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OCTOBER 31, 2006
Top News
By Pallavi Gogoi
Wal-Mart: A 'Reputation Crisis'
The giant retailer has been trying hard to improve its image and reignite sales
The political advertisements include a number of actors talking sarcastically about Harold Ford Jr., the Democratic candidate from Tennessee. The one who has stirred up all the controversy, though, is a bare-shouldered blonde who says she met Ford at a Playboy party and closes the clip by winking and whispering, "Harold, call me."
The ad is taking aim at an African American bidding to become the first black senator from Tennessee since Reconstruction, and it has set off a firestorm of debate, particularly among those who says it's a racist attempt to stoke fears of black men pursuing white women. Those who have taken heat for the ads include Ford's opponent, Bob Corker; the Republican National Committee, which paid for the ads; and Terry Nelson, the Republican strategist who created the ads.
One of the most surprising targets of criticism, however, has been Wal-Mart (WMT). The retailer didn't have any hand in the ads attacking Ford. However, Wal-Mart did have Nelson on its payroll as a consultant, as part of the company's growing effort to burnish its own image. Shortly after the Ford ads aired, Reverend Jesse Jackson came out attacking Wal-Mart and demanded that the company sever its relations with Nelson. Two days later, Nelson bowed to the pressure and submitted a letter ending his relationship to the company.
"A Real Threat" It's been that kind of year for Wal-Mart. The Bentonville (Ark.)-based company has been pushing hard to improve its public image, at a time when its financial fortunes increasingly depend on it. It's come under heavy fire from workers and politicians, for everything from the low wages it pays workers to the small retailers it pushes out of business. That dark reputation has resulted in communities around the country taking on Wal-Mart, by trying to halt construction of new stores or forcing it to pay higher wages and benefits.
At the same time, the company is scraping for every dollar of sales it can get. On Oct. 30, Wal-Mart reported that estimated same-store sales for October rose a slim 0.5%, the smallest such increase in nearly six years (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/30/06, "Wal-Mart's 'Comps' Creep Lower"). Slow sales have resulted in Wal-Mart's stock going sideways for five years, a harsh situation for investors long accustomed to outsized returns.
Wal-Mart has a "reputation crisis," says Gerald Baron, founder and president of AudienceCentral, a public information emergency response group and author of Now Is Too Late 2: Survival in an Era of Instant News. "Wal-Mart understands that the situation they are in is a real threat to their future."
Image Incongruity But Wal-Mart's efforts to improve its public image have been floundering. Besides the company ending its relationship with Nelson, it's had to backtrack on several fronts. In August, Andrew Young, the first African American U.S. ambassador to the U.N., resigned his position as head of the company-backed group Working Families for Wal-Mart, after making anti-Semitic and anti-Korean comments. Then, in October, a folksy blog called "Wal-Marting Across America" drew fire. The blog focused on happy Wal-Mart workers, but the couple writing it hadn't disclosed that the expenses and the writing were paid for with Wal-Mart money. That same month, independent filmmaker Ron Galloway, who had made movies in support of the company, reversed course and resigned from the board of Working Families for Wal-Mart.
The contrast between how critics see Wal-Mart and how the company sees itself couldn't be more stark. While opponents say the retailer hurts workers by paying them low wages and benefits, Wal-Mart execs see themselves as champions of the middle class, making products affordable by pushing suppliers to offer goods at lower prices. In a presentation to Wall Street analysts on Oct. 24, Leslie Dach, the company's newly appointed executive vice-president of corporate affairs and government relations, said that the media, local governments, and lawmakers in the capital "see us in a better way than they did a year ago." He added: "Our favorables are at 70%—numbers that any politician would covet in an election cycle."
Countless Consultants Still, the world's largest retailer recognizes that it has something of an image problem. In the last year, it has hired some of the best-known political and public relations consultants to improve its public face. It also just cut the ties to its ad agency of 32 years, in an effort to remake its image into a hip retailer that is also kind and considerate to employees.
Wal-Mart won't disclose how much it is spending on these efforts, although they certainly don't come cheap. For instance, the company hired Dach in August by offering $3 million in stock, as well as options on 168,805 shares that vest over the next five years. The company hasn't disclosed the salary or bonus for Dach, who was vice-chairman at PR firm Edelman and a former media advisor to President Bill Clinton. Wal-Mart referred questions about Dach to its public filings and declined to elaborate.
Among the other people that Wal-Mart has hired as either consultants or employees are Michael Deaver, former adviser to President Ronald Reagan; Democratic strategist Charles Baker; Jonathan Adashek, a strategist for John Kerry; Taylor Gross, who has handled President George W. Bush's communications; and the controversial Nelson, who was the political director for President Bush's campaign in 2004. Wal-Mart didn't return several calls seeking comment about its relationship with Nelson.
Good PR Is Hard to Find Many of Wal-Mart's political consultants came on board after Wal-Mart hired PR giant Edelman last year. Edelman has been a controversial force in Wal-Mart's image-boosting efforts. Last December, the firm formed the advocacy group Working Families for Wal-Mart, paid for solely by Wal-Mart, to counter criticism from the union-funded groups Wal-Mart Watch and WakeUpWalMart.com. The Working Families group has been at the center of several notable maelstroms swirling around Wal-Mart.
An early disappointment was the high-profile appointment of Young, as head of Working Families for Wal-Mart. He resigned barely six months into the job, after saying in an interview that Jewish, Korean, and Arab store owners had been ripping off urban communities for years.
The Working Families group also hired the couple who published the "Wal-Marting Across America" blog. They were known only as Jim and Laura, and they drove cross-country in an RV to capture the stories of people they met in Wal-Mart parking lots. BusinessWeek.com first revealed that the Working Families group was paying for the RV, the gas, and the blog writings (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/8/06, "Wal-Mart's Jim and Laura: The Real Story").
The effort became notorious in the blogging community, where writers took Wal-Mart to task for tarnishing the reputation of blogs (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/17/06, "Wal-Mart vs. the Blogosphere"). When the Wal-Marting blog was exposed, a Wal-Mart spokesman said, "It was a Working Families for Wal-Mart initiative, and we didn't have anything to do with it." Edelman's CEO issued a mea culpa and took full responsibility for the mess.
Losing Support How much of Wal-Mart's problem is style and how much substance? The answer is unclear at this point. However, at least some consumers are no longer shopping at the company's stores because of its reputation. According to a study by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. for Wal-Mart, 2% to 8% of the company's customers have stopped shopping there, "because of negative press they have heard." Reputation is even more important as the company pushes upscale, trying to sell everything from organic food to high-end apparel, through its Metro 7 line. So far these initiatives have failed to ignite sales as much as the retailer hoped.
Expansion plans have been scaled back. In late October, Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart's chief financial officer, told analysts that the company will see its capital spending grow 2% to 4% in fiscal 2008. That is down from the 15% and 20% growth this year.
Even some former supporters wonder whether Wal-Mart has to change its ways. Filmmaker Galloway appeared on several TV shows praising the retailer after making the movie: "Why Wal-Mart Works: And Why That Makes Some People Crazy." But he had a change of heart this year, after meeting with a Wal-Mart employee who had been featured in his film and is now upset because of the company's recently announced wage caps (see BusinessWeek.com, 8/11/06, "The Flip Side of Wal-Mart's Pay Hikes"). "This lady was distraught because she would never get a raise at Wal-Mart," he says. "I think that profiting on the backs of long-term employees isn't right."
Gogoi is a reporter for BusinessWeek Online in New York
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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Follow the Link to demand peace in Oaxaca
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/mexico/oaxacaaction.html
Friday, October 27, 2006
Manifestación Contra Wal-Mart de Mexico, 11/14 @ 9 AM Junta de Accionistas-Demostration Against Wal-Mart, Shareholders Meeting
Queridos Amigos-Dear Friends:
La junta de Accionistas de Wal-Mart de México será este 14 de Noviembre a las 10:00 AM. Por lo tanto Tianguis Si-Wal-Mart No convoca a una manifestación el el lugar de la junta a las 9:00 AM
La organización de la manifestación esta en sus primeros pasos. Mucha de la planeación se dará en los próximos días. Estén pendientes de su correo electrónico para mas información acerca de los detalles, y demandas a la compañía.
Wal-Mart of México is having a shareholders meeting this 11/14 at 10 AM. Tianguis Si-Wal-Mart No is calling for a demonstration same day, same place at 9 AM
We are taking the first steps to organize this demo. Please stay tune for more information, details and list of demands
Dia, Date_ 11/14/06
Hora, Time: 9:00 AM
Lugar, Place: Boulevard Manuel Avila Camacho 647, Colonia Periodistas, Mexico DF
La junta de Accionistas de Wal-Mart de México será este 14 de Noviembre a las 10:00 AM. Por lo tanto Tianguis Si-Wal-Mart No convoca a una manifestación el el lugar de la junta a las 9:00 AM
La organización de la manifestación esta en sus primeros pasos. Mucha de la planeación se dará en los próximos días. Estén pendientes de su correo electrónico para mas información acerca de los detalles, y demandas a la compañía.
Wal-Mart of México is having a shareholders meeting this 11/14 at 10 AM. Tianguis Si-Wal-Mart No is calling for a demonstration same day, same place at 9 AM
We are taking the first steps to organize this demo. Please stay tune for more information, details and list of demands
Dia, Date_ 11/14/06
Hora, Time: 9:00 AM
Lugar, Place: Boulevard Manuel Avila Camacho 647, Colonia Periodistas, Mexico DF
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Draft Agenda-Agenda Tentativa 11/11
Tianguis-Si, Wal-Mart-No!- Global Exchange
Frente Nacional Contra Wal-Mart
Cómo globalizar la lucha contra el gigante globalizador
How to Globalize the Fight Against the Global Mammoth
Agenda Tentativa, 11 de Noviembre en México, D. F.
Tentative Agenda for Nov. 11 Meeting in Mexico City
Objetivos: Reunir activistas anti Wal-Mart de México y Estados Unidos para discutir cómo intensificar las acciones en contra de Wal-Mart en México e impulsar una colaboración entre los dos países.
Goal: To bring together anti-Wal-Mart activists from Mexico and the U.S. to discuss how to intensify Wal-Mart activism in Mexico and improve collaboration between the two countries.
8:30 AM
Desayuno
Breakfast
10:00 AM
Presentaciones
Introductions & Ice Breaker
10:30 AM
El sector del comercio mexicano en la era de la globalización. Exposición a cargo de José Luis Alvarez Galván, especialista en Wal-Mart, de la London School of Economics.
The Mexican Retail Sector in the Age of Globalización. Presentation by Jose Luis Alvarez Galvan, Wal-Mart expert from the London School of Economics
11:00 AM
Exposiciones bi-nacionales y discusión sobre cómo proteger el patrimonio histórico y cultural, así como los negocios locales de las comunidades, en su lucha en contra de Wal-Mart.
(Los expositores serán anunciados).
Bi-National Presentations and Discussion on Communities, How to Protect its Cultural Heritage and its Local Business on its Struggles Against Wal-Mart.
Presenters TBA
11:45
Receso para café
Coffee Break
12:00 AM
Presentación bi-nacional y discusión sobre los proveedores, cómo compra Wal-Mart productos mexicanos (los agrícolas entre ellos), cuánto paga por ellos. La próxima apertura del mercado mexicano al maíz y frijol (TLCAN).
(Los expositores serán anunciados).
Bi-National Presentation and Discussion on Supply Side Issues, Including Wal-Mart’s Purchases of Mexican Products, Maquiladoras, Agricultural Products, and Related Economic Policy Issues (NAFTA)
Presenters TBA
12:45 PM
Presentación bi-nacional sobre la problemática laboral.
(Los expositores serán anunciados).
Bi-National Presentation and Discussion on Labor Issues
Presenters TBA
1:30 PM
Comida
Lunch
2:30 PM
Talleres de discusión para hacer un plan de trabajo bi-nacional para los próximos 12 meses.
Workshops – Ideas and Plans for Collaborative Work for next 12 Months.
Se formarán tres grupos, proveedores, trabajo y comunidades/negocios locales-para elaborar un plan de trabajo nacional y bi-nacional contra Wal-Mart para el año 2007.
We will split into three groups – supply side, labor and community/local businesses – to brainstorm ideas for Mexican and bi-national anti-Wal-Mart work for the coming year.
3:45 PM
Los tres talleres presentan un informe de los acuerdos tomados para el plan de trabajo conjunto. La reunion plenaria adopta un plan de trabajo nacional y bi-nacional.
Report-Backs from Workshops, Next Steps for Future Bi-National Collaboration.
5:00 PM
Convivio
Happy Hour
Friday, October 20, 2006
Asiste a La Reunion Para Unir los Movimientos Contra Wal-Mart de Mexico y los Estados Unidos
Les escribo en nombre de Global Exchange y el Frente Nacional Contra Wal-Mart para invitarte a una junta en la Ciudad de México el sábado 11 de noviembre. El objetivo de la junta es reunir a activistas anti-Wal-Mart de México y E.U. para discutir la forma de intensificar el activismo en contra de Wal-Mart en México y mejorar la colaboración entre ambos países. Tus conocimientos y experiencia serían invaluables para dicha junta, así que realmente espero que puedas asistir.
Antecedentes de Wal-Mart en México
Wal-Mart de México, Wal-Mex, es el segundo Wal-Mart más grande del mundo, con 828 tiendas a lo largo del país. Como en Estados Unidos, Wal-Mart es el que más personas emplea en el sector privado en México. Tiene alrededor de 130,000 empleados asalariados así como decenas de miles de empleados sin sueldo. Al igual que en los Estados Unidos, Wal-Mart es también el principal vendedor de comida en México con ventas de más de seis mil millones de dólares.
El pueblo mexicano se ha estado organizando contra Wal-Mart por años, aunque sus esfuerzos han sido principalmente locales y sin los recursos suficientes. La lucha mejor conocida contra Wal-Mex fue la de Teotihuacán, donde Wal-Mart construyó una tienda a un kilómetro y medio de uno de los sitios arqueológicos más importantes de México. Recientemente los esfuerzos de organización anti-Wal-Mart en México se han ampliado al anunciar el Partido de la Revolución Democratica (PRD) que boicoteara a Wal-Mart debido a la participación de la compañía en las recientes elecciones presidenciales. El PRD efectuó una protesta dentro de 22 SuperCentros de Wal-Mart en la Ciudad de México el pasado domingo 24 de septiembre del 2006.
Detalles de la Junta
La junta en la Ciudad de México reunirá a activistas, organizadores laborales, académicos y otros que se están organizando contra Wal-Mart en México con sus aliados en los Estados Unidos para compartir información, desarrollar una estrategia y mejorar la coordinación. Grupos mexicanos que se espera que asistan son AMAP, STRACC, CECCAM, y muchos otros. Grupos de E.U. que han sido invitados a enviar representantes incluyen a Wal-Mart Watch, International Labor Rights Fund, Big Box Collaborative, Change to Win, ACORN.
La junta tendrá lugar el sábado 11 de noviembre de 10 AM a 4 PM en el Hotel Sevilla, Serapio Rendón 124, en la Ciudad de México http://www.gsevilla.com.mx/sevilla/esp/ . Para los invitados internacionales que asistan a la junta y que planeen quedarse la noche, hay disponibles cuartos a precio rebajado en el Hotel Sevilla por entre $300 y $550 M.N. Por favor ponte en contacto conmigo para hacer reservaciones.
Le estaré dando seguimiento a este correo electrónico con una llamada telefónica la semana entrante para saber si podrás asistir a la junta. Espero que estés de acuerdo en que esta es una gran oportunidad para mejorar la coordinación internacional en nuestra lucha contra las prácticas dañinas de esta enorme transnacional.
Atentamente,
Ruben Garcia
Program Coordinator
Global Exchange
415-279-3174
ruben@igc.org
Antecedentes de Wal-Mart en México
Wal-Mart de México, Wal-Mex, es el segundo Wal-Mart más grande del mundo, con 828 tiendas a lo largo del país. Como en Estados Unidos, Wal-Mart es el que más personas emplea en el sector privado en México. Tiene alrededor de 130,000 empleados asalariados así como decenas de miles de empleados sin sueldo. Al igual que en los Estados Unidos, Wal-Mart es también el principal vendedor de comida en México con ventas de más de seis mil millones de dólares.
El pueblo mexicano se ha estado organizando contra Wal-Mart por años, aunque sus esfuerzos han sido principalmente locales y sin los recursos suficientes. La lucha mejor conocida contra Wal-Mex fue la de Teotihuacán, donde Wal-Mart construyó una tienda a un kilómetro y medio de uno de los sitios arqueológicos más importantes de México. Recientemente los esfuerzos de organización anti-Wal-Mart en México se han ampliado al anunciar el Partido de la Revolución Democratica (PRD) que boicoteara a Wal-Mart debido a la participación de la compañía en las recientes elecciones presidenciales. El PRD efectuó una protesta dentro de 22 SuperCentros de Wal-Mart en la Ciudad de México el pasado domingo 24 de septiembre del 2006.
Detalles de la Junta
La junta en la Ciudad de México reunirá a activistas, organizadores laborales, académicos y otros que se están organizando contra Wal-Mart en México con sus aliados en los Estados Unidos para compartir información, desarrollar una estrategia y mejorar la coordinación. Grupos mexicanos que se espera que asistan son AMAP, STRACC, CECCAM, y muchos otros. Grupos de E.U. que han sido invitados a enviar representantes incluyen a Wal-Mart Watch, International Labor Rights Fund, Big Box Collaborative, Change to Win, ACORN.
La junta tendrá lugar el sábado 11 de noviembre de 10 AM a 4 PM en el Hotel Sevilla, Serapio Rendón 124, en la Ciudad de México http://www.gsevilla.com.mx/sevilla/esp/ . Para los invitados internacionales que asistan a la junta y que planeen quedarse la noche, hay disponibles cuartos a precio rebajado en el Hotel Sevilla por entre $300 y $550 M.N. Por favor ponte en contacto conmigo para hacer reservaciones.
Le estaré dando seguimiento a este correo electrónico con una llamada telefónica la semana entrante para saber si podrás asistir a la junta. Espero que estés de acuerdo en que esta es una gran oportunidad para mejorar la coordinación internacional en nuestra lucha contra las prácticas dañinas de esta enorme transnacional.
Atentamente,
Ruben Garcia
Program Coordinator
Global Exchange
415-279-3174
ruben@igc.org
Wal-Mart de Mexico la empresa con mas trabajadores de Mexico
Es ya Wal-Mart líder en empleos
Silvia Olvera y Alberto Barrientos
MONTERREY.- A partir del mes pasado, Wal-Mart se convirtió en la empresa que más empleos genera en México, puesto que ya se había ganado en Estados Unidos y el mundo.
El personal ocupado de la cadena comercial en el País registró un incremento del 15 por ciento en septiembre, respecto al mismo mes del 2005, con lo que llegó a 141 mil 517 trabajadores, según un reporte enviado a la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores.
Tras ello, desplazó a Pemex, que da trabajo a 140 mil 505, como la empresa, ya sea pública o privada, en donde laboran más.
Como institución empleadora el primer lugar lo mantiene el IMSS, con 394 mil 695 plazas, pero se trata de otra categoría.
Antonio Ocaranza, director de Comunicación Corporativa de Wal-Mart de México, refirió que un 40 por ciento de los empleos está concentrado en el centro del País, principalmente en el Distrito Federal y Estado de México.
En Nuevo León ocupan a 7 mil 205.
Los formatos que maneja la cadena son Wal-Mart Supercenter, Bodega Aurrerá, Vips, El Portón, Sam's Club, Suburbia y Superama.
Ocaranza agregó que el auge de empleos se debe a las fuertes inversiones que están realizando.
Sólo en este 2006 desembolsarán unos 11 mil millones de pesos en México, entre unas 120 unidades de los diferentes formatos que operan.
Indicó que el promedio del salario de sus "asociados" está un 150 por ciento por encima del salario mínimo -mil 460 pesos al mes- y otorgan un bono por resultados, adicional al reparto de utilidades.
A nivel mundial, la trasnacional cuenta con 1.8 millones de empleados, de los cuales 1.3 millones se ubican en Estados Unidos.
Marisol Huerta, analista de Actinver, señaló que detrás de la expansión de Wal-Mart está el hecho de que la empresa ha sabido atacar nichos de mercado no cubiertos y ha implementado una política de precios bajos.
Pronosticó que en tres años el nivel de empleados de la cadena llegará a los 200 mil personas en el País, auxiliado por la expansión de la compañía y la entrada de su banco.
La empresa reportó ayer utilidades netas por 7 mil 918 millones de pesos en el periodo de enero a septiembre, 30 por ciento superiores a las registradas en el mismo lapso del 2005.
Crece en tiendas y en su personal
Wal-Mart de México superó a Pemex en empleados.Wal-Mart
Silvia Olvera y Alberto Barrientos
MONTERREY.- A partir del mes pasado, Wal-Mart se convirtió en la empresa que más empleos genera en México, puesto que ya se había ganado en Estados Unidos y el mundo.
El personal ocupado de la cadena comercial en el País registró un incremento del 15 por ciento en septiembre, respecto al mismo mes del 2005, con lo que llegó a 141 mil 517 trabajadores, según un reporte enviado a la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores.
Tras ello, desplazó a Pemex, que da trabajo a 140 mil 505, como la empresa, ya sea pública o privada, en donde laboran más.
Como institución empleadora el primer lugar lo mantiene el IMSS, con 394 mil 695 plazas, pero se trata de otra categoría.
Antonio Ocaranza, director de Comunicación Corporativa de Wal-Mart de México, refirió que un 40 por ciento de los empleos está concentrado en el centro del País, principalmente en el Distrito Federal y Estado de México.
En Nuevo León ocupan a 7 mil 205.
Los formatos que maneja la cadena son Wal-Mart Supercenter, Bodega Aurrerá, Vips, El Portón, Sam's Club, Suburbia y Superama.
Ocaranza agregó que el auge de empleos se debe a las fuertes inversiones que están realizando.
Sólo en este 2006 desembolsarán unos 11 mil millones de pesos en México, entre unas 120 unidades de los diferentes formatos que operan.
Indicó que el promedio del salario de sus "asociados" está un 150 por ciento por encima del salario mínimo -mil 460 pesos al mes- y otorgan un bono por resultados, adicional al reparto de utilidades.
A nivel mundial, la trasnacional cuenta con 1.8 millones de empleados, de los cuales 1.3 millones se ubican en Estados Unidos.
Marisol Huerta, analista de Actinver, señaló que detrás de la expansión de Wal-Mart está el hecho de que la empresa ha sabido atacar nichos de mercado no cubiertos y ha implementado una política de precios bajos.
Pronosticó que en tres años el nivel de empleados de la cadena llegará a los 200 mil personas en el País, auxiliado por la expansión de la compañía y la entrada de su banco.
La empresa reportó ayer utilidades netas por 7 mil 918 millones de pesos en el periodo de enero a septiembre, 30 por ciento superiores a las registradas en el mismo lapso del 2005.
Crece en tiendas y en su personal
Wal-Mart de México superó a Pemex en empleados.Wal-Mart
Workers of Wal-Mart Unite!
How Wal-Mart got a Walkout of its employees.....
MSNBC.com
Wal-Mart workers walk out
Employees at one store in Florida stage a protest—and win a reprieve
By Pallavi Gogoi
Business Week
Updated: 11:09 a.m. PT Oct 18, 2006
For months, politicians and activists have been saying that the low prices at the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, come at a tremendous cost to its low-paid employees. They point to lawsuits that contend the company discriminates against women and forces low-paid employees to work through lunch breaks and after their shifts, without extra compensation. Wal-Mart has also been boosting its political contributions to stop initiatives aimed at forcing the retailer to raise pay and benefits.
Now, as Wal-Mart rolls out a new round of workplace restrictions, employees at a Wal-Mart Super Center in Hialeah Gardens, Fla., are taking matters into their own hands. On Oct. 16, workers on the morning shift walked out in protest against the new policies and rallied outside the store, shouting "We want justice" and criticizing the company's recent policies as "inhuman." Workers said the number of participants was about 200, or nearly all of the people on the shift.
It's the first time that Wal-Mart has faced a worker-led revolt of such scale, according to both employees and the company. Just as surprising, the company quickly said it would change at least one of the practices that had sparked the protest. Late in the day on Oct. 16, there was some disagreement over which of the new policies would be put on hold.
The protest wasn't led by any union group. Rather, it was instigated by two department managers, Guillermo Vasquez and Rosie Larosa. The department managers were not affected directly by the changes, but they felt that the company had gone too far with certain new policies. Among them were moves to cut the hours of full-time employees from 40 hours a week to 32 hours, along with a corresponding cut in wages, and to compel workers to be available for shifts around the clock.
In addition, the shifts would be decided not by managers, but by a computer at company headquarters. Employees could find themselves working 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. one week and noon to 9 p.m. the next. "So workers cannot pick up their children after school everyday, and part-timers cannot keep another job because they can be called to work anytime," says Vasquez.
In addition to scheduling changes and reduction in hours, workers are now required to call an 800 number when they are sick. "If we are at an emergency room and spend the night in a hospital and cannot call the number, they won't respect that," says Larosa, who has worked at the store for six years. "It will be counted as an unexcused absence."
Beginning last week, the two managers began talking with other employees, one at a time, getting their signatures in support of a protest. The demonstration may not have happened if not for the tight-knit nature of this predominantly Spanish-language community near Miami. At least 15 department managers joined the workers in speaking out against the new policies. "We are a Spanish-speaking community, some from Cuba, some from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, and if something affects my brothers and sisters, it affects me," says Yahima Morales, who has been a department manager of health and beauty aids for four years at the store.
The employees drafted a protest letter that they have sent to executives at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., and also to Florida politicians, including Florida Governor Jeb Bush. "In the letter, we state that we want justice and that Wal-Mart should stop harassing us," says Vasquez. At least 400 store employees have signed the letter.
Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar says his understanding is that the protest was prompted by the reduction in hours, which he says was simply a mistake. "The new schedules posted made it seem like some hours were reduced, but that was inaccurate and we have corrected it." Tovar wouldn't talk about the sick-leave issue, saying that he wasn't aware the topic was raised by the workers. As for the changes in shifts, he says: "Our schedules are set so that we have adequate staff during the busiest hours of the day."
The scheduling changes, which have been rolled out in Wal-Mart stores around the country in recent weeks, are a sign that the retailer is acting on ideas outlined in an internal document that was leaked last year. In the memo, a Wal-Mart executive said it would find ways to rid its payroll of full-time and unhealthy employees who are more expensive for the company to retain.
Wal-Mart executives have recently told Wall Street analysts that the company wants to transform its workforce from 20 percent part-time to 40 percent. Recently, it was also reported that older employees in some stores who had back and leg problems were barred from using stools on which they had sat for years.
The moves come as the company is struggling to keep its profits growing at the rapid rate that they have in the past. As it squeezes its workforce expenses and trims costs in all corners, it is also expanding overseas. On Oct. 16, The Wall Street Journal reported that Wal-Mart has agreed to spend $1 billion to acquire Trust-Mart, a closely held Taiwanese company that owns one of the largest food and department store chains in China.
What's next at the Hialeah Gardens store, where store managers have had to pitch in to keep the store open? Is this the first step to forming a union at the store? That's unlikely, given the fate of previous attempts to unionize store employees. When employees in Jonquière, Que., Canada, voted last year to unionize, Wal-Mart shut the store. Vasquez says the workers haven't really talked about their plans, beyond getting the company to change its practices. "At this point, we just want to be heard," he says.
Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15305178/
© 2006 MSNBC.com
MSNBC.com
Wal-Mart workers walk out
Employees at one store in Florida stage a protest—and win a reprieve
By Pallavi Gogoi
Business Week
Updated: 11:09 a.m. PT Oct 18, 2006
For months, politicians and activists have been saying that the low prices at the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, come at a tremendous cost to its low-paid employees. They point to lawsuits that contend the company discriminates against women and forces low-paid employees to work through lunch breaks and after their shifts, without extra compensation. Wal-Mart has also been boosting its political contributions to stop initiatives aimed at forcing the retailer to raise pay and benefits.
Now, as Wal-Mart rolls out a new round of workplace restrictions, employees at a Wal-Mart Super Center in Hialeah Gardens, Fla., are taking matters into their own hands. On Oct. 16, workers on the morning shift walked out in protest against the new policies and rallied outside the store, shouting "We want justice" and criticizing the company's recent policies as "inhuman." Workers said the number of participants was about 200, or nearly all of the people on the shift.
It's the first time that Wal-Mart has faced a worker-led revolt of such scale, according to both employees and the company. Just as surprising, the company quickly said it would change at least one of the practices that had sparked the protest. Late in the day on Oct. 16, there was some disagreement over which of the new policies would be put on hold.
The protest wasn't led by any union group. Rather, it was instigated by two department managers, Guillermo Vasquez and Rosie Larosa. The department managers were not affected directly by the changes, but they felt that the company had gone too far with certain new policies. Among them were moves to cut the hours of full-time employees from 40 hours a week to 32 hours, along with a corresponding cut in wages, and to compel workers to be available for shifts around the clock.
In addition, the shifts would be decided not by managers, but by a computer at company headquarters. Employees could find themselves working 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. one week and noon to 9 p.m. the next. "So workers cannot pick up their children after school everyday, and part-timers cannot keep another job because they can be called to work anytime," says Vasquez.
In addition to scheduling changes and reduction in hours, workers are now required to call an 800 number when they are sick. "If we are at an emergency room and spend the night in a hospital and cannot call the number, they won't respect that," says Larosa, who has worked at the store for six years. "It will be counted as an unexcused absence."
Beginning last week, the two managers began talking with other employees, one at a time, getting their signatures in support of a protest. The demonstration may not have happened if not for the tight-knit nature of this predominantly Spanish-language community near Miami. At least 15 department managers joined the workers in speaking out against the new policies. "We are a Spanish-speaking community, some from Cuba, some from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, and if something affects my brothers and sisters, it affects me," says Yahima Morales, who has been a department manager of health and beauty aids for four years at the store.
The employees drafted a protest letter that they have sent to executives at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., and also to Florida politicians, including Florida Governor Jeb Bush. "In the letter, we state that we want justice and that Wal-Mart should stop harassing us," says Vasquez. At least 400 store employees have signed the letter.
Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar says his understanding is that the protest was prompted by the reduction in hours, which he says was simply a mistake. "The new schedules posted made it seem like some hours were reduced, but that was inaccurate and we have corrected it." Tovar wouldn't talk about the sick-leave issue, saying that he wasn't aware the topic was raised by the workers. As for the changes in shifts, he says: "Our schedules are set so that we have adequate staff during the busiest hours of the day."
The scheduling changes, which have been rolled out in Wal-Mart stores around the country in recent weeks, are a sign that the retailer is acting on ideas outlined in an internal document that was leaked last year. In the memo, a Wal-Mart executive said it would find ways to rid its payroll of full-time and unhealthy employees who are more expensive for the company to retain.
Wal-Mart executives have recently told Wall Street analysts that the company wants to transform its workforce from 20 percent part-time to 40 percent. Recently, it was also reported that older employees in some stores who had back and leg problems were barred from using stools on which they had sat for years.
The moves come as the company is struggling to keep its profits growing at the rapid rate that they have in the past. As it squeezes its workforce expenses and trims costs in all corners, it is also expanding overseas. On Oct. 16, The Wall Street Journal reported that Wal-Mart has agreed to spend $1 billion to acquire Trust-Mart, a closely held Taiwanese company that owns one of the largest food and department store chains in China.
What's next at the Hialeah Gardens store, where store managers have had to pitch in to keep the store open? Is this the first step to forming a union at the store? That's unlikely, given the fate of previous attempts to unionize store employees. When employees in Jonquière, Que., Canada, voted last year to unionize, Wal-Mart shut the store. Vasquez says the workers haven't really talked about their plans, beyond getting the company to change its practices. "At this point, we just want to be heard," he says.
Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15305178/
© 2006 MSNBC.com
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Watch Out Wal-Mart.......
Published on Monday, October 16, 2006, by CommonDreams.org
Watch Out Wal-Mart!
Mexican Progressives Target Wal-Mart After Its Involvement in the Presidential Election
by Ruben Garcia and Andrea Buffa

As we enter the final weeks leading up to the US mid-term elections, interested parties are pulling out all the stops to make sure their candidates win. One such interested party is the corporation Wal-Mart, which newspapers just revealed plans to hand out election materials about certain candidates to its more than one million US employees.
But judging from what happened when Wal-Mart got involved in the recent presidential election in Mexico, the company may want to think twice. Since it was revealed that Wal-Mart’s top shareholder illegally made campaign contributions that supported the right-wing candidate Felipe Calderon of the PAN, Wal-Mart has become the number one corporate target of progressive Mexican activists. In the last month alone, thousands of activists in Mexico City, Puebla, Guadalajara, Queretaro, and Xalapa have staged rowdy protests inside Wal-Mart super centers. Every weekend sees another city hop on the anti-Wal-Mart bandwagon.
It’s not that there wasn’t anti-Wal-Mart organizing in Mexico before. Local activists, business people, and academics tried and failed to prevent Wal-Mart from opening a store within site of Teotihuacan, the oldest archeological site in Mexico. They succeeded in stopping Wal-Mart from opening in the towns of Patzcuaro and Atizapan de Zaragoza, a suburb of Mexico City. Despite this, Wal-Mart has become the largest employer in Mexico, with 140,000 employees and some 850 “retail units.”
Mexican progressives are concerned about the low wages that Wal-Mart pays its employees, the low prices it pays to its suppliers (for both agricultural and manufactured products), and the disregard Wal-Mart has for the cities and communities where it establishes its stores. But even worse, Mexicans have realized that just as it does in the US, Wal-Mart supports the politicians and policies that not only don’t bring Mexican working people prosperity, but make the people poorer than they were before.
The recent escalation of anti-Wal-Mart activism was caused by Wal-Mart top stockholder Manuel Arango’s financial contributions to a smear campaign against left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the PDR. Under Mexican electoral law, corporations are not supposed to fund campaigns supporting or opposing candidates, but this didn’t stop a number of corporations from doing just that, through their corporate officers and shareholders. Lopez Obrador of the PDR, who ended up losing to Calderon in the hotly contested election, called for a boycott of corporations that illegally supported PAN’s campaign. These included Coca Cola, Pepsi, Kimberly Clark, Televisa, and, of course, Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is accused of not only giving money to the pro-PAN forces, but also distributing campaign literature to Wal-Mart of Mexico employees.
Because Wal-Mart is everywhere, it has become the main target of these anti-corporate protests. Every weekend in a different city, the PRD has organized thousands of people to enter Wal-Marts, fill up shopping carts, take them up to the registers as a group, and then begin chanting and raising a ruckus. The goal is to hurt the corporation in its pocketbook, because it has hurt Mexican progressives by supporting neo-liberal economic policies and the politicians who promote them.
These actions should give hope to anti-corporate globalization activists everywhere. Wal-Mart represents the worst face of corporate globalization, and the company is expanding throughout the world, especially in developing countries. But if Wal-Mart planned to use the model it developed in Mexico when it enters other markets, the recent protests may have thrown a monkey wrench into that plan. Now anti-Wal-Mart organizers in the United States have an ally on the other side of the border. The recent mobilization opens the possibility of a bi-national, if not international, campaign against Wal-Mart.
Ruben Garcia runs the Wal-Mart Mexico program at Global Exchange, www.globalexchange.org. Andrea Buffa is the Global Exchange campaigns director.
Below is a compilation of videos of the resistance in Mexico. All of them look alike but all of them are form diferent locations and dates.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODBgpOhbEBQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glHaJ02IfvI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO5jiz6eCtc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMmcmmY0WMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hophvhRdl0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cURD-3tk68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTVXfrlIkew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMbD_KW0pS0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPbYAm0o2sI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23En0LQu0l0
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=818540535102292014
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3316468291690929090&q=wal-mart+resistencia
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4316147985715179547&q=wal-mart+resistencia
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6773081715355626622&q=wal-mart+resistencia
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4385664292386961314&q=wal-mart+resistencia
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Nace la Esperanza en el Sindicalismo Mexicano....
Arturo Alcalde Justiniani
Hacia la transparencia sindical
El pasado martes 10 de octubre se celebró un seminario fuera de serie, en el que por primera ocasión -públicamente- se discutieron experiencias y se informó de resoluciones sobre un tema casi prohibido: Transparencia, rendición de cuentas y sindicatos: una tarea necesaria, convocado por el Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública (IFAI), el Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (Cereal), el Instituto de Estudios para la Transición Democrática y la Red de Abogados Laboralistas. Tuvo una sorprendente asistencia y estuvieron presentes autoridades del Trabajo locales y federales, académicos, dirigentes, militantes del sindicalismo democrático y personas interesadas.
Alfredo Farid Barquet, presidente del Tribunal Federal de Conciliación y Arbitraje, y María Marván Laborde, comisionada del IFAI, abrieron el seminario con dos excelentes conferencias que atraparon el interés de los asistentes: expusieron la necesidad de hacer transparente la relación sindicatos-gobierno. Luego vinieron dos paneles. El primero para analizar la transparencia en los procesos de registro de asociaciones sindicales, mientras el segundo se centró en los contratos colectivos y la democracia sindical.
Ben Davis, representante en México de la American Federation of Labor Congress International Organization (AFL-CIO), expuso la experiencia estadunidense en el ejercicio de este derecho. Por su parte, Jorge Bustillos, del Instituto de Acceso a la Información Pública del Distrito Federal, expresó la disposición de este órgano a colaborar en la construcción de la apertura de las instituciones laborales en la ciudad. Miguel Alonso Raya, del Comité Nacional del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, dio datos concretos de abusos en el sector educativo y la seguridad social.
En este panel destacó el contraste de las resoluciones del IFAI en materia de registro de asociaciones gremiales y los argumentos que ha expuesto la Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS). Con base en decisiones publicadas en Internet, se confirmó que la dependencia niega sistemáticamente la información, obligando a los solicitantes a impugnar por la vía de la revisión sus resoluciones ante el IFAI, lo que produce una tardanza que inhibe el interés público por el ejercicio de este derecho.
El primer argumento contrastado entre una instancia y otra se relaciona con la calidad del solicitante. La STPS argumenta que sólo los secretarios generales de los sindicatos pueden conocer los documentos que tiene a resguardo la Dirección General del Registro de Asociaciones. Esta instancia tiene en su poder archivos de estatutos, actas, padrones de socios y tomas de nota de los sindicatos.
La STPS agrega que los solicitantes deben acudir previamente al sindicato para solicitar dicha información, y si ésta es negada, deben desahogar un juicio ante la Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje. En cambio, el IFAI sostiene que el carácter de "público" no depende del peticionario, sino de la naturaleza de la información, por lo que cualquier persona puede solicitarla sin cumplir requisito alguno.
El segundo criterio contrastante de la STPS se refiere al ámbito de aplicación de la ley. Indica que los sindicatos, en razón de su finalidad, no son sujetos obligados por la Ley Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública Gubernamental, por lo que otorgar dicha información crearía un precedente negativo. El IFAI argumenta que a los gremios les son aplicables disposiciones de orden público, y debido a que son personas morales, no manejan estrictamente datos personales. Si una persona moral inscribe sus datos en un registro público, con mayor razón lo debe hacer un sindicato, señala, y agrega que el acceso a esta información contribuye a la democratización y el estado de derecho.
El tercer panel del encuentro incluyó los testimonios de Rodrigo Olvera (Cereal) y Juan Carlos Chávez, dirigente de la disidencia del gremio petrolero. Ellos dieron cuenta cabal de los abusos en ese sector, particularmente de la maniobra para imponer nuevamente a Carlos Romero Deschamps. Oscar Alzaga, de la Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje del Distrito Federal, detalló la importancia de la publicación en Internet de la información más destacada de los contratos colectivos que constan en ese tribunal, única instancia en el país que así lo hace. Por último, la investigadora Graciela Bensusán expuso los resultados de diversos estudios comparativos que acreditan la necesidad de un cambio profundo de las instituciones laborales.
El seminario cerró con una exposición, a manera de síntesis, de Luis Emilio Jiménez Cacho, y la clausura estuvo a cargo de Alonso Lujambio, presidente del IFAI. El primero se refirió a la resistencia que existe para desahogar estos temas por el temor de "abrir la caja de Pandora", y advirtió que no debemos olvidar que en ella también se encuentra el valor de la esperanza. Los asistentes plantearon en diversos momentos la necesidad de dar continuidad a los retos expuestos en el seminario y sugirieron crear un espacio civil para vigilar el comportamiento en materia de transparencia de las autoridades laborales a escalas federal y estatal. En efecto, la esperanza flotó en el ambiente.
(Es reprobable la intromisión de los compañeros de la Coordinadora Nacional de los Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE) de Michoacán en el congreso del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Seguro Social (SNTSS) por pretender, a punta de picos y palos, impedir su celebración. ¿Tendría derecho el SNTSS a boicotear una asamblea de la CNTE? No cabe duda: nuestra izquierda requiere la autocrítica de su conducta si pretende ser alternativa.)
Hacia la transparencia sindical
El pasado martes 10 de octubre se celebró un seminario fuera de serie, en el que por primera ocasión -públicamente- se discutieron experiencias y se informó de resoluciones sobre un tema casi prohibido: Transparencia, rendición de cuentas y sindicatos: una tarea necesaria, convocado por el Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública (IFAI), el Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (Cereal), el Instituto de Estudios para la Transición Democrática y la Red de Abogados Laboralistas. Tuvo una sorprendente asistencia y estuvieron presentes autoridades del Trabajo locales y federales, académicos, dirigentes, militantes del sindicalismo democrático y personas interesadas.
Alfredo Farid Barquet, presidente del Tribunal Federal de Conciliación y Arbitraje, y María Marván Laborde, comisionada del IFAI, abrieron el seminario con dos excelentes conferencias que atraparon el interés de los asistentes: expusieron la necesidad de hacer transparente la relación sindicatos-gobierno. Luego vinieron dos paneles. El primero para analizar la transparencia en los procesos de registro de asociaciones sindicales, mientras el segundo se centró en los contratos colectivos y la democracia sindical.
Ben Davis, representante en México de la American Federation of Labor Congress International Organization (AFL-CIO), expuso la experiencia estadunidense en el ejercicio de este derecho. Por su parte, Jorge Bustillos, del Instituto de Acceso a la Información Pública del Distrito Federal, expresó la disposición de este órgano a colaborar en la construcción de la apertura de las instituciones laborales en la ciudad. Miguel Alonso Raya, del Comité Nacional del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, dio datos concretos de abusos en el sector educativo y la seguridad social.
En este panel destacó el contraste de las resoluciones del IFAI en materia de registro de asociaciones gremiales y los argumentos que ha expuesto la Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS). Con base en decisiones publicadas en Internet, se confirmó que la dependencia niega sistemáticamente la información, obligando a los solicitantes a impugnar por la vía de la revisión sus resoluciones ante el IFAI, lo que produce una tardanza que inhibe el interés público por el ejercicio de este derecho.
El primer argumento contrastado entre una instancia y otra se relaciona con la calidad del solicitante. La STPS argumenta que sólo los secretarios generales de los sindicatos pueden conocer los documentos que tiene a resguardo la Dirección General del Registro de Asociaciones. Esta instancia tiene en su poder archivos de estatutos, actas, padrones de socios y tomas de nota de los sindicatos.
La STPS agrega que los solicitantes deben acudir previamente al sindicato para solicitar dicha información, y si ésta es negada, deben desahogar un juicio ante la Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje. En cambio, el IFAI sostiene que el carácter de "público" no depende del peticionario, sino de la naturaleza de la información, por lo que cualquier persona puede solicitarla sin cumplir requisito alguno.
El segundo criterio contrastante de la STPS se refiere al ámbito de aplicación de la ley. Indica que los sindicatos, en razón de su finalidad, no son sujetos obligados por la Ley Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública Gubernamental, por lo que otorgar dicha información crearía un precedente negativo. El IFAI argumenta que a los gremios les son aplicables disposiciones de orden público, y debido a que son personas morales, no manejan estrictamente datos personales. Si una persona moral inscribe sus datos en un registro público, con mayor razón lo debe hacer un sindicato, señala, y agrega que el acceso a esta información contribuye a la democratización y el estado de derecho.
El tercer panel del encuentro incluyó los testimonios de Rodrigo Olvera (Cereal) y Juan Carlos Chávez, dirigente de la disidencia del gremio petrolero. Ellos dieron cuenta cabal de los abusos en ese sector, particularmente de la maniobra para imponer nuevamente a Carlos Romero Deschamps. Oscar Alzaga, de la Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje del Distrito Federal, detalló la importancia de la publicación en Internet de la información más destacada de los contratos colectivos que constan en ese tribunal, única instancia en el país que así lo hace. Por último, la investigadora Graciela Bensusán expuso los resultados de diversos estudios comparativos que acreditan la necesidad de un cambio profundo de las instituciones laborales.
El seminario cerró con una exposición, a manera de síntesis, de Luis Emilio Jiménez Cacho, y la clausura estuvo a cargo de Alonso Lujambio, presidente del IFAI. El primero se refirió a la resistencia que existe para desahogar estos temas por el temor de "abrir la caja de Pandora", y advirtió que no debemos olvidar que en ella también se encuentra el valor de la esperanza. Los asistentes plantearon en diversos momentos la necesidad de dar continuidad a los retos expuestos en el seminario y sugirieron crear un espacio civil para vigilar el comportamiento en materia de transparencia de las autoridades laborales a escalas federal y estatal. En efecto, la esperanza flotó en el ambiente.
(Es reprobable la intromisión de los compañeros de la Coordinadora Nacional de los Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE) de Michoacán en el congreso del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Seguro Social (SNTSS) por pretender, a punta de picos y palos, impedir su celebración. ¿Tendría derecho el SNTSS a boicotear una asamblea de la CNTE? No cabe duda: nuestra izquierda requiere la autocrítica de su conducta si pretende ser alternativa.)
Friday, October 13, 2006
Wal-Mart Gets Fined in the US for Not Allowing Employes to Take Breaks
Why will it be different in Mexico where there is even less worker proteccion. Read the story in English and the same news in Spanish:
Wal-Mart Workers Win Wage Suit
Retailer Forced Overtime Without Pay, Jury Finds
By Amy Joyce
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; D02
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. violated Pennsylvania labor laws by forcing hourly employees to work through breaks and beyond their shifts without overtime pay, a jury decided yesterday.
Lawyers for the employees said the decision could result in $62 million or more in damages.
The lawsuit, brought by two employees on behalf of almost 187,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees, claimed that the company made workers in Pennsylvania miss more than 33 million rest breaks from 1998 to 2001. At least 57 other wage-and-hour cases have been filed across the United States against the world's largest retailer, and many of them are awaiting class-action certification, according to company filings.
"I think this proves that Wal-Mart's sweatshop mind-set persists," said Chris Kofinis, a spokesman with WakeUp Wal-Mart, a United Food and Commercial Workers Union-backed group. "There is some point where Wal-Mart will have to listen and it's got to treat its workers with respect and fairness."
Michael Donovan, a lawyer for the employees, would not comment until damages are awarded. He expects that to happen today. In court, the lawyers argued that the company denied breaks to cut labor costs and increase productivity.
"We take matters very seriously when associates say they have been mistreated in any way. However, because the jury is still in deliberation, it would not be appropriate to comment on the matter until a final decision has been made," said Sarah Clark, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart.
Neal Manne, Wal-Mart's attorney, argued that the company properly paid its employees and that the lead plaintiffs were among a small group of disgruntled workers, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's coverage of the trial.
Company officials said records appeared to show that workers who did not have breaks did so because they chose not to, or did not sign out, according to news reports.
The company has been trying repair its image after critics cast negative light on the company, claiming it pays poverty wages and offers few benefits.
The case is one of several class-action wage-and-hour suits against the company to go to trial. In December, a jury awarded $172 million to about 116,000 current and former Wal-Mart and Sam's Club workers in California who claimed that they were illegally denied lunch breaks. Wal-Mart is appealing the verdict.
In 2002, a federal jury in Oregon found that Wal-Mart employees were forced to work off the clock and awarded back pay to 83 workers. In 2004, Wal-Mart settled a similar lunch break case in Colorado for $50 million.
One of the pending cases, which accuses the company of paying men more than women nationally, is the largest private employer civil rights class action in history. Wal-Mart has asked an appeals court to overturn the class-action status of the case.
The Pennsylvania case is larger than the California case in that it covers more employees and involves off-the-clock work, missed rest breaks and missed meal breaks. The jury in the six-week trial in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia found in favor of Wal-Mart on the missed-meal claim.
Employees said they were pressured by managers to cut meals short and skip breaks. Two cashiers said they were locked in the store after it closed to restock merchandise.
Staff researcher Richard Drezen contributed to this report.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Pagará Wal-Mart 78 mdd por incumplir jornada legal
EFE
El Universal
Nueva York, EU
Viernes 13 de octubre de 2006
Compensará la firma a los trabajadores del estado por no respetar sus horas de descanso y obligarlos a trabajar tiempo adicional sin sueldo
16:33 Un tribunal de Pensilvania determinó hoy que la cadena Wal-Mart deberá pagar 78 millones de dólares en compensación a los trabajadores del estado por no respetar sus horas de descanso y obligarlos a trabajar tiempo adicional sin sueldo.
La demanda colectiva fue presentada por dos trabajadoras que alegaron que la compañía las obligaba a trabajar más allá de su horario normal sin pagarles horas extra y que no respetaba las horas de descanso estipuladas por la ley.
El jurado integrado por 12 miembros ya había fallado ayer a favor de las demandantes, Dolores Hummel y Michele Braun, en caso en que que estaban representados los 187 miltrabajadores que emplea Wal-Mart en ese estado.
Este es el segundo caso que pierde Wal-Mart en los últimos meses relacionado con demandas de sus empleados por no cumplir con la legislación laboral estadounidense.
En diciembre, un tribunal de California determinó el pago de 172.3 millones de dólares a los trabajadores de la compañía a quienes no se les respetaba el tiempo establecido para comer.
El fallo de hoy señala que la empresa sí respetaba este tiempo, de media hora sin pago, en el caso de los trabajadores de Pensilvania.
Según la ley, un empleado que trabaja más de seis horas tiene derecho a dos descansos de 15 minutos cada uno, sin pago, más media hora para comer, también sin sueldo.
Los demandantes aseguraron que la empresa los obligaba a trabajar más allá de sus horas legales y que no les permitía tomarse los descansos a los que tenían derecho.
La empresa alegó que eran los mismos trabajadores los que optaban por no tomarse todo el tiempo de descanso o que muchas veces no firmaban los registros en que se constatan las horas de descanso.
alcr
Wal-Mart Workers Win Wage Suit
Retailer Forced Overtime Without Pay, Jury Finds
By Amy Joyce
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006; D02
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. violated Pennsylvania labor laws by forcing hourly employees to work through breaks and beyond their shifts without overtime pay, a jury decided yesterday.
Lawyers for the employees said the decision could result in $62 million or more in damages.
The lawsuit, brought by two employees on behalf of almost 187,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees, claimed that the company made workers in Pennsylvania miss more than 33 million rest breaks from 1998 to 2001. At least 57 other wage-and-hour cases have been filed across the United States against the world's largest retailer, and many of them are awaiting class-action certification, according to company filings.
"I think this proves that Wal-Mart's sweatshop mind-set persists," said Chris Kofinis, a spokesman with WakeUp Wal-Mart, a United Food and Commercial Workers Union-backed group. "There is some point where Wal-Mart will have to listen and it's got to treat its workers with respect and fairness."
Michael Donovan, a lawyer for the employees, would not comment until damages are awarded. He expects that to happen today. In court, the lawyers argued that the company denied breaks to cut labor costs and increase productivity.
"We take matters very seriously when associates say they have been mistreated in any way. However, because the jury is still in deliberation, it would not be appropriate to comment on the matter until a final decision has been made," said Sarah Clark, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart.
Neal Manne, Wal-Mart's attorney, argued that the company properly paid its employees and that the lead plaintiffs were among a small group of disgruntled workers, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's coverage of the trial.
Company officials said records appeared to show that workers who did not have breaks did so because they chose not to, or did not sign out, according to news reports.
The company has been trying repair its image after critics cast negative light on the company, claiming it pays poverty wages and offers few benefits.
The case is one of several class-action wage-and-hour suits against the company to go to trial. In December, a jury awarded $172 million to about 116,000 current and former Wal-Mart and Sam's Club workers in California who claimed that they were illegally denied lunch breaks. Wal-Mart is appealing the verdict.
In 2002, a federal jury in Oregon found that Wal-Mart employees were forced to work off the clock and awarded back pay to 83 workers. In 2004, Wal-Mart settled a similar lunch break case in Colorado for $50 million.
One of the pending cases, which accuses the company of paying men more than women nationally, is the largest private employer civil rights class action in history. Wal-Mart has asked an appeals court to overturn the class-action status of the case.
The Pennsylvania case is larger than the California case in that it covers more employees and involves off-the-clock work, missed rest breaks and missed meal breaks. The jury in the six-week trial in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia found in favor of Wal-Mart on the missed-meal claim.
Employees said they were pressured by managers to cut meals short and skip breaks. Two cashiers said they were locked in the store after it closed to restock merchandise.
Staff researcher Richard Drezen contributed to this report.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Pagará Wal-Mart 78 mdd por incumplir jornada legal
EFE
El Universal
Nueva York, EU
Viernes 13 de octubre de 2006
Compensará la firma a los trabajadores del estado por no respetar sus horas de descanso y obligarlos a trabajar tiempo adicional sin sueldo
16:33 Un tribunal de Pensilvania determinó hoy que la cadena Wal-Mart deberá pagar 78 millones de dólares en compensación a los trabajadores del estado por no respetar sus horas de descanso y obligarlos a trabajar tiempo adicional sin sueldo.
La demanda colectiva fue presentada por dos trabajadoras que alegaron que la compañía las obligaba a trabajar más allá de su horario normal sin pagarles horas extra y que no respetaba las horas de descanso estipuladas por la ley.
El jurado integrado por 12 miembros ya había fallado ayer a favor de las demandantes, Dolores Hummel y Michele Braun, en caso en que que estaban representados los 187 miltrabajadores que emplea Wal-Mart en ese estado.
Este es el segundo caso que pierde Wal-Mart en los últimos meses relacionado con demandas de sus empleados por no cumplir con la legislación laboral estadounidense.
En diciembre, un tribunal de California determinó el pago de 172.3 millones de dólares a los trabajadores de la compañía a quienes no se les respetaba el tiempo establecido para comer.
El fallo de hoy señala que la empresa sí respetaba este tiempo, de media hora sin pago, en el caso de los trabajadores de Pensilvania.
Según la ley, un empleado que trabaja más de seis horas tiene derecho a dos descansos de 15 minutos cada uno, sin pago, más media hora para comer, también sin sueldo.
Los demandantes aseguraron que la empresa los obligaba a trabajar más allá de sus horas legales y que no les permitía tomarse los descansos a los que tenían derecho.
La empresa alegó que eran los mismos trabajadores los que optaban por no tomarse todo el tiempo de descanso o que muchas veces no firmaban los registros en que se constatan las horas de descanso.
alcr
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Come to the Meetting on 11/11 to Link the Mexican and American Anti-Wal-Mart Movements
I am writing on behalf of Global Exchange and the Frente Nacional Contra Wal-Mart to invite you to a meeting in Mexico City on Saturday, November 11th. The goal of the meeting is to bring together anti-Wal-Mart activists from Mexico and the U.S. to discuss how to intensify Wal-Mart activism in Mexico and improve collaboration between the two countries. Your expertise on Wal-Mart will prove invaluable at this meeting, so I really hope you can make it.
Background Information on Wal-Mart in Mexico
Wal-Mart of Mexico, Wal-Mex, is the second largest Wal-Mart in the world, with 828 retail outlets throughout the country. As in the United States, Wal-Mart is the largest private sector employer in Mexico. It has some 130,000 paid employees as well as tens of thousands of unpaid employees. Just like in the U.S., Wal-Mart is also the largest vendor of food in Mexico with sales of more than six billion dollars.
Mexicans have been organizing against Wal-Mart for years, though their efforts have mostly been local and under-resourced. The most well known fight against Wal-Mex was the one in Teotihuacán, where Wal-Mart built a store a mile away from one of the most well known archeological sites in Mexico. Recently the anti-Wal-Mart organizing efforts in Mexico have amplified, as the Partido de la Revolución Democratica (PRD) announced that it will boycott Wal-Mart because of the company’s involvement in the recent contested presidential election. The PRD had a demonstration inside the 22 Wal-Mart Super Centers in Mexico City last Sunday, September 24, 2006.
Meeting Details
The meeting in Mexico City will bring together activists, labor organizers, academics and others who are organizing against Wal-Mart in Mexico with their allies from the United States to share information, develop strategy and improve coordination. Mexican groups that are expected to attend the meeting are AMAP, STRACC, Frente Autentico del Trabajo, CECCAM, and many others . U.S. groups that have been invited to send representatives include Wal-Mart Watch, International Labor Rights Fund, Big Box Collaborative, Change to Win, ACORN.
The meeting will take place on Saturday, November 11th from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Hotel Sevilla, Serapio Rendon 124, in Mexico City http://www.gsevilla.com.mx/sevilla/esp/ . For international guests attending the meeting and staying overnight, discounted rooms at the Hotel Sevilla are available for 30 to 55 U.S. dollars. Please contact me to make reservations.
I will be following up this email with a phone call next week to find out if you’re able to attend the meeting. I hope you agree that this is a great opportunity to improve international coordination as we struggle against the harmful practices of this huge international corporation.
Sincerely,
Ruben Garcia
Program Coordinator
Global Exchange
415-279-3174
ruben@igc.org
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