The time is here! We’re coming together to demand that Walmart change its profit-at-any-cost business model. Take Action Now!
As the world’s largest private employer, Walmart impacts all of our lives. Communities, workers, organizations and elected officials are coming together to demand that Walmart improve living conditions and guarantee the rights of workers, care for the environment, rebuild our communities and elevate global living standards.
The following update comes from Boulder, CO where on April 25th workers stood up for better treatment from their employer, Walmart. Walmart workers are part of the environment, too.by Matt Nicdodemus, Occupy BoulderLast Thursday, as part of national coordinated actions to support Walmart workers seeking higher wages, more hours, and more transparent scheduling, I and two friends set out in a car to meet with managers at seven area Walmart stores. After stopping at the Walmart Neighborhood Market under construction in Boulder's Diagonal Mall, we visited the Supercenters in Broomfield, Westminster, Lafayette and Longmont. At each site, we found the store manager or an assistant manager and delivered to them information about important changes that Walmart's top management had committed to make in the company, changes that would make it more possible for their "associates" to get the number of hours of work and regularity of hours assignments that would allow them to subsist on a more stable income. We informed the managers that these changes, promised several months ago, had still not been implemented at more than a few stores in the US, and encouraged them to try and help the process of improvement along by communicating with top management.p>
Breaking news from California as reported by Josh Eidelson in The Nation: In a tentative ruling released minutes ago, District Court Judge Christina Snyder signaled she intends to grant a request to add Walmart as a named defendant in a federal class action lawsuit over alleged wage theft at its California distribution centers. The ruling is a setback for the retail giant, which has maintained that it is not legally responsible for the alleged abuses by its contractors and sub-contractors. Judge Snyder will hear arguments from attorneys for both sides today, and could issue a final ruling within hours.Read full article here.
PLEDGE SOLIDARITY WITH WALMART WORKERS IN 2013!
Walmart is the biggest private employer in the world, and one of the worst. The work that we do together to improve working conditions for Walmart workers throughout the supply chain impacts the lives of over 2 million employees and improves all of our lives and communities. Let’s make 2013 the year we improve the economy so it works for all of us, not just those at the top.Our gift to each other can be a multitude of small acts of solidarity that add up to an invincible force for change.Click here to sign this pledge to take action in 2013 as part of your New Year’s Resolutions.Whether through song, dance,visual arts or more; cultural work not only adds pizazz to your protests but builds community and effectiveness. Check out these creative ways to make your voice heard!1. Not Just full of hot air: Lift up your message with a balloon banner! Bring your protests to new heights! See how here.2. Culture Jamming Creativity: use common logos, corporate advertising, or seasonal connections. 3. FaLaLa and HoHoHo: Take advantage of the season, and plan a holiday themed action. Caroling and dressing up like the Grinch or Santa Claus, can make your point more fun!
4. Light Up your message!: With a spot light, LCD projector or glow sticks, throwing light into your actions will project your message. Check out the tutorial on outdoor projections.
5. Everyone isn’t an artist!: Luckily, a group of creative folks have crowd sourced images about Walmart and our solidarity in resistance. Get inspired by Artists vs Walmart.
6. ROAR!! Use Social Media and people’s love of animals to highlight Walmart’s abuses and our resistance through the adorable images of kittens and puppies. Class War Kitteh!
7. TWEET use the #WalmartElves tag and look for other hashtags promoted by corporations that are ripe for appropriation. Take over the conversation and have fun.
8. The longest March begins with the First Step-- In the tradition of Gandhi and the Farmworkers, take your show on the road and into the public frame...
9. DANCE! Shake, rattle and roll with a well planned flashmob to get noticed! Flashmob!
10. Visit the 2012 Walmart Advent Calendar: Our 2012 Holiday Calendar opens up each day to reveal a fact about Walmart and actions we can take to make change. Countdown to the New Year and stay engaged with the Walmart workers’ struggle for justice throughout the holiday season bit.ly/WalmartHoliday
Workers have been speaking up for change at Walmart. In retaliation, Walmart has lashed out and some workers have had their hours cut, their schedules turned upside down, and some have even been fired.
Sign up on the right to attend this event and send a message to Walmart that they must treat their workers fairly year round!
Walmart receives tax breaks to build more stores. The Walton Family spends its fortune helping CPS close public schools and open charters. Enough is enough!
From the Chicago Teachers Union website (http://www.ctunet.com/blog/walton-family-school-reform-initiatives-in-chicago-reveals-true-education-agenda):
"As CPS prepared its closure list, the Walton Family Foundation bankrolled a “community engagement process,” with meetings led by Walton-paid consultants, to provide the illusion that the school closure process was open and democratic. Meanwhile, the Waltons also paid $3.8 million in 2012 to open new charter schools in Chicago. Given the Waltons’ strong support of school vouchers and charter schools, public school supporters were deeply skeptical that public opinion was truly meant to be heard and fully considered at these meetings. Media were banned from attending, but Walton Family Foundation staff attended. Now the family is funding a series of ads and videos that the system is using to try to justify the closings."
In January 2013, after speaking out about the issue for more than a year, OUR Walmart, the Walmart workers’ group, won a huge victory: Walmart publicly announced that it would provide more transparency in scheduling and offer part time workers the opportunity to get the hours they so desperately need. Three months later, workers report that Walmart has yet to make good on its public commitment to change.
