Walmart Workers Plan for Bigger 2013 with Ally Support

Posted on February 14, 2013 by jway

Last week, OUR Walmart members and their growing coalition of allies from around the country met in Washington, DC. The group met to discuss the successes and short-comings of last year’s historic Black Friday strike, as well as to build toward a more bigger and more exciting 2013.

Organizations representing a broad cross section of the progressive movement, from labor and corporate watch-dog groups to civil rights and womens’ groups gathered to express their support for Walmart workers. The organizations pledged to take swift bold action against Walmart’s attempts to silence and intimidate its workers for speaking out for change. Additionally, they discussed an exciting calendar of events for 2013.

Ally support was absolutely essential to the success of Black Friday and to Walmart workers continuing efforts to make change. If the strength of the allies at this first meeting is any indication, it looks like 2013 will be a promising year for making positive change in the lives of Walmart workers.

Comments

  • tompnoonan1961

    let get Walmart change into United
    Food And Commercial Workers Unionize Walmart Store for all Walmart Cashier
    Workers and for all Walmart Produce Workers and for all Walmart Deli Department
    Workers and for all Walmart Bakery Department Workers and for all Walmart
    Pharmacy Workers, let get Walmart change
    into Teamster Unionize Walmart Store for all Walmart and Sam’s Club Truck
    Driver Workers and for all Sam’s Club Forklift Driver@Stock Person Workers and
    for all Walmart Stock Person Workers and for all Sam’s Club Cashier Workers and
    for all Sam’s Club Meat Cutter@Meat Wripper Workers and for all Sam’s Club
    Produce Workers and for all Sam’s Club Deli Department Workers and for all
    Sam’s Club Bakery Department Workers and for all Walmart Customer Services Desk
    Workers and for all Sam’s Club Membership Desk Workers and for all Walmart
    Courtesy Association Workers and for all Sam’s Club Cart Attendance Workers and
    for all Walmart Maintenance Association Workers and for all Sam’s Club
    Maintenance Workers and for all Sam’s Club Pharmacy Workers, let get Walmart
    Change into Communication Workers of America Workers Unionize Walmart Store for
    all Walmart and Sam’ Electronics Workers, let get Walmart change into United
    Auto Workers Unionize Walmart Store for all Walmart Tire@Lube Express Workers
    and for all Sam’s Club Tire@Car Battery Installment Workers right of away and
    right now please by make Walmart give all Walmart Workers and all Sam’s Club
    Workers a Living Wage With Affordable Health Care Right of away and right now
    please without close down all the Walmart Store and without close down all the
    Sam’s Wholesale Club

    Think You Very Much

    From Tom P Noonan

  • tompnoonan1961

    Walmart Internal Emails: Sales Figures a “Total Disaster”
    By Matt Brownell
    Posted 4:38PM 02/15/13 | AOL Original
    Posted under: Retail, Wal-Mart

    Bloomberg got its handson some internal emailsexchanged by Walmart (WMT) executives discussing recent sales figures, and they don’t paint a rosy picture.

    “February MTD [month-to-date] sales are a total disaster,” said Walmart vice president of finance and logistics Jerry Murray in Feb. 12 e-mail to other executives. “The worst start to a month I have seen in my ~7 years with the company.”

    We already knew that retail sales were going to struggle to begin the year. The expiration of the payroll tax holiday meant consumers had less spending money in their pockets. And indeed, the first retail sales report since the end of the tax holiday showed spending growth grinding almost to a halt, with sales increasing just 0.1%.

    But Walmart’s sales woes appear to go beyond a mere slowdown. In another email obtained from Bloomberg, a senior vice president bemoans miserable January sales, asking “Where are all the customers? And where’s their money?”

    That’s not the kind of talk shareholders want to hear, and Walmart stocked predictably nose-dived in response to the news. Shares were down almost 3% on the day to close trading Friday.

    Walmart was quick with the damage control, warning that “we often see internal communications that are not entirely accurate, that lack the proper context and represent individual opinions.”

    Walmart’s fourth-quarter results are due out next week, which means that it will be May before we get to see the first-quarter results that have Walmart’s executives in such a tizzy. Once the Street gets a peek at those numbers, we’ll see whether shareholders continue to believe Walmart’s everything-is-fine spin — or if they agree that the sky really is falling in Bentonville.

  • tompnoonan1961

    Michelle Obama and Walmart: A Match Made in PR Heaven
    By Matt Brownell
    Posted 6:00AM 01/19/13 | AOL Original
    Posted under: Retail, Advertising, Job Market, Wal-Mart, Barack Obama

    Walmart’s announcement that it will hire 100,000 veterans over the next five years has prompted a wide range of reactions, but no one was more positive than Michelle Obama.

    The First Lady waseffusive in her praise for the retailer, calling the commitment “historic” and saying that Walmart (WMT) was “setting a groundbreaking example for the private sector to follow.”

    Jobs for veterans has been one of the First Lady’s signature issues: She and Jill Biden spearheaded the “Joining Forces” initiative to assist military families, and the White House claims the program is responsible for the hiring of 125,000 veterans and military spouses. So it makes sense that Michelle Obama would give her endorsement to Walmart’s plan to guarantee jobs for recently-discharged veterans.

    This, in fact, is the second time in as many years that Walmart has won glowing praise from the First Lady by with initiatives that are simpatico to her signature issues. In January 2011 the company announced it would make healthier food choices available in its stores. At the time, Walmart pointed to “Let’s Move” — Michelle Obama’s push to encourage healthy eating habits and exercise among children — as an inspiration for the action. When the announcement was made, with the First Lady in attendance, she called the plan “a victory for our children.”

    It’s Not About Politics; It’s About Popularity

    The two represent something of an odd couple. Walmart and the Left have never been the best of friends, and the First Lady actually caught some flack from unions for her praise of Walmart’s food initiative. But that didn’t stop her from applauding Walmart this time around. If Walmart is going to help out on the First Lady’s pet projects, then she’s going to sing their praises.

    And it stands to reason that this exactly what the company had in mind.

    Anthony Bianco, a critic of Walmart and the author of “The Bully of Bentonville: How the High Cost of Everyday Low Prices Is Hurting America,” says it’s unlikely that the retailer is wooing Michelle Obama as a means of getting in the administration’s good graces. But the First Lady’s seal of approval does help Walmart with what Bianco sees as its main goal: Good PR.

    “I see [the veteran initiative] almost purely as a PR play, and I think [Michelle] Obama’s comments gave them the PR bonanza they were looking for,” he says. “I don’t see anything too nefarious here, but they got good PR by linking up with Michelle Obama, who’s a very popular figure.”

    And some critics say that despite that wave of good press the announcement has drawn, Walmart’s plan isn’t the slam-dunk for veterans that it appears to be. Time magazinecrunched the numbers and found that a goal of 20,000 veteran hires a year over the next five years only constitutes about 4.2% of the retailer’s projected hiring. And AOL Jobs notes that the pledge to hire any veteran within 12 months of being honorably discharged only applies to those discharged after Memorial Day, which means that the nearly 1 million veterans who are currently unemployed aren’t eligible for the guarantee.

    That isn’t to say that the pledge is a strictly cynical ploy by Walmart. It will certainly help many veterans who might have otherwise had trouble finding work. But the biggest beneficiary is likely to be Walmart’s public image, which can always use a little buffing.

    And having the president’s wife on-board certainly doesn’t hurt in that regard.

    Matt Brownell is the consumer and retail reporter for DailyFinance. You can reach him at Matt.Brownell@teamaol.com, and follow him on Twitter at @Brownellorama.

  • MEProudLIBERAL

    Union busting is Unamerican. Fight the Republican war on workers.

    • floridanativee

      Hate to be the one to tell you, but unions are already busted. They busted themselves with greedy union bosses. They needed no help from anybody else. They are down to 6.5% of the private sector workers. They threw away their former position by concentrating on the money and perks for the union elites; They are just scrapping for the Wal-Mart money now and for the last 20 plus years without any success. Workers sense this and reject it. WI teachers unions lost 40% of it’s members when the law was changed giving them a choice which IS the American way.