From the Associated Press:

One of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s most vociferous critics launched a campaign Tuesday with 17 current and former Wal-Mart workers speaking out against health insurance coverage they claim is too expensive, leaving them uninsured or on taxpayer funded programs.

News conferences Tuesday by the workers in eight states, including Michigan, and four more scheduled later this week and next are timed to help a union-backed drive for legislation that would require the world's largest retailer to pay a fixed percentage for health coverage of its 1.3 million U.S. workers.

WakeUpWalMart.com, a group backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, said 10 speakers were current Wal-Mart employees and seven more had quit or been fired. In workers' stories collected ahead of the news conferences by the group, several current employees talk about being unable to afford premiums and deductibles even after working for Wal-Mart for several years.

Dana Razaie has been a stocker at a Wal-Mart in Fridley, Minn., for about five years. She said she depends on state-funded Minnesota Care for health coverage for herself and three children.

According to WakeUpWalMart, Razaie's wage of $11.29 an hour at Wal-Mart and a second job at a gas station leave her with take-home pay of less than $20,000 a year. Razaie says she cannot afford Wal-Mart's health insurance plan with $300 monthly premiums and deductibles reaching over $1,000.

Wal-Mart said it is already taking steps to make insurance more affordable. It offers a new plan this year that costs $23 a month and covers three doctor visits and three prescriptions before a deductible of $1,000 kicks in.

It also launched an $11 plan in a limited number of locations but will widen that to be available to half of all employees later this year, as well as shortening the eligibility period for part-timers and adding coverage of their children.

"Our jobs give people the opportunity to move from public health programs to private health coverage," company spokeswoman Sarah Clark said.

Clark said 7 percent of new employees are on Medicaid when they join Wal-Mart, a percentage that drops to 3 percent within two years, and that Wal-Mart created 125,000 jobs last year. Wal-Mart also offered testimonials from six current employees who praised the company's coverage, including a woman who was a divorced mother of three when she joined in 1998 in Hermiston, Ore. "Within the first year with Wal-Mart, I no longer needed food stamps and I had medical, dental, and life insurance through Wal-Mart," wrote Heather Baumgartner, now a logistics manager in Grantsville, Utah.

Razaie was due to appear at a news conference Tuesday in Minneapolis. Other workers were to speak Tuesday in Boston; Dallas; Lansing, Mich.; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Tulsa, Okla.; and Syracuse, N.Y. The other five events over the next two weeks are to be held in Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, New York and Tennessee.

The campaign comes as unions are pushing for bills in several states similar to one passed in a veto override by the Maryland legislature in January. Maryland's "Fair Share" bill, which has been challenged in federal courts by a national retail association, requires large employers to spend at least 8 percent of payroll in a state for employee health coverage or pay the difference into state coffers for publicly funded programs for the uninsured.

Proponents say similar bills filed in at least 22 states, including Michigan, would stop taxpayer subsidies for profitable companies that skimp on health coverage, leaving workers to sign up with state programs.

Opponents including Wal-Mart and many business groups say the bills are bad policy aimed at punishing Wal-Mart and will do nothing to solve the problem of the working uninsured and rising health care costs.

State Senate Democrats on Monday will promote a plan that would require businesses with 10,000 or more workers to devote at least 8 percent of their payroll to health insurance or reimburse the state for the difference.

Labor unions are pushing the bills in about 30 states. Maryland is the only state to have passed it, and since then similar bills have been rejected, stalled or withdrawn in at least eight states, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures and Wal-Mart.

Our latest press release:

17 WAL-MART WORKERS SPEAK OUT NATIONALLY ON THE “WAL-MART HEALTH CARE CRISIS” AT 15 EVENTS

NEW DATA RELEASED SHOWS TAXPAYER COSTS FOR ALL 50-STATES/ TOP FIVE STATES ARE TEXAS, FLORIDA, OHIO, NEW YORK, AND PENNSYLVANIA

30-SECOND TV ADVERTISEMENT “HOW COULD THEY” RELEASED

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Wal-Mart workers, community leaders, and grassroots supporters of WakeUpWalMart.com, took part in a new national health care campaign initiative, called “Stop the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis.” The campaign will hold events in 14 states and included rare testimonials from 17 former and current Wal-Mart workers, the largest ever to speak out publicly at one time. The workers called on CEO Lee Scott and Wal-Mart to do more to help them and to improve conditions and benefits for other workers and their families.

WakeUpWalMart.com also released new state data detailing the incredible cost American taxpayers bear because of the Wal-Mart health care crisis. Based on our latest report, “America Pays, Wal-Mart Saves,” the national cost to taxpayers of the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis was an estimated $1.37 billion in 2005 and is projected to cost taxpayers a whopping $9.1 billion over the next five years (2006-2010).

According to the new state-by-state data, the top five states most affected by Wal-Mart’s failure to provide affordable health care to its workers and families are Texas, Florida, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania. The full report, which includes data for all 50 states, is available for download at www.WakeUpWalMart.com.

“Unfortunately, Wal-Mart’s health care crisis has gotten worse, not better. At the same time health care costs are rising, Wal-Mart has the nerve to cut health care spending per employee. If Lee Scott is serious about working on real health care solutions, he should sit down with us and address why over 775,000 of his workers and their families have no company health care which costs taxpayers over $1.37 billion every year,” said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com.

As part of the “Stop the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis” campaign, WakeUpWalMart.com also released a new 30-second TV commercial entitled “How Could They.” The TV ad asks how Wal-Mart could pocket $11 billion in profit while failing to provide company health care to 57% of its employees leaving nearly 1 out of every 2 children of its employees without health care or on public assistance. In addition, the campaign sent out a direct mail piece which asks, “How could they do this to us?” The mail piece includes images of children and highlights the terrible cost and the human impact the Wal-Mart health care crisis has on America. The targeted media campaign will begin in the key swing state of Ohio.

The “Stop the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis” campaign is the latest initiative by WakeUpWalMart.com. WakeUpWalMart.com is America’s national campaign to change Wal-Mart and one of the fastest growing social movements in America with 183,000 supporters in all 50 states.

TV AD Script “How Could They”:

How could Wal-Mart do this to…children. 46 percent of children of Wal-Mart employees are uninsured or on taxpayer health care. Families. Over 775,000 Wal-Mart employees and families have no company health care. Taxpayers. Wal-Mart will cost American taxpayers an estimated $9 billion over the next five years. All while pocketing $11 billion in profits. Don’t let Wal-Mart do this to us. Go to WakeUpWalMart.com Tell Wal-Mart to change.

Click here to read the workers' stories.

The following is a statement by Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com:

“Wal-Mart's front group is another well-funded ploy by Wal-Mart to try and cover up its record of driving down wages, not providing affordable health care, shifting costs onto taxpayers and shipping U.S. jobs overseas.

Our campaign is fighting for justice, equality, dignity, and economic opportunity for all of Wal-Mart’s 1.3 million workers and for all working Americans. We are fighting for a better America and it starts by changing the largest employer in America, Wal-Mart. The reality is Wal-Mart makes obscene profits, exceeding $11 billion, while their workers make poverty-level wages and have no health care. Fighting to make Wal-Mart a responsible and moral corporation and reversing the race-to-the-bottom business model is the next great struggle for social and economic justice in America.

As chairman of the board of the Drum Major Institute, Ambassador Young’s organization got it correct when it said in 2005, ‘…Wal-Mart became known in our consciousness as more than a big box store with small prices, but as the employer of 2 million people whose average income is less than the poverty line, and whose refusal to provide health care pushes the tab onto the taxpayers who fund Medicaid.’

We call on Ambassador Andrew Young to use his new position to help us change Wal-Mart for the better, rather than defend its abysmal record of child labor violations and poor health care. As a consultant to Wal-Mart, Ambassador Young is now in a unique position to reach out to Wal-Mart and CEO Lee Scott and urge them to change. We hope he will work with WakeUpWalMart.com and help our efforts to create a better Wal-Mart and build a better America."

Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young will soon be chairman of the national steering committee for Working Families for Wal-Mart, funded by the company and its suppliers. Young admits his new role conflicts with his pro-union stance and leadership in the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, a nonprofit dedicated to "progressive public policy for social and economic fairness." He acknowledges "some criticisms [of Wal-Mart] may be valid."

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young is rising to the defense of Wal-Mart as a company that helps the poor, but acknowledges his new efforts may be in conflict with his years of being pro-union.

In an announcement to be made today, Young says he'll be chairman of the national steering committee for the new Working Families for Wal-Mart, funded by the company and its suppliers.

Wal-Mart has been criticized for allegedly not paying its workers enough, not offering decent health care benefits and for driving small-town retailers out of business. Young says the criticism is unfair and one-sided because it doesn't credit the retailer for its contributions to low-income communities.

Young also is chairman of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, a nonprofit that describes itself as dedicated to "progressive public policy for social and economic fairness." Once known as the Gandhi Society, Young said, it has a "New York liberal constituency that was very valuable and very important in the civil rights days." The group was founded by Harry Wachtel, lawyer and adviser to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Young says his roles with Wal-Mart and the Drum Major Institute are at apparent philosophical odds. "There's probably a conflict," Young said. "I can't step down from my past."

Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com, said Young's new group "is another well-funded ploy by Wal-Mart to try and cover up its record of driving down wages, not providing affordable health care, shifting costs onto taxpayers and shipping U.S. jobs overseas."

He called on Young "to use his new position to help us change Wal-Mart for the better, rather than defend its abysmal record of child labor violations and poor health care."

Wal-Mart formed the group in December in response to growing criticism from two organizations supported by labor unions, Wal-Mart Watch and WakeUpWalmart, which lead grass-roots campaigns to push the company to increase wages and benefits.

Young, a civil rights leader and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, did acknowledge that some of the criticisms may be valid.

Click here for the full article.

Earlier today we profiled Nashua, NH residents and their successful fight to keep Wal-Mart out of their community. Now, we take a look at a new community battle in Pickerington/Violet Township, Ohio.

The following is a letter from a local organizer about the beginning of a grassroots campaign by local residents:

Last weekend, I went door-to-door with other WakeUpWalMart.com supporters to inform residents that Wal-Mart was trying to sneak its way into our community. While distributing 2,500 flyers on a rare sixty-degree winter day in Ohio, I greeted dozens of neighbors who were gardening and enjoying the sun. One person after another thanked me for spreading the word. Not a single person wanted Wal-Mart in our community.

The news created quite a buzz, and about 300 concerned citizens attempted to squeeze into the public hearing room with a maximum capacity of 71. The group spilled out into the parking lot.

Last Tuesday night Pickerington residents came together in a big way to fight the world’s biggest corporation.

Wal-Mart had tried to slink into Pickerington unnoticed by hiring TLG Development Company to rezone 106 acres of prime residential property for a store. Of course, TLG Development Company refused to disclose which retailers would occupy the space.

Prior to the start of the meeting, several residents approached a TLG developer demanding that she admit the retail space would be anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter. TLG finally admitted to the Wal-Mart, but not on public record. The meeting had to be tabled and has been rescheduled for March 23, 2006, 7:30 p.m. at the Senior Center in Pickerington.

As citizens of Violet Township and Pickerington, we have a right to speak out against a Wal-Mart store that will forever negatively influence our way of life. We are stepping forward to protect our property values, our work lives, our safety and our outstanding community.

We’re still fighting!

Tina
Columbus, Ohio

Earlier this week a real estate survey revealed strong opposition to Wal-Mart from local communities, with 63% of Americans surveyed saying they would oppose a Wal-Mart store if one were proposed in their community.

This weekend we profile two different communities who have recently fought Wal-Mart's race-to-the-bottom business model. First, we'll highlight the recent battle in Nashua, New Hampshire. Later today, we'll look at a local battle in Ohio...

In Nashua: Last month, Wal-Mart store #19 brought its plans to build a Super Wal-Mart to the Nashua Planning Board. All that stood between the giant of Bentonville and its new store was Nashua's concerned citizenship.

Wal-Mart pitted its armada of experts, lawyers, and limitless budget against the people of Nashua, only to lose the battle. Here is a profile of one town's story from The Hippo:

The Nashua Planning Board narrowly denied Wal-Mart’s site plan for a supercenter at the current site of Building #19 last month. After charging through Conservation Commission and Zoning Board challenges, Sam Walton’s retail giant looked like it was on its way into town.

Many consider the company just plain evil, but Wal-Mart would tell you they’re simply a business. After all, doesn’t Magneto have perfectly good reasons for fearing non-mutants? Is Lex Luthor really a villain, or just a multimillionaire hanging out with high school farm boys?

All that stood in Wal-Mart’s way was a group of concerned citizens who didn’t want their traffic snarled and their water polluted. They banded together and, with a supporting cast numbering in the hundreds, did battle for their way of life.

This is their story.

Today, newspapers from Los Angeles to Denver to Washington DC discussed the new report by WakeUpWalMart.com as well as Wal-Mart's alleged health care improvements.

From the Associated Press:

Wake Up Wal-Mart, one of Wal-Mart's harshest critics, called the retailer's attempts to improve its health care plan as "nothing more than a facade."

"Wal-Mart's proposed changes are clearly designed to try and salvage a faltering public image, rather than make substantial changes to improve health care benefits for its employees," said Paul Blank, campaign director for Wake Up Wal-Mart in a statement.

In fact, the labor-backed group released a report Thursday that showed the health care issue at Wal-Mart is getting worse - Wal-Mart failed to provide health coverage to over 57 percent of its employees last year, up from 52 percent the previous year. The group said the report is based on new analysis of Wal-Mart's reported data of its health care spending.

From the Denver Post:

Wake Up Wal-Mart, another group that is critical of Wal- Mart, on Thursday released an analysis of the company's health care spending. The group said it showed that Wal-Mart failed to provide health coverage to more than 57 percent of its employees last year, compared with 52 percent the year before.

"Talk is cheap," said Dave Minshall, a spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Local No. 7, which unsuccessfully tried to organize workers at a Wal-Mart tire and lube center in Loveland.

"The facts speak for themselves. Wal-Mart's own documents show their health care is getting worse, not better," he said.

Our newest press release:

WHAT IS THE TRUTH? WAKEUPWALMART.COM CALLS ON WAL-MART TO COME CLEAN WITH ITS HEALTH CARE FACTS

WAL-MART REMOVES DOCUMENT FROM ITS WEBSITE AND CONTRADICTS ITSELF ON HOW MANY EMPLOYEES ARE RECEIVING HEALTH CARE COVERAGE AS OF JANUARY 2006

Washington, DC. - WakeUpWalMart.com calls on Wal-Mart and CEO Lee Scott to explain to the American public why Wal-Mart deleted a company document published on Walmartfacts.com stating Wal-Mart only covered 43% of its employees under its health care plan. The document, published January 2006, contradicts Wal-Mart’s public statement yesterday of 46% as of January 2006, and would indicate, contrary to Wal-Mart’s claims, their health care coverage has actually gotten worse, not better.

The group also calls on Wal-Mart and Scott to explain a series of conflicting statements by the company regarding just how many Wal-Mart workers actually receive company health care coverage.

“It’s time to hold Wal-Mart accountable. Wal-Mart is playing fast and loose with the facts to cover up its health care crisis. If Wal-Mart wants to earn customers trust, then they should come clean with the American people and disclose how many workers they have on their health care plan,” said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com.

Wal-Mart’s changing statements relate to three basic categories: (1) the percentage of employees insured by the company; (2) the total number of employees; and, (3) the total number of employees insured by the company. While these numbers are bound to fluctuate throughout the year, the pattern of Wal-Mart statements suggests deliberate misrepresentation for the purpose of public relations, rather than a desire to print the underlying facts.

Over the last ten months, as the document below shows, Wal-Mart spokespeople have given conflicting statements about the facts regarding each of these important areas. It is important for Wal-Mart to disclose the truth in order for the public and the press to evaluate the state of the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis.

Based on these conflicting statements, there is considerable doubt about the sincerity of health care reforms at Wal-Mart and whether or not they will actually raise the percentage of workers receiving company health care.

The internal document referenced (and deleted yesterday) was titled “health care backgrounder” and is attached or available by contacting WakeUpWalMart.com

WALMART’S CHANGING HEALTH CARE FACTS

How Many Wal-Mart Workers Work in the United States?

• January 2004
As of January 31, 2004, the Company employed approximately 1.5 million Associates worldwide, with approximately 1.2 million Associates in the United States
[Wal-Mart’s 10-K SEC Filing 2004]

• December 2004
Wal-Mart 5500 IRS Filing: 1,344,881 workers.
[www.freeerisa.org]

• January 2005
As of January 31, 2005, the Company employed approximately 1.7 million Associates worldwide, with approximately 1.3 million Associates in the United States.
[Wal-Mart’s 10-K SEC Filing 2005]

• October 2005
The world's biggest retailer employs 1.2 million people in the U.S. and 568,000 of them, or about 47 percent, have health insurance, the company said. [WAL-MART SETS NEW WORKERS' HEALTH PLAN. WWD October 25, 2005 ]

• February 2006
“Fact: 1.3 million Associates work at Wal-Mart in the U.S.”
[www.walmartfacts.com]

How Many Wal-Mart Workers Are Covered By Some Health Insurance?

• April 2005
“Currently, 86 percent of Wal-Mart hourly store associates surveyed have medical insurance.”
[Walmartfacts.com]

• November 2005
From Wal-Mart’s internal memo: only 81 percent of Wal-Mart workers have some form of insurance
[Supplemental Benefits Documentation: Board of Directors Retreat FY06]

• January 2006
“We estimate that more than three-fourths of Wal-Mart associates have some health insurance, through either a company plan, a spouse’s plan, or Medicare.”
[Wal-Mart: http://www.walmartfacts.com/docs/1625_jan2006healthcarebackgrounders_576890240.pdf]

What percentage of Wal-Mart Workers are Covered By the Wal-Mart Plan?

• April 2005
Wal-Mart: “Currently, 86 percent of Wal-Mart hourly store associates surveyed have medical insurance - 56 percent of those with coverage received health care insurance from Wal-Mart.” Therefore, 48% of Wal-Mart associates were covered by the company plan (Multiplying 56 percent of 86 percent would equal a total of 48% of Wal-Mart associates).
[Walmartfacts.com - April 2005]

• May 2005
“The company, based in Bentonville, Ark., says it covers health care for more than half its employees, and opens a route off state Medicaid rolls.”
[“PA to Wal-Mart: Pay Up for Health Care,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/16/05]

• October 2005
“The world's biggest retailer employs 1.2 million people in the U.S. and 568,000 of them, or about 47 percent, have health insurance, the company said.”
[“Wal-Mart Sets New Workers’ Health Plan,” Women’s Wear Daily, 10/25/05]

• January 2006
“On average in 2005, 73% of all associates were eligible for Wal-Mart plans and 43% of all associates chose to enroll”
[http://www.walmartfacts.com/docs/1625_jan2006healthcarebackgrounders_576890240.pdf]

• February 2006
“Wal-Mart's ranks of company-insured now stand at 47 percent, [Company Spokesman] Fogleman said.”
[“Utahns foot insurance bill” Salt Lake City Tribune, 2/5/06]

How Many Wal-Mart Workers Are Covered by the Wal-Mart Health Plan?

• February, 24, 2006
Wal-Mart has said its new Value Plan has encouraged more workers to sign up for health care. But its records show that the percentage of workers who have enrolled in a company health insurance plan has increased only slightly in the last year. As of January 2005, Wal-Mart insured 45.8 percent of its workers. Today, it insures 46.2 percent, or about 615,000 out of 1.3 million. (NY Times, Feb 24, 2006)

• January 1, 2006
“As a result, Wal-Mart said, 70,000 new employees signed up for insurance for 2006, bringing the number covered by the company's plan to 638,000.”
[New York Times, 1/5/06]

• January 19, 2006
“A statement distributed by the company said more than 615,000 of the company's 1.3 million workers are covered by Wal-Mart health plans.”
[AP, 1/19/06]

• January 19, 2006
Wal-Mart, which is considering challenging the Maryland law, will fight such efforts in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, spokesman Nate Hurst said Friday. Nationwide, 638,000 of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million workers have health insurance through the company, he said. The company expects support from other businesses that could be targeted next, Hurst said. [Harrisburg Patriot News, 1/19/06]

• December 6, 2005
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has enrolled 70,000 additional workers in its health-care programs for next year at a time when its insurance offerings have come under harsh criticism. … Of Bentonville-based Wal-Mart's 1.2 million U.S. workers, about 568,000, or 47 percent, had health insurance this year. [Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 12/6/05]

•December 3, 2005
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. added 70,000 U.S. workers to its health-care plans for next year, with roughly a third of those choosing the retailer's new low-cost plan. … At the beginning of this year, 568,000 of Wal-Mart's total 1.2 million U.S. employees were enrolled in its health-care plans, amounting to roughly 47% of the retailer's overall domestic work force. The national average for retailers is 46%, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-care research group. [WSJ, 12/3/05]

• October 25, 2005
The world's biggest retailer employs 1.2 million people in the U.S. and 568,000 of them, or about 47 percent, have health insurance, the company said. In its attempt to increase the ranks of insured, Wal-Mart is bucking a national trend among corporations looking to curtail spiraling health care costs. [Women’s Wear Daily, 10/25/05]

• June 23, 2005
Of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million full- and part-time employers, the lawmakers estimate that more than 600,000 do not have company insurance. Company critics say Wal-Mart wages are so low and the health premiums charged to employees so high, even some full-time employees qualify for government-funded health care. [Washington Post, 23 June 2005 ]

Our latest press release:

WAKEUPWALMART.COM RESPONDS TO WAL-MART’S UPCOMING HEALTH CARE ANNOUNCEMENTS

The following is a statement by Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com, regarding Lee Scott’s upcoming speech to the National Governor’s Association.

“Unfortunately, Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott still doesn’t get it. While Wal-Mart’s proposed changes to their health care plan are certainly long overdue, and we certainly support expanding benefits to part-timers, the Wal-Mart health care crisis infecting America cannot be solved by publicity stunts. Wal-Mart’s proposed changes are clearly designed to try and salvage a faltering public image, rather than make substantive changes to improve health care benefits for its employees.

Our new report, “America Pays, Wal-Mart Saves,” proves Wal-Mart’s repeated attempts over the last year to tell the American people it is improving health care is nothing more than a facade. In fact, the report shows how the Wal-Mart health care crisis is actually getting worse, not better. As an example, Wal-Mart now fails to provide company health care to over 775,000 (57%) of its employees, up significantly from last year. The report estimates Wal-Mart’s poor health care cost taxpayers nearly $1.4 billion for 2005 and will cost taxpayers over $9.1 billion for the next five years.

We agree with Lee Scott’s acknowledgment that health care is a serious issue for working people in America, and we are more than happy, as we have proposed to him personally, to sit down with him and work together to help improve the lives of Wal-Mart workers, their families, and to make Wal-Mart a more successful business.

Wal-Mart needs to understand it cannot have the world both ways. Wal-Mart wants to tell Wall Street it is controlling (ie. cutting) labor and health care costs, but wants to tell Main Street it is improving its health care offerings. Just like Lee Scott’s new proposals in October failed to improve Wal-Mart’s image or its health care, these new proposals ring just as hollow and will meet the same fate.

We can only hope, for America’s sake, Wal-Mart and Lee Scott will realize the only way to stem the growing public outrage over Wal-Mart’s poor health care is to make substantive changes that will actually provide affordable, comprehensive health insurance to more of its employees.

Lee Scott should sit down with us, prior to his official April announcement of these programs, and consider the path by which we can make Wal-Mart a better business and improve the great country we live in.

Our latest press release:

NEW WALMART DOCUMENT REVEALS A 5% DECREASE IN THE PERCENTAGE OF WORKERS COVERED BY THE COMPANY

NEW REPORT ESTIMATES WAL-MART HEALTH CARE CRISIS COST TAXPAYERS NEARLY $1.4 BILLION IN 2005/ PROJECTS COST OF $9.1 BILLION OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS

Washington, DC – Today, WakeUpWalMart.com, America’s leading campaign to change Wal-Mart, released a new report detailing the “Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis.” “The Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis” is the result of Wal-Mart’s failure to provide affordable health care to over half of its workforce which forces, according to estimates, several hundred thousand Wal-Mart workers and their families onto taxpayer-funded public health care.

In fact, based on Wal-Mart’s own documents, published on WalMartfacts.com in January 2006, the percentage of Wal-Mart workers with company health care decreased by 5% - from 48 percent to 43 percent. Therefore, in 2005, Wal-Mart admits it failed to provide company health care to 57% of its workforce, leaving over 775,000 Wal-Mart workers and their families without company health care. The new number is far worse than has been previously reported and is contrary to recent public statements by the company.

WakeUpWalMart.com issued a new report today after conducting a full analysis of all reported data on Wal-Mart’s health care spending. The report, titled “America Pays, Wal-Mart Saves: The Growing Cost of the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis,” estimates that, in 2005, nearly 300,000 Wal-Mart workers and their family members depended on taxpayer-funded public health care at a total cost to American taxpayers of $1.37 billion.

The most striking finding in the report is the projected cost to American taxpayers of the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis if Wal-Mart successfully completes its publicly stated goal of building 1,500 additional stores. Based on the current cost and the future store growth, the report projects the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis will cost American taxpayers approximately $9.1 billion over the next 5 years, 2006-2010.

“The Wal-Mart health care crisis is real, it’s growing, and the cost to taxpayers is enormous. Wal-Mart’s dirty little secret is to force taxpayers to pay nearly $1.4 billion in their health care costs, while Wal-Mart pockets $11 billion in profits. Wal-Mart will cost American taxpayers more than $9 billion over the next five years in health care costs alone” said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com.

Another startling finding in the report is the fact that Wal-Mart’s health care spending per worker actually declined by 3.5% during the period of 2003-2004, according to Wal-Mart’s latest filing with the Internal Revenue Service. This is notable for two reasons: 1) national health care spending per worker for the rest of America rose by 7.6% during this period, and 2) Wal-Mart’s repeated public statements about its health care spending and health care coverage do not reflect the reality of Wal-Mart’s own data submitted to the IRS. More detailed figures for Wal-Mart’s health care spending will be released when Wal-Mart files its Form 5500 for 2005.

“Wal-Mart ought to be ashamed. While health care costs and the number of uninsured are rising, Wal-Mart feeds America’s health care crisis by actually cutting back on its health care spending. It’s outrageous and the American people and their lawmakers will not tolerate such irresponsibility in corporate America,” added Paul Blank.

The report paints a disturbing picture of the scope and cost America bears because of the Wal-Mart health care crisis. Among the findings:

Of a total workforce in the Unites States of 1.39 million in October 2005, 57 percent or 775,000 Wal-Mart workers, had no company health care. The actual percentage of Wal-Mart workers without company health care increased by 5 percent in 2005.

The cost of the Wal-Mart health care crisis for 2005 is estimated at $1.37 billion. A previous study, by Professor Michael Hicks from the Air Force institute, estimated that each Wal-Mart employee increased Medicaid expenditures by $898. For Wal-Mart’s 2005 work force, this would cost taxpayers $1.24 billion.

Wal-Mart’s health care expenditures per worker actually declined by 3.5% during the period of 2003-2004, according to Wal-Mart’s latest filing with the Internal Revenue Service.

Based on Wal-Mart’s growth projections for 2006-2010, the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis will cost taxpayers an estimated $9.1 billion over the next five years.

Despite Wal-Mart claiming only 5% of its workforce is on public health care assistance, based on the available data, it is estimated Wal-Mart averages 13 percent of its workforce on public health care assistance. The 13 percent figure is 3.25 times higher than the national average of 4 percent for all employers and 2.6 times higher than the 5 percent average Wal-Mart states publicly.

Based on the data from the states who have released dependent care numbers, it is estimated that for every 12 Wal-Mart workers, one dependent of a Wal-Mart employee is on a taxpayer-funded public health care program. According to Wal-Mart’s own internal health care memo, Wal-Mart believes 27 percent of its employees’ children are using state Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Programs. In Georgia, for example, nearly 10,000 children of Wal-Mart workers are enrolled in the state PeachCare program – nearly 14 times more than any other employer.

Nationwide, it is estimated that 183,382 Wal-Mart workers and 112,768 family members of Wal-Mart workers are forced onto taxpayer-funded public health care assistance. The total number of Wal-Mart workers and family members who are part of the Wal-Mart health care crisis is 296,150.

For 2005, ending the Wal-Mart Health Care crisis would provide an extra $1.37 billion in additional funding for national and state health care programs. In terms of programs, the $1.37 billion in federal and state tax dollars currently going to subsidize Wal-Mart could be used to reinstate proposed funding cuts in the 2007 federal budget of over $1 billion in health care grants to states.

The complete report, “America Pays, Wal-Mart Saves” is being released as part of an upcoming national health care campaign initiative called “Stop the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis.” The latest campaign initiative by WakeUpWalMart.com will officially launch nationwide with events in 12 states on February 28th. Additional state-by-state estimates of the cost of the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis will be released on February 28th. The complete “America Pays, Wal-Mart Saves” health care memo is available for download at WakeUpWalMart.com.

WakeUpWalMart.com is America’s leading campaign to change Wal-Mart. With over 182,600 supporters in all 50 states, WakeUpWalMart.com is building the largest grassroots movement to change a corporation in history.

The first measurement of American public opinion on real estate issues reveals strong opposition to Wal-Mart in local communities. From the February 22nd release by Business Wire.

The Saint Index(C), a new survey by the Hingham, MA-based Saint Consulting Group, confirms Americans' love-hate relationship with Wal-Mart. Even as the global company revs up a campaign to protect its reputation, and despite Wal-Mart's undeniable popularity among consumers, almost two-thirds of those surveyed (63%) said that they would oppose a Wal-Mart store if one were proposed in their community.

[...]

According to The Saint Index, only landfills, quarries, power plants, and casinos generate more vehement community opposition than large retail stores. However, respondents singled out Wal-Mart as particularly unwelcome.

Wal-Mart's ranking continues to fall in Fortune Magazine's list of "Most Admired Companies". Wal-Mart ranks #12 in the 2006 list -- down from #4 in 2005 and #1 in both 2003 and 2004.

It's not surprising, of course, that a company with such immoral business practices would find its reputation plummeting...

From America's Most Admired Companies in Fortune Magazine's 2006:

And the winners are...

Which companies have the best reputations? This year, GE's up; Dell and Wal-Mart are down.

Click here for more information.

Today, we are proud to welcome 1,139 new WakeUpWalMart.com supporters to our community. These supporters have signed up after learning more about the movement to change Wal-Mart from our grassroots activists.

Thank you to all of the Leaders for Change and grassroots supporters who have gone out in the streets to recruit new members door-to-door and face-to-face. Hundreds of people sign up every day as WakeUpWalMart.com supporters continue to speak with their fellow citizens about Wal-Mart’s negative impact on their communities.

The fight to change Wal-Mart is a fight for what kind of America we want to live in. Wal-Mart’s version of America puts profits before people. In our America, people come first. As our movement continues to grow, we are even more powerful as a positive force for change.

Click here for a sign-up sheet to recruit your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and others.

Wal-Mart, with over $11 billion in profits, continues to disappoint the American people by refusing to address its poverty-level wages, lack of affordable health care, child labor, gender discrimination, and other shocking business practices.

From Bloomberg:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said fourth-quarter profit rose 13 percent on holiday sales of clothing, electronics and gift cards. The company forecast annual earnings below analyst estimates.

Comparable store sales increased 3.1 percent for the quarter ended Jan. 31, lagging behind competitor Target Corp.

Click here for the full article.

From the New York Times:

In a confidential, internal Web site for Wal-Mart's managers, the company's chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., seemed to have a rare, unscripted moment when one manager asked him why "the largest company on the planet cannot offer some type of medical retirement benefits?"

Mr. Scott first argues that the cost of such benefits would leave Wal-Mart at a competitive disadvantage but then, clearly annoyed, he suggests that the store manager is disloyal and should consider quitting.

The Web site, which Mr. Scott uses to communicate his tough standards to thousands of far-flung managers, gives a rare glimpse into the concerns that are roiling Wal-Mart's retailing empire, from the company's sagging stock price to how it treats its workers. Judging by the managers' questions, Mr. Scott has an internal public relations challenge that in some ways mirrors the challenge he faces from outside critics.

Click here for the full article.

Breaking news from Washington state:

Gregoire pledges to pass a "Wal-Mart bill" next year

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Gov. Chris Gregoire pledged Thursday to pass a "perfected" bill next year mandating health care spending by large employers, just days after a version aimed squarely at Wal-Mart died at the Legislature.

Speaking at a meeting of organized labor groups, Gregoire promised to work out details that apparently led the state House's top Democrat to block the measure this year.

"I think we ought to work to perfect the bill and make it happen next year," she said to thunderous applause from members of the Washington State Labor Council.

The bill in question was killed Tuesday evening when House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, refused to bring it up for a vote before a key legislative deadline that day.

Unions lobbied furiously for the measure, which would have required companies with 5,000 workers to devote 9 percent of their payrolls to health benefits. Those that didn't meet the standard would have to pay into taxpayer-funded health programs.

It's similar to measures being pushed in more than 30 states by organized labor, and the key target is retail behemoth Wal-Mart.

On Feb. 14th, 2006, members of the Waterbury Board of Education shot down a $2000 grant from Wal-Mart due to the chain's immoral business practices. From the Waterbury Connecticut Republican American:

"Do we need to sell our souls to get these grants? No," said board member John Theriault, one of four to vote against the request. Three commissioners voted in favor.

Not surprisingly, board members wished to distance themselves from a company whose image has been tarnished by, among other offenses, several violations of child labor laws.

"If Wal-Mart wants to improve its relationship with the community, it has ample opportunity to do so by complying with Connecticut law," added board member Ann Marie Sweeney. "You don't compromise your values because somebody waves the almighty buck."

Sweeney was referring to environmental and child labor violations at Connecticut Wal-Mart stores. The state fined three Wal-Mart stores in June for a series of child labor violations, including instructing minors to operate hazardous equipment and work past 10 p.m. In August, the company reached a $1.15 million settlement with state officials to resolve water management complaints at 22 stores.

The debate continues across this country about Wal-Mart's abysmal health care plan. Workers continue to come out in support of fair share health care.

In Colorado on Monday, over 250 workers came out to testify at the Colorado legislature.

From "Debate over ‘Wal-Mart law’ hits Colorado" in the Pueblo Chieftain:

DENVER - More than 250 workers chanted and testified at the Colorado Legislature on Monday to try to get lawmakers to increase access to medical coverage by forcing Wal-Mart to pay more.

Though HB1316 would require large corporations that employ 3,500 or more people to provide health insurance to their workers, the workers made clear the measure was aimed at Wal-Mart.

The discount store has been the target of numerous attacks nationwide over employee pay and benefits....

"Colorado families struggling to pay for their own health care can't afford to also subsidize free-loading corporations, like Wal-Mart, that refuse to pay their fair share," said Bill Vandenberg of the Colorado Progressive Coalition. "Corporations have to pay their own way."

Fair Share Health Care is heating up in Kentucky!

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

FRANKFORT — Lawmakers chastised retailing giant Wal-Mart today, threatening to approve legislation that would force the world’s largest company to take better care of its more than 30,000 Kentucky employees.

The proposal, which would require companies with more than 25,000 employees to spend at least 10 percent of their payroll on employee health insurance, was passed by the House Banking and Insurance Committee 15-4, with three members voting “pass".

Wal-Mart has faced intense criticism in the past year for its health insurance policies, which force many of its employees and their families to rely on state-sponsored health-care plans or go uninsured.

Called the Fair Share Health Care Act, the proposal appears to affect only Wal-Mart and UPS, which has a large air hub in Louisville.

“We have large entities that are riding on the backs of taxpayers,” said Rep. Melvin Henley, R-Murray, a co-sponsor of House Bill 493. “We need some special regulations to control the mammoths among us.”

Click here for the full article.

In his first economic report to Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed concern about the regulatory loophole that allows companies to own banks like the one Wal-Mart hopes to operate in Utah.

Bernanke supported a House bill that would close the loophole on these banks, called industrial loan companies. The bill would make industrial banks subject to the same level of federal supervision as other banks.

From Reuters:

"In my view, the bill that you're describing would solve the problem and would relieve our anxiety considerably about this particular type of organization," Bernanke told the U.S. House Financial Services Committee in his first appearance on Capitol Hill as Fed chief.

Industrial banks are state-chartered and state-regulated, and fall under FDIC supervision. Commercial companies may own them because federal laws that bar non-financial companies from engaging in banking activities do not classify them as banks.

Click here to read more.

In response to a lawsuit and strong grassroots pressure, a state board voted Tuesday to require Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception pills at its Massachusetts pharmacies. We hope that Wal-Mart will promptly announce their plans to comply fully with this decision and, furthermore, to stop denying this legal medicine to women across the United States.

From the Associated Press:

The state board that oversees pharmacies voted Tuesday to require Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception pills at its Massachusetts pharmacies, a spokeswoman at the Department of Public Health said.

The unanimous decision by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy comes two weeks after three women sued Wal-Mart in state court for failing to carry the so called "morning after" pill in its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores in the state.

The women argue state policy requires pharmacies to provide all "commonly prescribed medicines."

Click here for the full article.

In its latest attempt to squash workers' rights, Wal-Mart tries to bribe workers into giving up their collective bargaining rights in England...

From Food and Drink Europe:

Asda Wal-Mart has been fined £850,000 in the UK for offering employees a pay rise to give up union rights, spelling a PR disaster for the company already suffering from a scathing US documentary circuiting Europe.

A British employment tribunal found the American-owned supermarket chain guilty of promising 340 distribution staff a 10 per cent pay rise to give up the collective agreement negotiated by their union – an act which is illegal under 1992 labour relations law. The court ordered Asda to pay £2,500 to each employee at the County Durham depot, but the world’s largest retailer looks likely to appeal.

Paul Kenny, GMB acting general secretary said: “The Asda management need to take a clear message from [the tribunal]. GMB is not going away and the union will fight on every front to protect our member's rights".

The supermarket is currently feeling the heat elsewhere in Europe, as Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price received rapturous praise at the Berlin film festival over the weekend.

Click here for the full article.

Industry leaders agree: it's time to clean up dirty gold. From NoDirtyGold.org

NEW YORK CITY -- For the first time ever, eight of the world's top jewelry retailers have pledged to move away from "dirty" gold sales and are calling on mining corporations to ensure that gold is produced in more socially and environmentally responsible ways. The retailers, which are the Zale Corp., the Signet Group (the parent firm of Sterling and Kay Jewelers), Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget, and Van Cleef & Arpels, are being praised by the No Dirty Gold campaign today in a full-page ad in The New York Times, timed to coincide with Valentine's Day, one of the biggest jewelry-buying holidays in the United States.

Notably absent from the list of companies calling for change is Wal-Mart which, with $2.6 billion in annual sales, is the largest jewelry retailer in the US. Yet another blow to the company's battered public image.

Sign the petition at NoDirtyGold.org and help put an end to unsustainable, unconscionable mining practices.

From the Boston Globe:

Brookline resident Barbara Berke joined more than 200 grass-roots activists recently for a healthcare rally at the Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain, along with others from her synagogue. As a member of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, Temple Israel is part of a coalition of religious congregations and community groups that joined a statewide campaign to provide universal health insurance coverage for Massachusetts residents.

But Berke's support for a payroll tax on employers who don't provide health coverage to their workers -- the centerpiece of a House healthcare proposal on Beacon Hill -- isn't driven by a faith-based belief that it's the right thing to do. It's a product of her hard-boiled business background, including almost two years as the top business development official in the Romney administration.

Berke, a former director of the state's Department of Business and Technology under Romney, has become an outspoken voice from the business world in support of the employer tax. She says making companies that don't offer health insurance pay into state coffers to help underwrite coverage for uninsured workers would be good for the Massachusetts economy and good for job growth in the higher-wage sectors that are key to the state's future...

In speaking out in a debate in which some point to a moral obligation to ensure healthcare coverage for all, Berke says, ''I haven't made a faith-based argument, I've tried to make an economic argument." But she maintains this is one of those happy coincidences in which the state can do well by doing good.

As elected officials across the country debate Fair Share Health Care legislation, newspapers this weekend have been full of fair share discussions. From Virginia to Washington state, editorial boards, journalists and, most importantly, citizens are highlighting the need to hold large corporations accountable.

As the issue heats up in Washington state, this weekend's Seattle Times published the thoughts of some local citizens in a Letters to the Editor section titled "Discounting health." Here is one excerpt:

I work in a public-district hospital. Many of the patients and families I work with on a daily basis aren't insured. Many of them work but can't afford coverage from their employer. That means that their employers are dumping the cost of providing their care onto us, the taxpayers.

Now we've learned that it costs Washington taxpayers $12 million per year to provide health care to Wal-Mart employees.

Wal-Mart made a $10 billion profit last year. We shouldn't be giving it this handout. As a taxpayer, I am outraged that I'm paying to help Wal-Mart get a competitive edge over other employers by helping pay for its health-care benefits.

As a health-care worker, I believe that working families deserve basic, preventative care. Otherwise, they put off getting care, which leads to higher costs later on.

The system isn't working. We desperately need the Fair Share health-care bill to pass.

— Bill Hickey, Shoreline

Across the country in Virginia, the Fredricksburg, VA Free Lance Star's weighs in on the issue with Sunday's editorial, "States must follow Maryland's lead on Wal-Mart health benefits:"

Taxpayers who don't want to give big companies a free ride, unions and other organizations that represent the interests of working families--and even some Wal-Mart consumers--also pushed for reform. An amazing 66 percent of Marylanders supported this bill.

When customers register outrage about the unfavorable practices of their favorite brands, positive changes occur.

McDonald's replaced its plastic foam packaging with more environmentally friendly paper products.

Nike was forced to address sweatshop labor conditions in its shoe-manufacturing facilities.

And Starbucks began selling "fair-trade" coffee that properly compensated coffee plantation workers and small farmers.

Wal-Mart, too, can be required to become a better corporate citizen. With $256 billion in profits last fiscal year and 1.6 million employees worldwide, Wal-Mart's labor-relations model sets far-reaching standards.

The company's willingness to suppress pay and benefits, disregard labor regulations regarding break time and other working conditions, and squash employee efforts to form unions, has a devastating social impact.

When the world's largest employer applies this model to its workforce, it has a hand in legitimizing these practices--and enabling its vendors and rivals to follow suit.

As a result, competition fueled by the violation of workers' rights creates a race to the bottom.

Maryland's "Wal-Mart" law sets a floor for employee benefits among rival businesses. By doing so, the cost of health care benefits will no longer be a variable employers can use to increase profitability.

Maryland is pointing the way. We must demand that our democratic beliefs about fair play, justice and equality be extended to workplaces.

Click here to read entire article.

What are your thoughts on this issue this weekend?

The editorial board of Madison Wisconsin's Capital Times weighs in on the fair share debate with today's editorial "Wal-Mart's accounts."

It used to be that American retailers took pride in how they treated their suppliers, employees, customers and communities.

But no more.

The Wal-Mart model for doing business a model that, with its constant clawing for excessive profit and monopoly, breaks every precept of the social contract is becoming more and more dominant. Businesses of all sizes and shapes are being taught that the only way to succeed is by caring about nothing but the bottom line.

They are also being taught to raid the public treasury.

Wisconsin taxpayers paid $2.7 million in 2004 to provide BadgerCare coverage to 1,251 Wal-Mart employees and their dependents. BadgerCare is the insurance program designed to serve the working poor, not the employees of one of the largest and most profitable corporations on the planet.

Wal-Mart isn't going to do the right thing on its own. This is a circumstance where government has to act. And a model for that action has been developed.

The state of Maryland last month enacted a law that requires Wal-Mart and other companies with more than 10,000 workers in the state to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on employee health care or pay the difference to the state's Medicaid fund.

In Wisconsin, state Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, and state Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, have developed an even better proposal, which would require Wal-Mart and any other corporation with more than 10,000 full- and part-time employees in the state to either cover at least 80 percent of the cost of insurance coverage for those workers or repay the state for the cost created for Medicaid, BadgerCare and other state programs.

Wal-Mart's allies are fighting back. Legislative Republicans used a committee session to trash the bill after Gov. Doyle endorsed it.

Critics of Wal-Mart should not back off.

Wal-Mart is creating a model of irresponsibility. Maryland has begun the process of creating an alternative, and better, model.

Wisconsin should embrace and expand upon that model.

In an open letter to Lee Scott, Moms vs. Wal-Mart has asked the world's largest retailer to stop setting up shop next to schools.

On behalf of school children across the country, we would like to ask you to create a new corporate policy: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will not build any future stores next to schools.

We understand that there are a few Wal-Mart stores in the country that have been built next door to schools. Due to the poor mix of this size development with school children, Wal-Mart has made special concessions at these stores. A store in Tampa, Florida, does not sell firearms or hard alcohol as a result of parental pressure from the High School PTA next door. A store in Fort Worth, Texas, erected a large concrete wall to shield a school playground. Wal-Mart has recently agreed to block all customer traffic that would exit near a school entrance at a proposed store near Ann Arbor, Michigan, in response to safety concerns by county officials.

If Wal-Mart must make these safety concessions to be near a school, it is clear to everyone that Wal-Mart stores and schools are not appropriate neighbors.

"Moms vs. Wal-Mart" has been created to ask Wal-Mart Inc. to establish a responsible development policy. On behalf of the children who are unable to speak for themselves, please create a corporate policy that would give parents a reason to say something positive about Wal-Mart. Please announce that you will not build any future Wal-Mart stores next to schools.

Wal-Mart stores draw crime and traffic, some sell firearms and hard alcohol. If Wal-Mart can't play nice, they should stay away from our children's playgrounds.

Go sign their letter!

Two weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sent a 12-page letter to Congress opposing a regulatory loophole that would allow Wal-Mart to pursue its banking plans. Last week, the National Association of Realtors came out against Wal-Mart's bank bid. Now, Hillary Clinton is expressing similar reservations...

From the Washington Post:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York Democrat Sen. Hillary Clinton has entered the debate over Wal-Mart's controversial bank application, telling regulators she has "serious reservations" about allowing companies to enter financial services by exploiting a "loophole" in U.S. law.

According to a February 3 letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, Clinton, a former Wal-Mart board member, told the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. the retailer's bid to open an industrial loan company (ILC), if successful, could have a significant impact on the financial sector.

"After hearing from very concerned constituents about Wal-Mart's application for federal insurance for their ILC, I see this as a time to urge the FDIC to give serious and careful review to the relevant issues before moving forward on any application for federal insurance," Clinton wrote to the FDIC's acting chairman.

"Indeed, I believe that any action by the FDIC that would lessen or loosen the oversight for ILCs while granting it the same privileges and functions of traditional commercial banks would be a critical mistake and stand in stark contrast to the fundamental principle of the separation of banking and commerce."

Click here for the full article.

From the San Jose Mercury News:

GIANT RETAILER WOULD BE REQUIRED TO CONTRIBUTE MORE TOWARD HEALTH CARE

SACRAMENTO - Modeled after a controversial Maryland law, a California state senator today announced she will introduce legislation that would require Wal-Mart and other employers with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of total wages on health benefits.

``More Californians are uninsured than the populations of Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont combined,'' said Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco. ``Three-quarters of them are in working families whose employers do not offer them health insurance coverage. This bill will go a long way to closing this gap.''

Though the bill targets all employers with more than 10,000 employees -- there are believed to be as many as 25 in the state -- most, including the State of California, already meet the threshold.

Wal-Mart, which argues that it is being unfairly targeted by such proposals, employs roughly 70,000 Californians at an average salary of nearly $15,000, according to Migden. Her bill would force the nation's largest retailer to pony up an estimate $50 million toward employee health care coverage.

Click here for the full article.

Floridians now have a chance to join Americans across the country calling for fair share health care legislation. Fair Share Health Care state house bill 813 and state senate bill 1618 bring Florida into the national debate.

In today's Miami Herald, Fred Frost outlines some of the key reasons to support the Florida bills. Here are three of them:

1. Fair Share is good for businesses that do the right thing

2. Fair Share is good for working people and all taxpayers

3. Fair Share has strong public support

Continue reading for more about these three reasons...

1. Fair Share is good for businesses that do the right thing: "If you're a businessperson who does the right thing and provides health insurance for your employees, you pay dearly for the businesses that don't.

Not only are they tilting the competitive playing field, unethically cutting their costs, undercutting you and putting you at an unfair disadvantage. You and your employees also pay higher health-insurance premiums to cover care for those companies' employees. That is because healthcare providers, when serving workers with no insurance, have to raise their fees to cover their own shortfall. The bottom line is that you and your employees get hit with much higher bills."

2. Fair Share is good for working people and all taxpayers: "Of course, their employees are the main victims. Most Americans understand that healthcare should be a right -- but these workers have nothing of the sort. Although they do the best they can to make ends meet, millions live in fear that they or family members will get sick because there is no way they can pay for a doctor or hospital.

A large number of those who are paid below-poverty wages, through no fault of their own, have to rely on Medicaid or other state programs when they become ill.

That means that if you're a taxpayer, you pick up the tab every time a business doesn't pay its fair share for healthcare and pushes its employees onto these public-funded programs. The tab is colossal. The Commonwealth Fund estimates that taxpayers are paying $21 billion to cover workers whose employers don't provide health insurance.

3. Fair Share has strong public support: "Not only does the idea make good sense; it has enormous popular backing. In a recent Lake Research poll, 83 percent of Americans said that they support requiring large, profitable companies either to provide health insurance for their employees or pay a percentage of their payroll into a healthcare fund."

Read the entire article here.

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, WakeUpWalMart.com, America's campaign to change Wal-Mart, hand delivered Lee Scott a letter just as he entered a breakfast meeting with congressional leaders. The "principles for change" letter was personally handed to Lee Scott by a WakeUpWalMart.com staffer, Buffy Wicks.

Ms. Wicks handed Mr. Scott the letter and said, "I would like to give you this letter on behalf of WakeUpWalMart.com and our 180,000 supporters." Mr. Scott accepted the letter and replied to Ms. Wicks, "you are too kind."

"We hope Wal-Mart and Mr. Scott realize the incredible opportunity they have to work with us to improve the lives of 1.3 million workers and their families. Clearly, Lee Scott has a choice, and we hope he chooses to do the right thing and meet with us to address our genuine concerns," stated Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com

The letter handed to Lee Scott states, "Wal-Mart has a great opportunity to work with us to help improve the lives of so many Americans who face an economic and health care crisis everyday, everywhere in America. The American people want to know, will Wal-Mart do what is right for America or will Wal-Mart lead a race to the bottom?"

Read the rest of our press release.

At the same time Wal-Mart uses "thin profit margins" to justify why it can't be more responsible and provide better health care and wages to its workers, Wal-Mart wants to spend hundreds of millions on a "face lift" - talk about the wrong priorities.

See article here

As Washington state legislators debate Fair Share Health Care legislation, a new report reveals additional information about Wal-Mart's negative impact on state taxpayers.

The report, produced by state senators, estimates that in 2004, Wal-Mart workers received more than $22.7 million in taxpayer-funded health benefits in Washington state alone.

From the Associated Press:

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Wal-Mart and other large retailers are pushing tens of millions of dollars per year in health costs onto taxpayers, a new report produced for two Democratic state senators says...

The report estimates that in 2004, Wal-Mart workers received more than $22.7 million in taxpayer-funded health benefits. More than $12.1 million of that total came from Washington state's coffers.

Click here to read the entire article.

The Washington Fair Share Health Care Coalition released a statement today on the latest damning report. The Coalition says that a growing number of legislators in Washington are supporting Fair Share Health Care. The coalition, along with several prominent state legislators, say inaction is unacceptable as the ranks of the uninsured keep growing. An estimated 100,000 children in Washington are uninsured.

From NBC 10 news:

Mom Gets Porn Pictures From Wal-Mart

Gauntt Says Store Manager Admitted Mistake

CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- A local mother got the shock of her life when she picked up her prints from the local Wal-Mart.

Lisa Gauntt said she took many pictures at a baby shower, and subsequently dropped off the film at the store.

While the prints came out fine, the photo CD came back with pornographic pictures. With her family gathered around the computer to see the baby shower photos, Gauntt said she was shocked at what appeared on her laptop's screen instead.

"We clicked on the first one, and that is what we saw," she said. "The naked spread-eagled woman on a chair. That is what my family got to see."

"My children saw it," Gauntt said. "Wal-Mart exposed my children to pornography."

Gauntt said the store manager admitted it was a mistake and apologized, but she was still upset and wanted to make sure it doesn't happen again to someone else. Gauntt said she would take her pictures to Target in the future.

Click here for the full story and slideshow.

Fair Share Health Care is heating up in New Jersey...

From the Courier Post:

TRENTON -- Saying some large companies such as Wal-Mart are shirking their responsibilities to provide health care to employees, state senators took up proposals Monday aimed at forcing employers to pay more for coverage.

One measure would force companies with more than 1,000 employees to spend at least $4.17 per hour for their workers' health care. Companies that fall short would have to pay into a state fund that provides health coverage for the poor.

Another bill would require the state to track companies whose workers use FamilyCare, a state health insurance plan meant for the poor. Democrats and employee union leaders said big companies are forcing workers into the taxpayer-funded program by offering health insurance that is either limited or too expensive.

"The taxpayers of the state of New Jersey should no longer bear the burden of funding health care for corporations that are making hundreds of millions of dollars in the state," said Sen. Stephen M. Sweeney, D-West Deptford.

Click here for the whole article.

This article references a report from New Jersey Policy Perspective called "ATTENTION SHOPPERS: You Pay the Health Insurance Bills For Some of New Jersey's Largest Employers". The report reveals that Wal-Mart/Sam's Club, New Jersey's eighth largest employer, has more employees and employees' family members in the state health program than any other employer. Read the whole report here.

Wal-Mart tops the list again.

In the 19 states that have released data on employer use of Medicaid, Wal-Mart top the list every single time. Today, a new state analysis shows Utah taxpayers are footing the company's health care bill. Wal-Mart is now 20 for 20.

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

An analysis by The Salt Lake Tribune of Utah Department of Health data shows taxpayers footed the health insurance bill for 7,220 working Wasatch Front Utahns and their children in 2004. That's an estimated $42 million subsidy for low-wage employers such as Wal-Mart, Convergys Corp. and McDonalds. Also benefitting: public schools, universities and the LDS Church.

Utah's large employers split: Two of Utah's Top 10 employers, Hill Air Force Base and Skywest Airlines, have zero Wasatch Front workers on state-funded insurance, according to Health Department records. The state's largest, IHC, has 26,000 employees - nearly double Wal-Mart's Utah workforce - but only 48 workers on Medicaid.

Who is on Utah's list? Topping Utah's roster is Wal-Mart, which has 234 workers getting Medicaid or related assistance through the Primary Care Network and Children's Health Insurance Program.

Read the full article.

The Associated Press reports that Hillary Clinton has returned $5,000 Wal-Mart's political action committee had previously donated to her "because of serious differences with current company practices."

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gathered checks from Hollywood friends, John Kerry's wife and even a former Republican congressman, but records filed Friday show she returned cash from an even older ally -- Wal-Mart...

Clinton returned $5,000 to the political action committee of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a company with long ties to the Clintons dating back to their days in Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is headquartered.

Clinton campaign spokeswoman Ann Lewis said the money was returned "because of serious differences with current company practices."

The senator served on the Wal-Mart board from 1986 to 1992, and was close with the Walton family that created the nation's largest retailer.

But the senator signaled a new stance on the company's business practices in a speech last week, when she told the U.S. Conference of Mayors that the company should provide better worker benefits.

"Cities and states are saying we can't keep holding the bag here," Clinton told the conference, citing a new Maryland law requiring Wal-Mart to spend 8 percent of payroll in health benefits or contribute to insurance plans.

Today, the National Organization for Women (NOW), NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Council of Women’s Organizations, and WakeUpWalmart.com issued a joint statement calling on Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott and Wal-Mart to stop denying women their “right to access a legally-approved drug.”

Joint Statement in Support of Lawsuit Demanding Access to Emergency Contraception at Wal-Mart:

At the same time Wal-Mart faces the largest gender discrimination class action lawsuit in U.S. history, affecting 1.6 million women, three Massachusetts women are now suing Wal-Mart over its failure to provide access to emergency contraceptive pills.

Wal-Mart's decision not to stock or sell emergency contraception-also known as Plan B or the "morning-after pill"-unnecessarily denies women everywhere their right to access a legally-approved drug. The lawsuit charges that Wal-Mart is violating a Massachusetts policy requiring pharmacies in the state to dispense all "commonly prescribed medicines."

Wal-Mart's CEO Lee Scott should not decide what medicines women may or may not take. Wal-Mart's actions are clearly an outrageous intrusion into the health and privacy of all U.S. women. When a doctor prescribes emergency contraception for a woman, Wal-Mart does not have the right to overrule that decision.

To be most effective, emergency contraception should be taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse or contraceptive failure. Because Wal-Mart has put so many smaller stores out of business, in a number of areas it is the only pharmacy for miles. No woman at risk for unintended pregnancy, be it the result of a broken condom or sexual assault, should be turned away by Wal-Mart and forced to find another pharmacy while the clock is ticking.

Wal-Mart's statement that they choose "not to carry many products for business reasons," rings hollow and dismisses the heartfelt concerns of many women in this country.

We strongly support the lawsuit brought in Massachusetts and will fight to make sure all women who work at Wal-Mart or choose to shop there are treated fairly and equally and have access to all legally-approved medications.

We call on Wal-Mart to stop discriminating against women, reverse their policy on blocking access to emergency contraception pills, and to ensure, in the future, all legal medicines are provided to women at Wal-Mart pharmacies across the U.S.

Click here to read the press release.

Has Wal-Mart declared war on women?

*2 million female employees suing Wal-Mart for gender discrimination
*Pregnant Wal-Mart worker fired in Connecticut
*Massachusetts women suing Wal-Mart for being denied legal medicine

Now it looks like Wal-Mart's right-wing war room is at it again. And, this time, they are attacking a woman's right to make her own medical decisions.

Yesterday, three women in Massachusetts sued Wal-Mart and filed a complaint with the state because Wal-Mart refuses to sell legally-approved emergency contraceptive pills. In fact, Wal-Mart chooses not to sell this medication in every state except Illinois, where it is mandated by law.

Wal-Mart has a pattern of right-wing censorship, including banning certain lyrics and artists from selling DVDs and movies, but Wal-Mart's latest move to try and stop women from having legally available emergency contraceptive pills is an attack on our court system and women everywhere.

We need your help. Sign our petition and tell Wal-Mart's CEO Lee Scott to stop Wal-Mart's right-wing war on women and make these legally approved medications available to women.

This is not about whether or not you support abortion. Wal-Mart's policy, if left unchecked, means corporations (in this case the largest seller of goods in the U.S.) can inflict their own political agenda and values onto their customers.

Women deserve better. If women have the legal right to buy emergency contraceptive pills, then Wal-Mart should have to carry and dispense these pills. In many small towns, Wal-Mart is the only place where women can get these pills. In these cases, Wal-Mart's policy is effectively a ban on the sale of emergency contraceptive pills.

Wal-Mart's decision not to sell these pills is nothing short of a war on women and women's reproductive rights. It is an attempt to undermine a woman's ability to make a choice in consultation with her doctor. Which legal medicines any women may choose to take is a decision between herself and her doctor, not between herself, her doctor, and Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart's radical right policy must cease immediately, and Wal-Mart should make these pills available to their female customers.

In the coming months, we will be mobilizing our 176,125 supporters to expose Wal-Mart's real agenda, document Wal-Mart's record of exploiting its workers, and build the most powerful grassroots campaign to change a corporation in history.

Wal-Mart needs to change and, with your help, we are building the movement that will change Wal-Mart and build a better America.

Please forward our petition to all of your friends.

Our latest press release:

Group Targets Wal-Mart and President Bush for Efforts to Shift Health Care from Employers to Employees, Hurting America's Children and Growing Our Health Care Costs

Washington, DC - Today, WakeUpWalMart.com, America’s campaign to change Wal-Mart, launched a new online grassroots effort calling on Wal-Mart and President George Bush to stop supporting health savings accounts, which are the first step by corporate America to destroy our employer-based health care system, where two-thirds of American workers currently get their health care coverage.

The “First Wal-Mart, Now President Bush” online initiative was launched in response to Wal-Mart’s and now President Bush’s newfound support for so-called privatized health care options, like “Health Savings Accounts.”

“Wal-Mart is determined to use its special interest power to destroy the employer-based health care system in America. Both Pres. Bush and Wal-Mart have teamed up to shift the health care costs from multi-billion dollar corporations to workers struggling to get by - it is a national disgrace,” said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com

Beginning in January 2006, Wal-Mart introduced Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) as an additional health coverage option for its 1.3 million employees in the United States. Wal-Mart’s HSAs will do nothing to increase the number of workers’ insured under the company’s plan...

Click here to continue reading the press release.

Click here to sign the petition to say no to the Wal-Mart/Bush-backed HSAs and yes to corporations paying their fair share for health care.

Statement from Planned Parenthood and NARAL:

Boston – Today, the law firm of Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten, LLP filed suit on behalf of three Massachusetts women, Katrina McCarty, Julie Battel and Rebekah Gee, who were all turned away when they attempted to fill prescriptions for Plan B emergency contraception at Wal-Mart pharmacies. Plan B is an FDA-approved method of birth control that reduces the risk of pregnancy if taken within five days of contraceptive failure, unprotected sex or rape. Joining the law firm at today's announcement are women's health advocates from Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, and Jane Doe Inc. all of whom demanded that Wal-Mart change its policy and come into compliance with Massachusetts pharmacy regulations.

The suit is based on Massachusetts’ consumer protection law, Chapter 93A, and charges Wal-Mart with violating a state regulation that requires licensed pharmacies to stock all “commonly prescribed” medications. It seeks an injunction compelling Wal-Mart to comply with state law and stock emergency contraception. The three plaintiffs each attempted to fill prescriptions for Plan B at Wal-Mart pharmacies, and were turned away.

Plaintiffs’ lawyer Sam Perkins said the suit was brought because “Wal-Mart apparently thinks it is above the law. Massachusetts pharmacies are required to stock all medications that are commonly prescribed to meet the usual needs of the community. Women in every Massachusetts community must have ready access to emergency contraception to avoid unintended pregnancies.”

“I am participating in this lawsuit to ensure that all women will be able to walk into a Wal-Mart, or any other pharmacy operating in Massachusetts, and know that their valid prescriptions will be filled,” said plaintiff Katrina McCarty. “As an individual, I have the right to decide which methods of contraception are right for me."

Plaintiff Julie Battel said, “No corporation should be allowed to make a customer feel completely powerless by denying them access to a medication that was prescribed by a doctor. I hope that Wal-Mart will change their policy and stop forcing an ideological view upon their customers.”

Broader access to emergency contraception is one of the most promising ways to reduce the rate of abortion in the United States. A recent law enacted in Massachusetts allows pharmacists who receive special training to dispense emergency contraception without a prescription.

“Wal-Mart’s policy shows a complete disregard for women’s health,” said Angus McQuilken, Public Affairs Director for Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. “Reducing the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions should be a goal that everyone shares. By refusing to make emergency contraception available to women when they need it, Wal-Mart has made itself part of the problem. Our state's pharmacy regulations apply equally to all pharmacies, and Wal-Mart needs to come into compliance."

"The new Emergency Contraception Law allowing pharmacists to make emergency contraception available to women who come into the pharmacy without a prescription has been embraced by pharmacists around the state as an important step in improving access to this contraceptive method,” said Melissa Kogut, Executive Director for NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. “It's a disgrace that Wal-Mart will not even stock emergency contraception, which has tremendous untapped potential for reducing unintended pregnancy."

“It is disappointing, at best, that Wal-Mart, a corporation that prides itself on customer loyalty is turning its back on its customers, employees and family members who may be victims of rape and in need of timely access to EC,” said Mary R. Lauby, Executive Director of Jane Doe Inc.

The suit was filed February 1 in the Suffolk County Superior Court.

Wake-Up Wal-Mart supporters in New Hampshire are working tirelessly to raise the issue of Fair Share Health Care. Mark Fernald, a former state senator, recently joined in the debate...

From the Concord Monitor:

Your editorial against the Wal-Mart bill was so full of errors and illogic that I scarcely know where to start.

Rep. Mary Beth Walz has proposed House Bill 1704, which would require large employers to spend at least 8 percent of payroll on health care for their employees. Employers who didn't meet the threshold would have to pay the difference into a state fund established to pay for Medicaid, the health-care plan for the poor.

The Monitor complains that if the bill passes here and in other states, "the nation would wind up with a de facto employer-based health-care system." We already have an employer-based health-care system. The vast majority of Americans of working age with health insurance have it because their employers provide it. Most Americans without health insurance are working, but their employers offer no plan, or they cannot afford the plan offered.

Wal-Mart is undermining our employer-based health-care system. Wal-Mart is able to undercut other retailers, in part, because it skimps on health care. As the largest retailer and employer in America, Wal-Mart has the market clout to present its competitors with a stark choice: reduce benefits or go out of business.

Click here to read the full article.

From the Associated Press:

BOSTON -- Three Massachusetts women backed by pro-abortion rights groups sued Wal-Mart on Wednesday, saying the retail giant violated state law by failing to stock emergency contraception pills in its pharmacies.

The suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court seeks a court order compelling Wal-Mart to stock the so-called "morning after pill," in its 44 Massachusetts pharmacies.

"Wal-Mart apparently thinks it is above the law," said Sam Perkins, a lawyer for the three plaintiffs.

A new state law that took effect late last year following heated debate on Beacon Hill requires all hospitals to provide the morning-after pill to rape victims. It also allows pharmacists to dispense the pill without a prescription, but does not require it.

Instead, the suit, backed by Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and Jane Doe Inc., argues Wal-Mart is violating a provision of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law that requires pharmacies to provide all "commonly prescribed medicines."

Click here to read the whole article.

Wake-Up Wal-Mart supporters, in conjunction with the Connecticut Working Families Party and the Community Alliance for Justice at Wal-mart, will rally today (Wednesday, February 1) in Hartford in support of a former Wal-Mart worker who was fired for being pregnant.

Here is her story:

Octavia Goolsby is a single mother who began working at Wal-Mart in December 2004 in the pharmacy department. She was enrolled in the company's training program to earn a pharmacy technician's license. In October 2005, Octavia requested a medical leave of absence due to complications with her pregnancy. She provided Wal-Mart with all of the necessary documentation, including a note from her doctor, and she believed she was granted medical leave for four weeks. Shortly before her return date, Octavia was informed by the store manager that she had been replaced because she was "voluntarily terminated." Wal-Mart has even refused to issue her pharmacy technician's license, despite the fact that she had completed all training and requirements for the license.

Octavia is not the only Wal-Mart associate in Connecticut fighting for justice at Wal-Mart. Click here to read more about other Wal-Mart workers fighting for their rights in Connecticut.

If you live in Connecticut and would like more information about the rally, please email field@wakeupwalmart.com.