefits for these employees who get none from this behemoth corporation.
* According to a report by PBS's "Now" with Bill Moyer, their managers are trained in what government social programs are available for these"employees" to take advantage of so that the company can pass on those costs to you and me. It allows them to not only keep their $7 BILLION in annual profits, but to do so by substituting benefits they refuse to provide with benefits paid for with taxpayer dollars.
* This company holds the record for the most suits filed against it by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A lawyer from "Business Week" (not exactly the bastion for supporting Labor) said, "I have never seen this kind of blatant disregard for the law." They had to pay $750,000.00 in Arizona for blatant discrimination against the disabled! The judge was so incensed that he also order them to run commercials admitting their guilt.
* The National Labor Relations Board has issued over 40 formal complaints against the corporation in 25 different states in just the past five years. The NLRB's top lawyer believed that their labor violations, such as Illegal spying on employees, fraudulent record keeping, falsifying time cards to avoid paying overtime, threats, illegal firings for union organizing etc., were so widespread that he was looking into filing a very rare national complaint against the company. (The company contributed $2,159,330.00 to GW Bush and the GOP in 2000 and 2002. The NLRB attorney was replaced when President Bush took office.).
* Nearly 1 MILLION women are involved in the largest class-action suit every filed against a corporation. Although women make up over 65% of this corporations work force only 10% of them are managers. The women who have become store managers make $16,400 a year LESS then the men.
* The corporation took out nearly 350,000 life insurance policies on their employees. They did not tell the employees and then named the corporation as the beneficiary. They are now being sued by numerous employees, and although the corporation has stopped this practice of purchasing what is known as "Dead Peasant Policy's", a company spokesperson stated, "The company feels it acted properly and legally in doing this."
* They force employees to work after ordering them to punch out. In Texas alone this practice of "wage theft" is estimated to have cost employees $30 million per year. Wage theft or "off-the-clock" lawsuits are pending in 25 states. In New Mexico they paid $400,000.00 in one suit and in Colorado they had to pay $50 MILLION to settle one class-action case brought against them. In Oregon a jury found them guilty of locking employees in the building and of forcing unpaid overtime.
* With 4,400 stores they practice "predatory pricing." They come into a community and sell their goods at below cost until they drive local businesses under. Once they have captured the market the prices go up.
* Locally owned and operated businesses put virtually all of their money back into the community which helps keep the local economies vibrant. This corporation sucks the money out of the local community, decreases wages and benefits and ships the profits out of state.
* This company doesn't buy locally or bank locally. They replace three decent paying jobs in a community with two poorly paid "part-timers".
* In Kirksville, Missouri when this company came to town, four clothing stores, four grocery stores, a stationary store, a fabric store and a lawn-and-garden store all went under. Eleven businesses are now gone.
(The above information can be found in "Thieves in High Places", James Hightower, The Penguin Group, New York, NY, 2003 p. 166 - 193.)
Now you know how they can claim, "Always low prices." Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world, larger than General Motors and ExxonMobil. Wal-Mart will reap over 250 billion in sales in 2003, which is larger than the entire gross national product of Israel and Ireland combined. It has over 1.3 million employees. It sells more groceries, jewelry, photo processing, dog food, and vitamins than any other chain in the world. Wal-Mart refuses to stock Emergency Contraception at its pharmacies. Wal-Mart & Sam's Club is owned by the Walton family.
They will also never see a dime from my wallet again.
Please feel free to circulate this memo to everyone on your email lists.
Only we, the citizens of this great country can stop this race to the
bottom.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Wal-Mart the Movie, a Free Screening
So this should be a decent first real post for the new blog inside the WalMart is Pure Evil page of Intellectual Poison. I'm sure the design will change as I tweak it to something close to a final version so bear with me or leave comments as to what works and what doesn't.
WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and their families, business owners and their communities, in an extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel... and shop.
SPECIAL SCREENING DETAILS
Wal-Mart The Movie
WHEN: November 19, 2005 at 5:00 PM
TICKET PRICE: FREE
HOSTED BY: Pajaro Primero: Alliance for Good Jobs and Healthy Neighborhoods.
What is your vision for the Pajaro you want to see in your family's future?
Childcare will be provided. Free snacks & beverages.
WHERE:
Pajaro Middle School
250 Salinas Rd.
Pajaro, CA 95076
DIRECTIONS: From Hwy. 1, turn East onto Salinas Rd. Bear left at the split.
The school is on the left about 2 miles. Event in Multipurpose Room. Childcare in Room 15.
PREMIERE WEEK is NOVEMBER 13th-19th
7000+ screenings planned in the largest grassroots mobilization in movie history!
www.walmartmovie.com
WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and their families, business owners and their communities, in an extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel... and shop.
SPECIAL SCREENING DETAILS
Wal-Mart The Movie
WHEN: November 19, 2005 at 5:00 PM
TICKET PRICE: FREE
HOSTED BY: Pajaro Primero: Alliance for Good Jobs and Healthy Neighborhoods.
What is your vision for the Pajaro you want to see in your family's future?
Childcare will be provided. Free snacks & beverages.
WHERE:
Pajaro Middle School
250 Salinas Rd.
Pajaro, CA 95076
DIRECTIONS: From Hwy. 1, turn East onto Salinas Rd. Bear left at the split.
The school is on the left about 2 miles. Event in Multipurpose Room. Childcare in Room 15.
PREMIERE WEEK is NOVEMBER 13th-19th
7000+ screenings planned in the largest grassroots mobilization in movie history!
www.walmartmovie.com