From Liza Featherstone at the Nation:

In response to accusations from Wake Up Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart denies funding the far-right Center for Union Facts (CUF), whose creepy and misleading anti-union ads you may have seen in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times or the Washington Post. A press release from CUF amusingly registers some distress over the company's denials; acknowledging that Wal-Mart isn't funding the group, CUF spokeswoman Sarah Longwell says, "Come to think of it, why aren't they?" CUF is now calling upon Wal-Mart to remedy this oversight.

Wal-Mart would be wise to give this organization a wide berth. In addition to the newspaper ads, the group maintains a website, clearly aimed at union members and undecided workers, dedicated to smearing the labor movement...

If not Wal-Mart, then who is funding CUF? According to the website, the campaign is supported by "foundations, businesses, union members, and the general public." When I asked for further clarification, CUF's Sarah Longwell demurred, explaining the group's "policy not to offer specific information on any of our supporters" -- not a very transparent policy for a group claiming dedication to "showing Americans the truth" and professing not to be "part of a political effort" but "about education." If anyone has any idea who CUF's sugar daddies are, let me know. I would enjoy inflicting some pain and grief upon them, and I know I'm not alone in this.

Click here for the full text.

Bill Katovsky from the Huffington Post writes about recent local fights, the politics of Wal-Mart, among many other issues.

On local community opposition:

Small-town America is turning against America's largest retailer. Two weeks ago, the tiny California community of Hercules, which is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco, rejected Wal-Mart's bid to open a 100,000-square-foot store on specially zoned land.

Hercules, despite its name, has become yet another David in the localized battle against the commercial Goliath.

Following the release of several anti-Wal-Mart film documentaries and books, concerned citizens are better educated that bigger is not necessarily better in their own backyard.

On Wal-Mart's impact on the U.S. economy:

Close to 7.5 cents of every retail dollar spent in this country is funneled into Wal-Mart's coffers. Its revenues constitute 2.5 percent of America's GNP. The retail chain helps drive the U.S. economy. In fact, Wal-Mart used to promote "Buy American!" in its advertising and sales promotions before switching over to "Always Low Prices." Then again, eighty percent of Wal-Mart's 6,000 suppliers and factories are located in China.

On the growing opposition to Wal-Mart:

Despite Wal-Mart's reputation as a bellwether for national consumer-spending habits, it's also become an ever-increasing target of litigation, protests, and controversy. It's been a defendant in a number of class-action lawsuits, ranging from sexual discrimination to mistreatment of its underpaid, largely unskilled workforce.

On Wal-Mart and politics:

On the political front, Wal-Mart gives more money to Republican candidates than any other company. According to Bloomberg News, "Wal-Mart's political action committee, the biggest company PAC, gave Republicans 81 percent of its $1.3 million in donations in the past two years."

Business reports today show Wal-Mart's estimated May same-store sales growth at 2.3%, the low end of its forecast. Wal-Mart's stock dropped $1.16 to $48.49, according to early AP reports.

Market Watch reports on some analysts' take on Wal-Mart's sales figures:

J.P. Morgan analyst Charles Grom sounded a more tentative note. Given the solid overall first-quarter performance, particularly April's 6.8% jump in same-store sales, Grom said that May's 2.3% were "disappointing" and represent ongoing volatility.

"While Wal-Mart is taking steps in the right direction to drive better (same-store sales), the company's month-to-month inconsistency on (that) front supports our skeptical view that its initiatives will not translate into a linear improvements in sales this year," he said in a note to clients.

Wal-Mart is set to release its May same-store sales figures on Thursday.

Recently, The El Paso Times requested statistics from the state of Texas linking the number of children on state health care to the employer of those children's parents. Not surprisingly, Wal-Mart tops the list.

Not exactly the kind of leadership a company should be proud of:

Employers with the largest number of CHIP-enrolled families in Texas include El Paso's two largest school districts and the most successful retailer in the nation, according to state statistics.

Wal-Mart had the single largest number of employees in Texas who turned to the government-subsidized program so their children could receive medical care. The retailer is also one of El Paso's top 10 private employers.

The data provided by the state at the request of the El Paso Times suggests that some major employers may not have affordable medical insurance plans, or that their employees don't make enough to be able to purchase an employer plan.

In typical fashion, spokesman Dan Fogelman's response to the startling data was to rattle off figures and statistics that do not match reality. Instead of pathetically defending a poor health care plan, Fogelman should be explaining why Wal-Mart cost Texas taxpayers $134,161,466 on health care costs in 2005 alone.

He should be explaining what Wal-Mart will do to stop this unethical business model, in Texas and across the country.

Our latest press release:

NEW EVIDENCE SHOWS WAL-MART WORKING CLOSELY WITH RIGHT WING ATTACK GROUP

SENIOR WAL-MART OFFICIALS, BOB MCADAM AND LEE CULPEPPER, CONNECTED TO RIGHT-WING ATTACK DOG - RICK BERMAN, HEAD OF THE CENTER FOR UNION FACTS

GROUP CALLS ON WAL-MART TO FIRE BOB MCADAM AND LEE CULPEPPER AND END RELATIONSHIP WITH RIGHT WING ATTACK DOG, RICK BERMAN

Washington, D.C. - WakeUpWalMart.com, America’s campaign to change Wal-Mart, has uncovered a close and working relationship between high-ranking senior Wal-Mart executives, Bob McAdam and Lee Culpepper, and right-wing radical Rick Berman.

Earlier this year, Rick Berman, a well-known right-wing radical and defender of mercury poisoning, drunk driving and Big Tobacco, launched a campaign attacking hard-working union members. At the time of Berman’s launch, Wal-Mart spokesman, Sarah Clark, publicly denied any involvement or connection between Wal-Mart and Berman’s group, the Center for Union Facts. According to the Los Angeles Times, Clark said Wal-Mart had "never heard" of Berman.

Now, Wal-Mart publicly admits it has not only heard of Berman, but has been working with him. The Detroit Free Press reports, “Wal-Mart said it has a relationship in which it exchanges union information with Berman, the group's head." [Detroit Free Press, 5/24/06]

In addition, an investigation by WakeUpWalMart.com confirms that two senior Wal-Mart officials, Bob McAdam and Lee Culpepper, have worked closely with Berman on “special projects” that have related to defending Big Tobacco, defending mercury poisoning, and other right-wing causes.

For example, Bob McAdam worked with Phillip Morris at the Tobacco Institute during the same period of time that Phillip Morris contributed $900,000 to Berman's pro-tobacco campaign. Lee Culpepper worked at the National Restaurant Association. The NRA’s members contributed to Berman's pro-mercury poisoning campaign. In fact, Lee Culpepper, while working at the National Restaurant Association described his relationship with Berman in these glowing terms, “I’ve worked with Rick for years, and indeed he is a lightning rod. People have strong feelings about him, but he helps the industry.”

"Under the leadership of two new senior officials, Wal-Mart has turned to the radical right-wing to try and salvage its declining public image,” said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com.

Blank continued, “The American people will be deeply disturbed to learn Wal-Mart has developed such a close relationship with a right-wing fanatic like Rick Berman.

It appears Bob McAdam, best known as Big Tobacco’s liar-in-chief, has created a culture of lies and deception at Wal-Mart that threatens the company's credibility with the media, consumers and the American people. Since Bob McAdam joined the company, Wal-Mart has misled the public on its health care statistics, lied on its banking application, and falsely claimed it didn't know it was hiring illegal workers. Lee Culpepper’s relationship with Berman is equally reprehensible.

America must wonder why Wal-Mart wants to be associated with three individuals who have spent their careers lobbying against the public interest including defending mercury poisoning, drunk driving, and big tobacco.

Unless Wal-Mart wants to be forever associated with these abhorrent causes, Wal-Mart needs to immediately fire its right-wing attack dogs Bob McAdam and Lee Culpepper, end its disgusting association with Rick Berman’s group, and issue an apology to all of the hard-working families demonized by Mr. Berman.”

Our latest press release:

WAKEUPWALMART.COM EXPOSES WAL-MART’S NEW HEALTH CARE PLAN FOR PART-TIME WORKERS

DETAILS OF “NEW PLAN” UNDERMINE WAL-MART’S PREVIOUS HEALTH CARE ANNOUNCEMENT

DOCUMENTS EXPOSE WAL-MART’S SECRET PLAN TO CUT WORKERS’ HOURS, SHIFT TO A MAJORITY PART-TIME WORKFORCE, AND CUT BENEFITS FOR FULL-TIME WORKERS “TRANSITIONED” TO PART-TIME

Washington D.C. - Today, WakeUpWalMart.com, America’s campaign to change Wal-Mart, released copies of Wal-Mart’s new health care benefits plan for current part-time employees and full-time employees “transitioned” to part-time. The health care documents were given to the group by Wal-Mart employees concerned about the terrible effects that Wal-Mart’s new policies, in particular the drastic transition from full-time to part-time, are having on employee morale, customer service and store performance.

The first document, a 7-page booklet, titled “My Benefits: New Peak Time Benefits: Making a Difference for You,” details the specific changes to Wal-Mart’s health care benefits which the company announced last month. The second document is a memo from Wal-Mart’s “administrative committee” to all “full and peak-time hourly associates,” titled a “Summary of Material Modifications to Associates’ Health and Welfare Plan.”

Both documents were given to employees as part of a special enrollment period which runs from May 15-26, 2006. The special enrollment period, however, is not open to all Wal-Mart associates. Only associates who are part-time and have more than 1 year of service but less than 2 years of service (part-timers with more than 2 years of service are only eligible if they enroll their dependent) and full-time employees who were just ‘transitioned’ to part-time status, are eligible to enroll.

“Based on these new documents, either Wal-Mart falsely claimed it would offer its low cost plan to 50% of its Associates, or Wal-Mart has ‘transitioned’ many more workers to part-time than has been reported publicly. Either way, Wal-Mart’s rhetoric doesn’t match reality, and Wal-Mart workers are paying way too high a price,” said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com.

Based on the two documents, it is obvious Wal-Mart’s “new health care changes” will do little to expand health care coverage for many of its 1.3 million employees. Rather, Wal-Mart’s health care changes are clearly structured to cut health care costs and minimize the public relations disaster from slashing over 200,000 full-time jobs and replacing or transitioning them with low paid part-time workers.

According to a JP Morgan report issued in January 2006, as well as the infamous internal health care memo authored by Wal-Mart Executive Vice President Susan Chambers, Wal-Mart publicly states it intends to shift hundreds of thousands of full-time workers to part-time status. In the two health care documents, Wal-Mart coldly refers to this shift as a “transition” and now describes part-time workers as “peak-time” employees.

Under the new health care changes, all ‘transitioned’ employees lose most of their benefits, including dental, life insurance and disability immediately, and will lose their health care benefit after one year. In addition, part-time Associates are unable to enroll their spouses. The lack of spousal coverage is consistent with Wal-Mart’s desire to cut health care costs by decreasing spousal coverage. As Chambers states in the memo, “spouses are by far the most expensive plan members to cover.”

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart’s new health care plans continue to remain unaffordable for the average Wal-Mart employee. Wal-Mart’s most affordable health care option, the Value Plan, has a $3,000 deductible for family coverage and several other deductibles for prescription drug coverage and hospital procedures. Based on all of the premiums and deductibles in the so-called ‘Value’ plan, a part-time Wal-Mart employee could have to pay up to 58% of his/her salary for an individual plan and up to 93% for family coverage.

Most disturbingly, newly transitioned employees who take advantage of this special enrollment will lose any money they have already spent on their deductible and will once again have to pay the full $3,000 deductible.

“For the sake of Wal-Mart’s workers, their families, and the American taxpayer, we call on Lee Scott and Wal-Mart to propose real health care changes that don’t dangerously discriminate against single, uninsured part-time workers and exclude health care coverage for spouses. Wal-Mart’s plan to expand health care coverage to employees while making it more unaffordable through lower pay and less hours is deceptive and a national disgrace,” added Blank.

Based on the two leaked health care documents, Wal-Mart workers will face significant restrictions under the new health care changes, including:

1) Only uninsured part-time Wal-Mart workers, who also insure their dependents, are eligible to enroll during this special enrollment period.
• “If you are a peak-time hourly Associate who has been employed by Wal-Mart for more than two years and are not currently enrolled in any medical coverage option offered by the AHWP, you may enroll yourself in any of the available peak time medical coverage options (except HSA Qualified or HSA Qualified Performance plans), but only if you enroll your dependent children.” (Memo: Summary of Material Modifications to Associates Health and Welfare Plan; p. 2)

2) Spouses of part-time associates will not be eligible during this enrollment period.
• “Your spouse is not eligible for Medical coverage.” (My Benefits: New Peak Time Benefits Making a Difference for You: page 3)

3) Former full-time workers, now reduced to part-time workers, will lose an array of additional benefits.
• “Dental, Optional Life Insurance, Company-Paid Life Insurance, Dependent Life Insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Short-term Disability, Short-term Disability Plus, and Long-Term Disability - will stop at the end of the pay period in which you transition.” (My Benefits: New Peak Time Benefits Making a Difference for You: page 4)

4) Former full-time Wal-Mart workers, now reduced to part-time workers, who change plans during this “Special Enrollment” period will lose credit for any money they have already spent against their deductible. Therefore, a worker could have to pay as much as $3,000 in deductibles twice.
• “If you switch Medical plans, or if you change your deductible during the Special Enrollment or within 60 days due to your transition, your annual deductible will start over. Amounts already incurred toward your annual deductible will not carry over to your new plan option or new deductible.” (My Benefits: New Peak Time Benefits Making a Difference for You: page 4)

5) Wal-Mart made no changes to the cost of the deductible for family or individual coverage on any plans. Deductibles on Wal-Mart’s most affordable plan are as high as $3,000 for family coverage and $1,000 for individual coverage.

Copies of the two Wal-Mart health care documents describing these health care changes are available for download at www.WakeUpWalMart.com.

Amy Joyce writes "Critics Say Wal-Mart Grows Part-Timers to Cut Benefits" in today's Washington Post.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is shifting a portion of its full-time employees to part-time status, company critics say, which they assert will have the effect of limiting health insurance, even though the company is expanding coverage for its part-time workers.

Company spokesman Dan Fogelman said Wal-Mart is not necessarily forcing workers into part-time schedules but is "trying to ensure that our staffing matches our customer shopping patterns. But there is no specific target number in terms of how many associates will be full time versus part time." The majority of Wal-Mart jobs are currently full time, he said.

The criticism arose after WakeUp Wal-Mart obtained detailed copies of the new health plans, which the company confirmed yesterday. The company, which announced the changes in general terms in a press release this month, is offering open enrollment for part-time workers this week only if they also enroll their dependent children, who were not eligible for coverage before. Another open enrollment will be available to all employees in October.

The new benefit plan for "Peak-Time" workers -- Wal-Mart's name for part-timers -- also shortens the waiting period for part-time employees to obtain coverage to one year from two years.

But the plan will be unaffordable for workers who are moved from full-time wages to part-time, said Chris Kofinis, a spokesman with WakeUp Wal-Mart, a group funded by the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

Read more about the plan on our new Wal-Mart Cutbacks page.

Many plans are offered. The "value plan" has a $23 premium per month for individuals and $65 for families, with a deductible of $1,000 per person and a family maximum of $3,000. The most popular "network saver plan" ranges from $39 to $79 per month with deductibles of $350 to $1,000.

Those workers who are moved to part-time status can keep their current health plan until the end of the year, but they will lose other benefits such as dental and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability as soon as they move to part-time hours, according to the plan document.

Employees are told if they keep the plan they had as full-time employees after they move to part-time status, however, "your cost for this coverage will not change and you may be working fewer hours."

The company has promoted the plan in recent months, saying the coverage is more comprehensive than ever.

"Wal-Mart is one of the few retailers that offers benefits to part-time associates and premiums are as low as $11 per month," said Mona Williams, a company spokeswoman. "With this special open enrollment, we have expanded eligibility and made coverage available to the children of our associates who choose to work part-time."

Full-time Wal-Mart workers have been wary of the pending changes, an employee at a south Florida store said. She spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing she could lose her job for speaking to the press.

She said she discovered last week, after checking upcoming schedules, that her full-time hours in accounting will be cut in about three weeks. She was told last week the company was shrinking her department. She then interviewed for and took a job as a customer service manager.

Part-time status will make coverage difficult, she said. "It would be really hard to afford," she said. Her current plan covers herself, three children and her husband, who is retired. The part-time plan eliminates spouse coverage, and with fewer hours, she does not think she could afford the $3,000 deductible.

A J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. report in January said the company is planning to "right size" its full-time versus part-time mix to improve productivity and reduce store labor costs. According to the report, about 80 percent of employees are full time. The company is seeking to lower that rate to about 60 percent during the next 12 to 18 months, the report said.

Yesterday, a town named Hercules in California made history. The town, desperate to save its community from the negative impact of Wal-Mart, actually voted to use the public’s power of eminent domain to stop Wal-Mart from building there. After the City Council voted unanimously in favor of the people over Wal-Mart, a cheer broke out and, all across America, headlines read, “Hercules Defeats Goliath.” We couldn’t have written the headlines any better.

We may not have the same amount of money, lobbyists or consultants as Wal-Mart, but when ordinary people join together, in common purpose, they can accomplish extraordinary things. That is what our campaign is all about. Hercules is proof.

The American people can stand up to powerful corporations like Wal-Mart and WIN!

Help us win all across America. Please contribute to our campaign today. Your contribution of $25, $50 or $100 will help us fight for change.

Click here to make a contribution.

What you are doing in this campaign is simply amazing. You have created one of the fastest growing social movements in America with over 235,000 supporters. And, everyday, you sign up another 100 new people to our movement.

You have defied all of the pundits, columnists, political experts, public relations strategists and lobbyists who didn’t believe you could build a movement to change America. We are now, as the Associated Press recently put it, “the hottest, highest-stakes political contest in America today.”

They are right, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Because this is not a typical campaign, it is a fight for what kind of America we want to live in - Wal-Mart’s America, where corporations use their power to exploit people, or Our America, where people win!

Our fight starts with you. You have the power to fight for change. Please click here to contribute today.

You are proving the American people do have the power to take our country back from powerful corporations like Wal-Mart. And, everyday we grow stronger we are restoring the balance of power between obscene profits and the American people.

We may not be able to change all of corporate America at once, but, together, we will change Wal-Mart, challenge corporate America’s stranglehold on power, and profoundly change our country for the better.

From The Arizona Republic:

A vocal number of Ahwatukee Foothills residents are making it clear they don't want a Wal-Mart store in their neighborhood, no matter how nice, small or inevitable it may be.

At the Monday meeting of the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee, anti-Wal-Mart statements were punctuated with applause and jeers even after a city planner said Wal-Mart has the zoning for one of its smaller Neighborhood Markets.

Residents cited the same complaints often heard about the retailer giant: It pays low wages, keeping many of its employees on welfare; it often drives mom-and-pop stores out of business; and it's anti-union.

They also objected to the traffic and trash that might be generated at the 24-hour Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market planned for northeast of Desert Foothills Parkway and Marketplace Way, behind the Ace Hardware store.

"We live in Ahwatukee Foothills for a certain quality of life," said Lani Kuban, 42, a three-year resident.

"It doesn't matter how they package it. It still has unsavory business practices. It still runs entrepreneurs out of business."

Pam Whiffen, a Glendale teacher who lives in Ahwatukee, said she has students whose parents work at Wal-Mart. The students qualify for free lunches because of the parents' low income.

"I don't want it. I don't want the three-foot wall (that would surround it). I won't want the wonderful design," she said sarcastically.

"Calling it that does not make it a neighborhood market. I don't want this at all," she said to cheers and applause.

Brian Knebel, who works at IBM, said Ahwatukee Foothills is like a Beverly Hills and he would prefer a store like Henry's Farmers Market.

The committee took no action because Wal-Mart has the zoning. Essentially, the hearing was for information purposes only.

Thirty-nine people entered their names as being there specifically for the Wal-Mart case, and judging from the jeers, opponents easily appeared outnumbered Wal-Mart supporters. Out of about a dozen people who spoke, only one favored the store.

Opponents immediately gathered outside and began organizing and exchanging phone numbers and e-mail addresses to see if and how they can stop the store.

The store has been planned for several months, but Wal-Mart only announced its plans last week.

Owners of the almost 14-acre site have been trying for years to lure a grocery store. Chris Hood, a city planner, said Fry's Food Stores at one time considered building there.

Larry Davidson, development manager with the owner of the property, the Bunch Company, also said Safeway at one time considered closing its existing store near there and building a new one at the Wal-Mart site.

The Wal-Mart store will be one of four buildings planned at the site, and there will be other retailers. Davidson said he could not reveal them because negotiations are still in the early stages.

"We want to do everything we can to make everyone realize this is going to be a pretty nice development when it's done," he said.

Sean Lake, a zoning attorney representing Wal-Mart, said the store will be 39,000 to 40,000 square feet, smaller than a typical Safeway or Albertson's store, which is 45,000 to 55,000 square feet, and much smaller than a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which can be 220,000 to 230,000 square feet.

He said the market would have a drive-through pharmacy, pedestrian seating area, 24-hour security and surveillance camera and a wall to hide the loading docks. The inside and outside would be tailored to fit the neighborhoods.

Hood said the site is zoned for an intermediate retail area and Wal-Mart needs only to get the elevation and site plan approved.

Planners have already suggested some changes, such as turning the building 90 degrees to face southwest instead of south, so the back area can face the back area of the Ace Hardware store instead of homes.

Planners will meet with Wal-Mart officials beginning at 9:30 a.m. today and residents are invited to attend, she said. The meeting will be in conference room on third floor of Phoenix City Hall.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Delia Garcia said lots of complaints about the company are based on personal opinion, not facts.

She said the company gave $40 million to education last year. And if residents want high-end groceries, she said the store would carry them.

"We will make sure it carries products people want" she said.

Click here for the full photo gallery from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Click here for the article.

From the Associated Press:

A San Francisco suburb voted Tuesday night to use the power of eminent domain to keep Wal-Mart Stores Inc. off a piece of city land after hearing from dozens of residents who accused the big-box retailer of engaging in scare tactics to force its way into the bedroom community.

The overflow crowd that packed into the tiny Hercules City Hall cheered after the five-person City Council voted unanimously to use the unusual tactic to seize the 17 acres where Wal-Mart intended to build a shopping complex.

"The citizens have spoken. No to Wal-Mart," said Kofi Mensah, who has lived in Hercules for more than two decades and said he values the city's authentic feel.

[...]

Jeri Wilgus, 47, said she was proud of the council for standing up to Wal-Mart and said the town could show others how to fight back against big corporations.

"We are setting an example for the rest of the country," she said.

Click here for the full article.

Our latest press release:

Today, Bob McAdam, Wal-Mart's spokesperson and the former political director of the Tobacco Institute, denied WakeUpWalMart.com personally handed Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott a letter outlining our principles for change on February 8, 2006.

According to the Associated Press, "McAdam denies Scott was given the letter as he entered a Washington D.C. meeting with Hispanic congressional leaders."

WakeUpWalMart.com issued the following statement in response. The statement is attributable to Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com.

"What is Bob McAdam smoking? In front of several Congressional staff, Lee Culpepper and 3 staffers of WakeUpWalMart.com, including myself, our communications director, Chris Kofinis, and our political director, Buffy Wicks, Lee Scott personally accepted our principles for change letter in early February of this year. In fact, Mr. Scott personally thanked Ms. Wicks for the letter.

Following in Big Tobacco’s long tradition of half-truths and lies, it appears Bob McAdam is now advising Wal-Mart to adopt the same failed strategy. Since McAdam’s started at Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart has misled the public on its health care statistics, lied on its banking application, and falsely claimed it didn't know it was hiring illegal workers.

But, no matter how desperate Wal-Mart gets to try and salvage its declining public image, if Wal-Mart wants any credibility with the media, our political leaders or the American public, Wal-Mart will simply tell the truth.

Wal-Mart cannot become a better company by listening to the same man who made a career selling Big Tobacco’s “Big Lies.” If Lee Scott is truly serious about change, he should start by firing Bob McAdam.

As Mr. McAdam learned the hard way, the American people will not tolerate another corporation lying to cover up the truth."

Click here to read the press release put out by WakeUpWalMart.com on the day the Lee Scott encounter happened.

Somebody alert the right-wing at Wal-Mart for Wal-Mart (www.forwalmart.com) their "Reporting Crime" blog post seems to have forgotten a few articles. For example, yesterday another local Sheriff's office (completely independent of us) found Wal-Mart to be the #1 generator of calls to the local police. When is Wal-Mart going to come clean and tell the American people what it is doing about security at its stores and why Wal-Mart won't adopt a nationwide policy on roving security patrols and monitored cameras at all of its stores? Read the article and then check out www.WalMartCrimeReport.com

From the Columbian in Clark County, WA:

Wal-Mart isn't just the number-one retailer in the universe. It also leads
the way in calls for help to local police.

No west-county property generates more calls-for-service to the Clark County
Sheriff's Office than Wal-Mart on Northeast Highway 99, according to a
sheriff's report.

And beating out the entire county for police calls to any "retail,
commercial or residential development" is the Wal-Mart retail complex the
anchor store and its satellite storefronts and fast-food restaurants at the
intersection of Mill Plain Boulevard and Interstate 205.

The list of top police calls, and a brief accompanying analysis, was
prepared by Assistant Chief Erin Nolan and crime analyst Brian Salsig "in
response to repeated requests from citizen groups, inquiring about the
impact of Wal-Mart on law enforcement activity in Clark County," the
report's introduction says.

Neighbors are worried about the expected arrival of a Wal-Mart on Northeast 134th Street, near Washington State University Vancouver. Although Wal-Mart itself remains a shadowy presence it is listed as a property owner but not the developer county planners last week approved the generic "Salmon Creek Commercial Center" that's expected to wind up a double-decker Wal-Mart "superstore" offering grocery sales and an underground parking garage.

Plans for the 177,000-square-foot store would make it bigger than the Hazel
Dell store (141,000 square feet and no groceries) but not as large as the
Mill Plain superstore (209,000 square feet with grocery sales) or the
218,000-square-foot store planned for the Birtcher Business Park in
northeast Vancouver.

Here are facts underlined in the sheriff's report.

"Wal-Mart consistently ranks among the top 10 locations locally generating
calls for law enforcement service."

The Mill Plain Wal-Mart, 221 N.E. 104th Ave., generated 490 calls for
service in 2005.

The Hazel Dell Wal-Mart, 9000 N.E. Highway 99, generated 479 calls.

There were 112 arrests made at the Hazel Dell Wal-Mart in 2005.
Fifty-three of those people went straight to jail. Most of the rest were
cited and released with a future court date.

"It's not like they're committing murder every day in the parking lot,"
organizer Bridget Schwarz recently told a meeting of the Fairgrounds
Neighborhood Association, where Wal-Mart opponents were putting their heads
together in search of legal strategies to challenge the county's approval.
"We are not going to be a bunch of hysterical screaming ninnies. We need to
be realistic."

But she also mentioned catching a recent television news report about a
mobile meth lab that was discovered in the back of somebody's car trunk in
the parking lot of the Hazel Dell store.

After factoring in the multiple officers, multiple vehicles, paperwork and
transportation-to-jail time required for felonies and other serious calls,
the sheriff's office estimates devoting 936 hours last year to law
enforcement at the Hazel Dell Wal-Mart.

"The store is not open 24 hours per day, however overnight camping is
permitted in the parking lot," the report says. "Deputies are responding to
calls for service at that location even when Wal-Mart is closed."

The report notes that large retailers employ sophisticated electronic
systems and security agents who make frequent police calls when they've
apprehended someone. That may drive crime numbers up for big boxes like
Wal-Mart.

"It shows you that our proactive safety measures work," said Sharon Webber,
a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart. "They help us prevent and interrupt crime."

Bud Van Cleve, president of the Northeast Hazel Dell Neighborhood
Association, said he'd like to see Wal-Mart abandon parking-lot camping.

"Part of it is the nature of a large parking lot, and it has nothing to do
with the particular business," he said. "But part of it is their policy,
which leads to problems."

According to the report, the Hazel Dell store demands half the time of a
full-time sheriff's deputy.

Does Wal-Mart ultimately present a dangerous drain on local law enforcement?
"In summary, how much is too much? That is a question best answered by the
community," the report concludes.

The Fairgrounds group has hired attorney John Karpinski, who is expected to
appeal the county approval of the "Salmon Creek Commercial Center" before
the May 23 deadline.

Call count

Top 10 police-call generators countywide in 2005:

1. Wal-Mart complex at Mill Plain and I-205: 740 calls (the Wal-Mart store
itself got 490).

2. Southwest Washington Medical Center: 694.

3. WinCo Foods complex at Vancouver Plaza Drive: 651.

4. Westfield Vancouver mall: 609.

5. Village at Bridge Creek apartments, Brandt Road: 484.

6. Wal-Mart on Highway 99: 479. (For west precinct only, this is the top
call generator.)

7. Steeple Chase Apartments, Northeast St. Johns Road: 459.

8. Callaham's Mobile Home Park, Northeast Highway 99: 450.

9. Value Motel on Northeast 78th Street: 445.

10. Springfield Meadows apartments on Northeast 66th Avenue: 442.

Source: Clark County Sheriff's Office

From the Associated Press:

SAN FRANCISCO - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is known for its hardball tactics, but the little city of Hercules has come up with some muscle of its own in a bid to keep the big-box retailer out.

The City Council in the affluent Bay Area suburb will hold a hearing Tuesday to consider using the power of eminent domain to seize the 17 acres where Wal-Mart intends to build a shopping complex. It’s a novel approach to a fight that has taken place in communities across America.

“We want something good to take that place,” said Jeffra Cook, a Hercules resident since 1988. “There aren’t a lot of good stories about Wal-Mart.”

Cook and other opponents in this bedroom community of 24,000 worry that Wal-Mart will drive local retailers out of business, tie up traffic and wreck its small-town flavor...

Wal-Mart’s initial proposal for a 142,000-square foot store near Hercules’ San Pablo Bay waterfront were rejected by the City Council. So the company submitted a scaled-down plan that included a pedestrian plaza, two outdoor eating areas and other small shops, including a pharmacy.

Hercules said no again, and opponents began raising the possibility of eminent domain, a legal tactic where government agencies can take land from its owners for the public good. Cities sometimes use eminent domain to build roads or redevelop properties, but the owners must be paid fair market value for their land.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that such seizures are allowable if the construction raises the tax base and benefits the entire community. Some residents and city officials say the land, which is currently open space, would be better suited for upscale stores that attract affluent shoppers and give the suburb a classy touch.

Hundreds are expected to attend Tuesday’s meeting. City Councilor Charleen Raines said can’t remember any issue receiving so much attention in the community.

“There’s no question there has been a huge amount of public interest in this,” she said...

Today, the New Mexico Business Weekly has this breaking story.

The New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department has upheld an $11.6 million corporate income tax assessment against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., saying the company cannot shield its New Mexico earnings by transferring them to an out-of-state holding company.

Wal-Mart improperly shifted earnings to a Deleware holding company for the "sole purpose of reducing income it reported in New Mexico for its in-state stores."

Why?

Delaware does not assess corporate income tax on its companies, so company earnings that can be attributed to a holding company there are not subject to state corporate income taxes.

Wal-Mart has been avoiding paying New Mexico millions of dollars in taxes, and the Taxation and Revenue department says Wal-Mart abused the loophole and owes the state money.

Read the entire article here.

From the Associated Press:

SEOUL, South Korea -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Monday it was withdrawing from the highly competitive South Korean retail market, agreeing to sell its 16 stores to the country's top discount chain.

The world's largest retailer said Shinsegae Co. would buy Wal-Mart Korea for 825 billion won (US$882 million; euro684 million), pending approval by South Korean regulators. Wal-Mart said the decision to withdraw was part of its global strategy.

"As we continue to focus our efforts where we can have the greatest impact on our growth strategy, it became increasingly clear that in South Korea's current environment it would be difficult for us to reach the scale we desired," Mike Duke, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, said in a statement.

Wal-Mart Korea, established in 1998, is a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of the U.S. retailer.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart's performance in South Korea has been lackluster, with Wal-Mart Korea ranked at the bottom among five major discount store operators.

Wal-Mart had sales in 2005 in South Korea of about 750 billion won (US$787 million; euro619 million), company spokesman Beth Keck said. The company had a loss of 9.9 billion won (US$10 million; euro8.2 million) last year, according to figures released at a press conference in Seoul.

The sophistication of South Korea's approximately 25 trillion won (US$26 billion; euro21 billion) discount market proved difficult for Wal-Mart, analysts said.

"They failed to attract customers to the stores," said S.K. Lee, a retail analyst at Hyundai Securities in Seoul, adding that housewives in particular were dissatisfied with food and beverage offerings.

Oh Seung-taek, an analyst at Hanwha Securities, said that Britain-based Tesco PLC's Home Plus chain, ranked No. 2 in South Korea, hired a Korean chief executive and made stores "friendly" to the needs of Korean shoppers, who don't like a "warehouse-style" environment.

Shinsegae is South Korea's largest discount store chain and also runs the country's third-ranked department store chain.

In a statement, Shinsegae said plans to operate Wal-Mart Korea as a separate subsidiary and the stores will be called E-Mart, the name of its discount chain.

E-Mart, which has 86 stores, accounts for 30 percent of the local discount market, according to analysts.

The announcement of the sale came less than a month after Carrefour SA of France, the world's second-largest retailer, sold its South Korean unit to E.Land Group, an unlisted local retailer, for 1.75 trillion won (US$1.8 billion; euro1.4 billion).

Carrefour has been selling underperforming assets in an effort to refocus its spending on core markets such as France.

Shares in Shinsegae, which had been a bidder for Carrefour's South Korean operations, soared 6.6 percent to close at 460,000 won (US$484; euro380).

The campaign to change Wal-Mart and America continues to build.

This week, local site fight groups from California to Indiana continued to fight Wal-Mart's expansion until the company changes its business practices.

This week, activists flooded Maine newspapers with letters about fair share health care and started planning for a fair share lobby day in New York.

This week, a new study found that Wal-Mart contributes to poverty, with 20,000 families nationwide falling below the official poverty line as a result of the chain's expansion.

And today, 2,479 WUWM supporters joined the campaign by signing health care pledge cards this week as local activists continue to take the campaign to the streets. Those supporters come from 35 states and 824 unique zip codes.

Pennsylvania (833), Colorado (475), Wisconsin(184), and California (179) activists led the way in pledges.

From the MercedSunStar.com:

Wal-Mart's battle to win the hearts and minds of Merced, California, kicked off Thursday night with the first public meeting on plans to build a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center in the southeast corner of the city.

Wal-Mart handed out information sheets and bottled water at the door. In return the audience handed Wal-Mart representatives a volley of questions about how the 275-acre warehouse facility would affect traffic, air quality and the local economy.

About 150 people attended the session, which was sponsored by Wal-Mart at the Multicultural Arts Center on West Main Street.

Though the forum was meant to answer questions specifically about the distribution center Wal-Mart wants to build here, company representatives were forced to answer for Wal-Mart's controversial image as a behemoth retailer that some say squashes local competition and exploits workers.

"Why do we want to welcome a corporation to Merced that has such a poor record as a corporate neighbor?" asked audience member Tom Grave. "I'm not sure why we see this as an enhancing element for Merced. I think we can do better."

Wal-Mart representatives said they wanted to counter the "misinformation" that they say has been circulating in the local community.

A 20-minute slide presentation listed facts about the center: It could provide up to 900 full-time jobs with starting wages of $13 to $14 an hour; Wal-Mart has not received any tax incentives or government subsidies for building the center; the center would generate a maximum of 900 truck trips daily.

Some audience members responded with their own facts and stories.

Lysa DeThomas, a Merced teacher, said her parents live in New Mexico near a recently opened Wal-Mart Supercenter. DeThomas said her relatives were promised jobs at the supercenter, but the jobs were given to people from outside the area and the wages were lower than promised.

Keith Morris, Wal-Mart's senior manager of public affairs, responded that a distribution center is different from a supercenter.

"But if you're lying about wages at a supercenter why wouldn't you lie about wages at a distribution center?" asked DeThomas.

Morris said Wal-Mart will be under too much scrutiny from local officials to lie about projected jobs and wages.

"If we don't meet these goals, I guarantee you there's going to be officials that will take some action," said Morris.

Many questioners asked Wal-Mart representatives for "something in writing" that would guarantee jobs for local residents.

Morris said the environmental impact report about the distribution center will serve as a kind of written guarantee about how the distribution center will affect the local community.

But, as audience member Nancy Goodban pointed out, the impact report analyzes environmental concerns, not economic ones.

The City Council voted Monday night to award the $344,655 contract to write the report to EDAW, Inc., the same consultants writing the impact report about the proposed 1,200-acre Riverside Motorsports Park near Atwater.

Wal-Mart will pay for the report, but the city selected the consultants to write it, said Morris, to avoid any hint of bias.

That report will outline what Wal-Mart must do to lessen its impacts on traffic, air quality and other environmental factors.

The impact report could take up to a year to complete, said Morris, and then it must go to the Planning Commission for approval.

"We're under a microscope wherever we go," said Morris. "If we put a number out there and it's not correct, I guarantee you it will follow us around wherever we go. You cannot hide from that kind of stuff when you're the nation's largest retailer."

New York's Working Families Party is leading activists from across New York to Albany next Tuesday (May 23) to show their support for Fair Share Health Care at the State Assembly hearing.

If passed, this law would mean health care for 450,000 New Yorkers from working families. Taxpayers would save $1 billion because another 200,000 New Yorkers employed by these corporate freeloaders would move from Medicaid to employer-sponsored health care.

Buses will leave from New York City, Buffalo/Rochester, Long Island, Syracuse, and Westchester.

From New York?Click here to reserve your seat on the bus nearest you.

If you can't make it to Albany, click here to sign onto the testimony in support of Fair Share.

We have the power to hold corporations responsible for their actions by making sure Wal-Mart and other large, profitable employers pay their fair share for health care.

From the St. Louis Business Journal:

A study focused on the effects of Wal-Mart stores on poverty rates found that an estimated 20,000 families nationwide have fallen below the official poverty line as a result of the chain's expansion.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., ranked No. 5 on the St. Louis Business Journal's most recent list of the area's largest employers. As of Dec. 31, Wal-Mart employed 13,005 people in the St. Louis metro area.

The study -- Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty -- written by Stephan Goetz, a professor of agricultural and regional economics at Pennsylvania State University, and Hema Swaminathan for the International Center for Research on Women, was published in the latest issue of Social Science Quarterly.

Authors, Goetz and Swaminathan write that the presence of Wal-Mart was "unequivocally associated" with smaller reductions in family-poverty rates in counties nationwide during the 1990s relative to places that had no stores.

During the last decade, dependence on the food stamp program nationwide increased by 8 percent, while in counties with Wal-Mart stores the increase was almost twice as large at 15.3 percent, according to the study. Although Wal-Mart employs many people living in its communities, for most, the hours worked and the wages paid do not help these families transition out of poverty, the study said.

The study, which sought to identify the independent effect of Wal-Mart stores on changes in U.S. family-poverty rates at the county level, found that one of the greatest effects of a Wal-Mart opening is the closing of mom-and-pop-type operations.

The authors state in the study that "by displacing the local class of entrepreneurs, the Wal-Mart chain also destroys local leadership capacity."

Poverty rates will rise if retail workers displaced from existing mom-and pop-type operations work for Wal-Mart at lower wages because they have no alternatives, all else equal, according to the study.

The demise of mom-and-pop stores leads to the closing of local businesses that supplied those stores, such as wholesalers, transporters, logistics providers, accountants, lawyers and others. Many of these are higher-paying jobs. The study concludes that it is likely that these more highly-educated individuals depart from the rural community in pursuit of better opportunities elsewhere, contributing to the rural-to-urban exodus over the last decade, leaving behind those with fewer opportunities and raising the poverty rate by reducing the number of nonpoor households in the denominator.

Wal-Mart is estimated to employ no more than 2 percent of the average county's work force. The share of Wal-Mart's employment in total county retail jobs is substantially greater than only 2 percent. In addition, the Wal-Mart jobs may be part time as opposed to full time, leading to lower family incomes, all else equal, the study said.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

PUTNAM COUNTY -- Wal-Mart officials said Tuesday that they are apologizing to homeowners in Putnam County who received a letter from a company representative that threatened the use of eminent domain if they did not sell their property to the company.

For several months, Wal-Mart has faced opposition to a planned 800,000-square-foot distribution center just over the Volusia County line. Last week, after several residents complained about the letters, a Wal-Mart spokesman said that the company had no plans to ask Putnam County to use eminent domain to obtain properties. He also said he did not know why the consultant had mentioned the possibility in the letter.

On Tuesday, Keith Morris, the Wal-Mart spokesman, said that after reviewing the letter, company officials decided it was "overly aggressive and did not reflect the company's position." Morris said it was Wal-Mart's fault for not reviewing the letter prior to it being distributed to a half-dozen property owners on Clifton Road.

Morris said the company is deciding whether it wants to cut off its relationship with the consultants who sent the letter. The company wants the land to widen a road that will serve the center and put in a utility line.

All around the country, people are speaking out about why Wal-Mart needs to change.

Two recent letters to the editor from concerned citizens in Portland and Lewiston show strong support for Fair Share Health Care legislation in Maine.

Craig Saddlemire wrote in the Lewiston Sun Journal:

I read the recent Sun Journal article about state legislation to require large corporations to publicly report the number of their employees enrolled in state funded health care programs (March 2).

This seems like a good start, but I would urge our state legislators to take the next step, as other states have done, by requiring Wal-Mart and other large employers who are ducking their health care responsibilities to pay their fair share for health care.

Ultimately, we need a universal health care system, but fair share health care laws are a win-win in the meantime. They expand health care coverage for uninsured workers and families while stopping profitable corporations from shifting health care costs onto taxpayers. They also level the playing field for responsible small businesses.

I hope our state legislators will work to make this happen.

Click here to write your own letter to the editor.

Mike Roland wrote in the Portland Press Herald:

We all know that health care is in crisis in our country.

Every year, fewer people are insured through their jobs, and more people are either uninsured or underinsured.

With increasing difficulty, many responsible Maine employers do what they can to provide good-quality insurance for their workers.

But some large corporations like Wal-Mart gain an unfair advantage by refusing to offer affordable insurance to their employees.

This shifts the cost of health care onto the rest of us, and it is just plain wrong.

Through Dirigo Health, Gov. Baldacci has taken the initiative to make good health insurance affordable for more Mainers.

We need to support his efforts.

The real solution, though, is to create a single-payer universal health-care system, rather than to rely on a patchwork of public programs and employers' occasional beneficence.

In the meantime, the wealthiest companies should be required to do their share by providing health coverage to all their workers.

Last night, in the Indiana city of Zionsville, city commissioners voted down Wal-Mart's plan to build a Supercenter in the community. Restaurant owner Kent Esra started a petition in opposition of Wal-Mart locating in Zionsville. The petition has about 5,000 signatures.

"Approving this Wal-Mart would probably be the single-biggest wallop this town ever had," resident Dirk Hendricks said last night.

Is your town also battling a Wal-Mart? Find the resources to help in your fight at http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/community/.

From the Wall Street Journal:

BEIJING -- As Wal-Mart Stores Inc. pushes into China, its reluctance to allow unions into its stores here is moving the company toward a potential showdown with the government and its biggest trade-union group.

The looming confrontation has big implications for the discount retailing giant and for other Western businesses doing business in China. Wal-Mart has long resisted unions in the 15 countries in which it operates, but it cannot afford to stumble in the world's most populous nation.

The outcome is also important for the Chinese government. Former state-run companies have been shedding thousands of workers, and foreign companies like Wal-Mart are creating new jobs. The government is eager for the umbrella group of Chinese trade unions, called the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, or ACFTU, to make inroads with these private employers. Although the federation isn't a government entity, it is backed by the government and has ties to the Communist Party. Its chairman, Wang Zhaoguo, is a member of the party's Central Committee Politburo...

"If Wal-Mart continues to be against unions, they may not face ACFTU alone, but also the whole of China," says Ms. Wang, hinting that Wal-Mart could face pressure directly from the Chinese government.

From its inception, Wal-Mart has vehemently fought attempts to unionize its stores in the U.S...

Click here for the full article.

Wal-Mart Tries to Enlist Image Help

By MICHAEL BARBARO
Published: May 12, 2006

Wal-Mart, having helped start an advocacy group that trumpets its contributions to America, is now helping that organization recruit Wal-Mart's suppliers to join the public relations offensive — a move that some vendors say puts improper pressure on them.

The campaign to encourage suppliers to join the advocacy group, called Working Families for Wal-Mart, challenges Wal-Mart's longstanding policy of keeping suppliers at arm's length and shows how eager the company is to fend off a well-organized union-backed campaign critical of its wages and benefits.

Though Wal-Mart provides the advocacy group with significant financial help, the five-month-old Working Families for Wal-Mart describes itself as autonomous, boasting 100,000 members around the country and a 16-member national steering committee that includes a musician, a filmmaker and a minister.

But at least half of the steering committee's members have business ties to Wal-Mart or Working Families for Wal-Mart. Among them are the group's chairman, Andrew Young, who served as both ambassador to the United Nations and as mayor of Atlanta. His firm has a contract with the group.

In addition, Wal-Mart has helped with the recruitment of its suppliers by Working Families for Wal-Mart, even distributing a letter to thousands of suppliers, ostensibly from the group, that began "Wal-Mart is under attack and Wal-Mart and Sam's Club suppliers have the power to do something about it and help protect their businesses."

Wal-Mart denies that its support for the advocacy group constitutes unfair pressure on its suppliers to join the cause. The letter was provided to The New York Times by WakeUpWalmart.com, a group backed by unions that have previously tried to organize Wal-Mart workers in the United States. The group said the letter was sent to them anonymously.

As a result of the close relationship between the company and the Working Families for Wal-Mart, some current and former suppliers say, the advocacy group's membership drive amounts to Wal-Mart's leaning on its suppliers to help burnish the company's image — a request many said would be hard to turn down, given the company's importance to their business.

More of the article below the fold. You can also read the memo here.

"The smaller vendors will feel some level of pressure to do this," said Willie Pietersen, the former president of Tropicana, a longtime Wal-Mart supplier, and now a business professor at Columbia University. "The question is, If you say no, are you out of the game?"

Another executive, who sits on the board of several Wal-Mart suppliers, said that given Wal-Mart's size, a company faces "implicit pressure to join" the group if asked. The executive spoke only after receiving anonymity, saying he was not authorized to speak publicly about Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart said it has put no pressure on suppliers to join the advocacy group, and has made clear that membership is voluntary. Robert McAdams, a Wal-Mart spokesman who exhorted suppliers to join Working Families for Wal-Mart during the annual company meeting for suppliers in January, said he explained that "there is no tie between joining Working Families for Wal-Mart and a supplier's ability to do business" with Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart buyers, he added in an interview, never see the list of suppliers who join the advocacy group.

Mr. McAdams said suppliers, tired of watching the company come under attack, are eager to tell stories about the retailer's positive impact on their businesses and communities. The group "is a vehicle that our friends and allies can join," he said.

Ron Johnson, who runs the Wal-Mart office of the Walt Disney Company's consumer product division, learned about the group at the annual company meeting and immediately signed a card left on his chair. "I feel gratitude toward Wal-Mart," Mr. Johnson said. "They have definitely been good to me and my family."

Mr. Johnson, who lives in Bentonville, Ark., where Wal-Mart has its headquarters, said he felt no pressure to join the group nor has any Wal-Mart executive spoken to him about Working Families for Wal-Mart.

"I can see how somebody from the outside might see this as strong-arming," he said. "But it did not feel that way from my side of the desk."Working Families for Wal-Mart was created in December as part of a broad response to a well-financed campaign waged against the company by two large unions. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union has financed WakeUpWalmart.com, while the Service Employees International Union has created a group called Wal-Mart Watch.

Both groups, which have former political operatives on staff, have attacked Wal-Mart's business practices, its treatment of workers and its impact on communities. In response, Wal-Mart has hired Edelman, a major public relations firm, which has created a public relations war room at the company headquarters and reached out to bloggers who support the company.

The members recruited by the Working Families group have, among other things, spoken in favor of Wal-Mart at zoning meetings and testified before a federal agency reviewing Wal-Mart's application to open a bank.

Catherine Smith, a member of the Working Families for Wal-Mart national steering committee, said the group might have started with a mandate from Wal-Mart but "it has grown its own legs and it's happening organically."

Ms. Smith, a vice president at Diversity Best Practices, a work force development firm in Washington that counts Wal-Mart as a member, said she joined Working Families for Wal-Mart after observing the company's commitment to diversifying its management. "The improvement is dramatic," she said.

Wal-Mart will not disclose how much money it has provided to Working Families for Wal-Mart. Asked if the group received financing from a source other than Wal-Mart, a member of the group's national steering committee, Martha Montoya, said, "No, not that I know of."

Wal-Mart has allowed Working Families for Wal-Mart to recruit suppliers twice — at the annual company meeting, held in Kansas City, Mo., and at a small gathering in Irving, Tex. The Working Families for Wal-Mart representative who made the Texas presentation in late April is Terry Nelson, the former political director of the 2004 Bush presidential campaign, whose firm, Crosslink Strategy, consults for both Wal-Mart and Working Families for Wal-Mart.

In a recruitment letter that Wal-Mart helped send to thousands of suppliers, Mr. Nelson wrote that "Working Families for Wal-Mart is recruiting a standing army of supporters from all aspects of Wal-Mart's business." Suppliers, he added "are strong and credible voices in this national debate."

Our latest press release:

News stories on Wal-Mart and crime spread across U.S.

1) Wal-Mart a crime magnet, foes say: http://www.nydailynews.com/business/story/416316p-351708c.html

2) Wal-Mart foes fear crime wave: http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/05/10/100bus_walmart001.cfm

3) Group says Wal-Mart draws crime: http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/14552286.htm

WakeUpWalMart.com calls on Wal-Mart to immediately reveal what it knows about crime at Wal-Mart stores

On May 2nd, WakeUpWalMart.com and community leaders called on Wal-Mart to address the serious issue of crime at its stores, including adopting a nationwide policy to monitor all surveillance cameras and putting security patrols in all of its parking lots, by Mother’s Day.

Read the entire press release

How many times is Wal-Mart going to arrogantly mislead America and think it can get away with it?

Today, Wal-Mart admitted it provided inaccurate testimony to federal regulators at the FDIC about its banking application. Wal-Mart’s banking application has been controversial from the start leading the FDIC to hold its first-ever public hearings on an application last month.

Take action now: Write the FDIC immediately. Tell the FDIC to reject Wal-Mart’s bank application. Wal-Mart’s behavior proves this company will say anything - including lying - to get what it wants. The FDIC should not believe anything Wal-Mart says and should deny Wal-Mart’s bank application.

You can send the FDIC an email by clicking here.

It’s time to hold Wal-Mart accountable for its lies. Just like Big Tobacco, Wal-Mart went before federal regulators and failed to tell the truth. It is not surprising that Wal-Mart’s campaign is being run by the former tobacco industry lobbyist.

As we accurately testified at the FDIC hearing, a Wal-Mart bank is a dangerous concentration of capital in the hands of any single corporation. Wal-Mart wants to monopolize the American consumer. Company statements to the contrary are simply inaccurate.

Please take action today. Email the FDIC and ask them to reject Wal-Mart’s bank application.

Only Wal-Mart would be arrogant enough to lie to federal regulators and think it could get away with it. Whether the issue is lack of affordable health care, crime, or shipping our jobs overseas, Wal-Mart plays fast and loose with the truth and the American people pay the price. It is time for Wal-Mart to stop its pattern of deception, come clean with the American people and take responsibility for its actions.

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart gave inaccurate testimony to U.S. regulators considering its application to open a bank, wrongly describing a provision of some leases signed by banks in its stores, according to leases obtained by Reuters.

The inaccuracy involves testimony Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) gave to support its statement that it has no plans to replace community banks now in its stores with bank branches of its own.

Read the entire article

Today, elected officials and labor leaders gathered on the steps of New York City Hall to call attention to concerns about crime and poor security at Wal-Mart stores that put shoppers at risk and place a significant burden on police and taxpayer resources.

The speakers at the press conference included Rep. Anthony D. Weiner (D-Queens/Brooklyn), Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Appelbaum. Speakers highlighted the public concerns raised by the results of our new nationwide study “Is Wal-Mart Safe?”

Appelbaum said: “We already know Wal-Mart has cut corners by providing inadequate healthcare benefits for its employees. Now we are learning that they are also cutting corners on public safety because the company fails to provide adequate security measures for their stores.

"We cannot allow a multi-billion dollar company like Wal-Mart to put New York City back in the days of high-crime and disturbing statistics, and will continue the fight to keep them out of our city. This is more than a public relations problem for Wal-Mart, this is a major public safety problem for all of us. Wal-Mart must invest in adequate security and public safety measures and stop being a magnet for crime in our communities.”

"Wal-Mart may advertise low prices, but the cost to surrounding communities is staggering," said Rep. Anthony Weiner. "Wal-Mart violates labor rights, human rights, seeks to destroy local businesses and brings increased crime to neighborhoods."

"This report shows in unsettling detail how Wal-Mart is not meeting its responsibility to provide adequate security for its customers,” said Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. “New York City cannot afford to open its doors to higher crime."

The leaders today called on Wal-Mart to immediately and publicly adopt a nationwide policy to improve public safety and store security by installing staffed security cameras and instituting roving security patrols at all current and future Wal-Mart stores.

Oregon community groups signed up over 700 new supporters last weekend. Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan activists signed up over 1,000 new WakeUpWalMart.com supporters. Volunteers from Indianapolis, Denver, Boston, southern California, Houston, and other cities have sent in health care petition sign ups.

With all of this grassroots action over the past week, we have added 4,674 new supporters to the movement, bringing us to over 230,000 total supporters.

From Rueters:

CHICAGO, May 8 - The top Democrat on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee has asked Wal-Mart for leases signed by banks in its stores to gauge the retailer's stated commitment to not launch its own bank branches.

Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, in a letter obtained by Reuters, asks Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to provide lease agreements, including clauses and provisions that relate to the duration of the bank leases with its stores.

That follows conflicting testimony offered last month to federal regulators, who are considering an application by the world's largest retailer to open a limited-purpose bank, about the terms of lease agreements with bank tenants in Wal-Mart's retail stores.

At a public hearing on the application, Wal-Mart said it has no plans to open its own bank branches, adding it is committed to keeping independent community banks in its stores.

The retailer cited as evidence the leases signed by bank tenants which it described as long-term agreements that could only be terminated by the bank tenants.

But critics have said that was inaccurate.

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Bliley, who appeared at one of the public hearings representing the Sound Banking Coalition, which opposes Wal-Mart's application, said the retail giant has the ability to break its leases with banks by paying what he called a small fee.

He also said the five-year leases are renewed with the consent of both Wal-Mart and the bank tenant, not the bank alone.

Frank, who has urged the regulatory agency reviewing Wal-Mart's bid to move cautiously, said those differences must be clarified.

"Whether Mr. Bliley's description of the lease terms is accurate, or whether the terms he described are typical or atypical of the leases, can be determined only by an examination of the leases themselves," Frank says in the letter to Wal-Mart Financial Services President Jane Thompson.

Wal-Mart has applied to open a type of bank known as an industrial loan company or ILC to process electronic payments from its stores -- transmitting payment requests from shoppers to credit card issuers and then transferring payments back to Wal-Mart...

While the company has repeatedly said it would not offer banking services to the general public, critics of the Wal-Mart plan say they do not believe that retailer has no intention to enter full-service banking in the future.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the agency considering Wal-Mart's application, is also reviewing lease agreements, according to sources.

For decades, the yellow happy-face symbol has encouraged millions to smile.

The smiley face and "Have a Nice Day" helped to define the '70s. With two dots and a pencil stroke, schoolchildren have brightened handwritten messages by filling in their O's with minismileys. These days, nary a cheery e-mail is complete without a typographical smile.

But a bitter legal battle over smiley could be enough to make the happy little symbol frown.

Wal-Mart Stores, which uses a yellow happy face to try to put its shoppers in a carefree mood, is saying — with a straight face — that it has exclusive rights to the familiar image, at least among retail department stores.

From 13WHAM News:

Nearly one-fifth of Lima's total population--about 700 people--piled into a church on Daulton Road for a special meeting Thursday to discuss a proposed Wal-Mart.

[...]

Those opposed said Lima is too rural for a big-box type store and fear a Wal-Mart would be out of character.

Resident John Wadach said, "Lima is a beautiful place, I wouldn't live anywhere else. But when I drive down Route 15A, I don't want to think I'm on Route 15 in Henrietta, Route 20 in Geneseo, or on Ridge Road. When I come to Lima, I want to know I'm in Lima.”

On top of that, there are fears a Wal-Mart superstore will bring too much traffic, run smaller businesses out of service, and lure other unwanted businesses to the area.

Click here for the full article

When Wal-Mart recently tried to build a supercenter in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, the community overwhelmingly banded together to say "No!" Over a hundred local residents and business owners voiced their opposition through a downtown rally during a City Council meeting. Afterwards, the Council unanimously voted against an annexation proposal for a new 180,000 square foot supercenter.

Community leader and Working Families Win organizer Jim Riopelle explains how he and fellow activists successfully kept Sturgeon Bay Wal-Mart-free:

The first thing I did was to have conversations about Wal-Mart with people in coffee shops and gas stations. People who are in the people business know what is happening in their cities. I then began to walk up and down the main street of Sturgeon Bay, where most of the businesses are. I talked with people about the things Wal-Mart could do to a city of this size, and I talked with them about Working Families Win.

It was very clear that most of the business owners did not want a Wal-Mart or any big-box retailer in Sturgeon Bay. I asked the owners to call five other owners and tell them to call five other owners. This way I could get the ball rolling quickly and get the community involved with very little effort but make a big splash.

We then planned a meeting where we could get the city involved. This was held at the high school. There was a championship basketball game being played in another city so we didn't know if we would get any people to show up at all.

Well it went great! We had over 2,000 people including the former owner of Palmer Johnson who signed the roster. (Palmer Johnson makes boats.) We then divided into small committees: flyers, walkers and people who will attend rally's and letter stuffers. After that we planned to have regular meetings on Sunday afternoons.

We also made sure as many people as possible were at City Council meetings. We filled the little City Hall with over one hundred people. We also got 2,000 people to sign a petition -- in a city of only 9,876! This is a tribute to all the people of Sturgeon Bay that Working Families can Win!

It has been a great pleasure working with the people of Sturgeon Bay and building a relationship with them and sharing in their success.

From WSFA 12:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Alabama Medicaid Commissioner Carol Herrmann-Steckel says consumers can improve health care for workers by not doing business with companies that don't provide worker health coverage.

She made the remarks at a forum yesterday and noted that representatives from the business sector did not attend the event, held at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Herrmann-Steckel urged consumers not to patronize stores such as Wal-Mart that generate profits but do not provide adequate health insurance for their workers.

Click here to read the full article.

According to the recent report "America Pays, Wal-Mart Saves", released by WakeUpWalMart.com, the Wal-Mart health care crisis cost Alabama taxpayers a total of $31.2 million in 2005. Click here to read more and take action.

A recent study discusses efforts by the Walton family and 17 other families to repeal the estate tax, thereby gaining $71.6 billion in savings. Repealing this tax would cost the United States about $1 trillion in tax dollars over a 10-year period.

From Investment News Daily:

CHICAGO - Eighteen families worth a total of $185.5 billion are financing an effort to repeal the estate tax, according to a new report.

The research showed that these families stand to snare a total of $71.6 billion in savings if the estate tax is repealed.

Public Citizen, a 100,000-member non-profit organization in Washington, and United for a Fair Economy, a Boston-based non-profit, both support keeping the estate tax. The two organizations issued their report just weeks before the debate over the estate tax could take center stage in Congress. They are concerned about the loss of tax revenue, a possible reduction in charitable giving and a concentration of wealth among relatively few families.

In the report, the organizations contend that the families have given millions to associations that have lobbied to repeal the estate tax.

According to the report, 99.7% of all individuals who die in the United States this year won't be affected by the estate tax.

The families that have been funding efforts to repeal the tax include the Walton family, who own more than 40% of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and who have a collective net worth of about $83.7 billion, according to the report.

Click here for the full article.

Our latest press release:

WAKEUPWALMART.COM RELEASES FIRST NATIONAL WAL-MART CRIME STUDY - “IS WAL-MART SAFE?”

ESTIMATES NATIONALLY POLICE MAY HAVE RESPONDED TO NEARLY 1 MILLION POLICE INCIDENTS AT WAL-MART IN 2004

57 COMMUNITY GROUPS SIGN JOINT LETTER CALLING ON WAL-MART TO IMPROVE SECURITY BY MOTHER’S DAY

Washington, DC - Today, WakeUpWalMart.com, America’s campaign to change Wal-Mart, released the first national study on Wal-Mart and crime. The study, entitled “Is Wal-Mart Safe?” analyzed the official 2004 police incident reports (i.e. calls for police service) at 551 Wal-Mart store locations. The key findings of the study include:

• In 2004, police received 148,331 calls for service for the 551 Wal-Mart stores analyzed, averaging 269 reported police incidents per store.

• For just the 551 stores sampled, there were 2,909 reported police calls for “violent or serious crimes,” including 4 homicides, 9 rapes or attempts, 23 kidnappings or attempts, 154 sex crimes, 550 robberies or attempts and 1,024 auto thefts.

• Based on the number of reported police incidents for the sample, it is estimated police responded to nearly 1 million police incidents at Wal-Mart in 2004 costing taxpayers $77 million annually.

• Wal-Mart stores have a significantly higher number of reported police incidents than nearby Target stores. For the sample, the average rate of reported police incidents at Wal-Mart stores was 400% higher than the average rate of incidents at nearby Target stores.

The full study “Is Wal-Mart Safe?” and the official police incident reports are available for download and review here

“The high number of reported police incidents at Wal-Mart stores is shocking and outrageous. Wal-Mart’s customers and the community have a right to know whether or not their Wal-Mart is safe. Wal-Mart should immediately fund an independent study to explore the issue of crime at Wal-Mart stores nationwide and immediately take the necessary steps, including putting in roving security patrols and staffing security cameras, to ensure the safety of its customers at every Wal-Mart store,” said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com.

WakeUpWalMart.com released its study, “Is Wal-Mart Safe?” as part of a nationwide initiative called “Help Make Wal-Mart Safe by Mother’s Day.” As part of the initiative, WakeUpWalMart.com and 57 community groups released a joint letter calling on Wal-Mart’s management to immediately address the public safety issues and concerns of its consumers - 70 percent of whom are women shoppers - by taking all of the necessary steps to improve security at all of its stores by Mother’s Day.

“Public safety and crime are serious issues. Despite internal warnings about crime at some of Wal-Mart’s stores, it is clear Wal-Mart still has a high number of reported police incidents at too many stores. As our nation’s largest retailer, Americans deserve to know the truth about whether or not Wal-Mart is safe,” added Blank.

As a service to the general public, WakeUpWalMart.com also launched a new website, WalMartCrimeReport.com. WalMartCrimeReport.com will collect and disseminate Wal-Mart crime data to the general public. The website allows customers and the general public to download copies of the official police incident reports sent to us by local police departments. The WalMartCrimeReport.com website will also provide a variety of documents that chronicle statements by Wal-Mart officials on public safety, including internal Wal-Mart memos on public safety issues.

WakeUpWalMart.com is a national movement of 225,000 Americans in all 50 states who have joined together to change Wal-Mart into a responsible and moral corporation.

From the Boston Globe:

WALDOBORO, Maine -- The sea-scented streets of downtown Waldoboro look more like a theme-park rendition of old-time New England than a battleground. There's a general store behind an awning, a small pharmacy beneath a neon sign, and a generations-old lumberyard down the way.

But these family businesses are not tourist-tailored relics in mid-coast Maine. They're rallying symbols for a passionate movement that is fighting to preserve the community fabric and the state's traditional ambience, and keep Wal-Mart out of one of New England's most distinctive regions.

It is an escalating fight that has scored recent victories for big-box foes in three towns between Bath and Rockland, and activists are battling to add five more communities to their goal of a ''box-free" coastal zone. Damariscotta, Newcastle, and Nobleboro have voted since March to ban or place a moratorium on new retail stores greater than 35,000 square feet. Thomaston, Edgecomb, and Waldoboro have votes scheduled on size caps within the next several weeks. Opposition to big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart, whose supercenters typically are 186,000 square feet -- and sell everything from food to clothes to tools to prescription drugs -- also is stirring in Warren and Wiscasset.

''The very thing I loved about this place was being threatened," said Jenny Mayher, a Harvard-educated, stay-at-home mother who moved to Maine within the last several years and helped organize a grass-roots drive to preempt Wal-Mart's plans to build in the picturesque village of Damariscotta. ''It would have forced local businesses to either close or scale back."

''We didn't want to sit around and worry about it," said Eleanor Kinney, a co-organizer, who like Mayher is a recent transplant and stay-at-home mother with a degree from Yale. ''We wanted to get engaged."

Click here for the full article.