Wake Up Walmart is holding actions this week to show our support for Walmart workers who are fighting for a voice on the job. Many workers across the country are coming forward despite Walmart's strong arm, draconian tactics like firing workers who support unions, one on one sweat sessions, anti-union propaganda, and threats. Despite all that, thousands of Walmart workers are bravely coming forward and many are speaking at press conferences this week. They need to know that we support them! You can see if there's an event in your area by clicking here.

So far, our press conferences and petition drives have been a great success. We're getting quite a bit of attention from the media, and the stories so far have been great. Here are a few stories that have already been published. We'll have more as they come out, and we'll be posting some good TV coverage as well.

From The Morning News in Arkansas:

Unions Target Wal-Mart

SPRINGDALE — Unions trying to organize Wal-Mart workers picked shareholder meeting week to stage demonstrations in Little Rock and elsewhere in the nation.

Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. does not have any unionized stores or departments in the United States. Walmart employees who want to form unions will picket at 2 p.m. today at the Walmart Supercenter at 8801 Baseline Road in Little Rock, although the shareholder's meeting is 200 miles away in Fayetteville.

Unions want to call attention to the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow unions to form by secret ballot or when a majority of workers sign cards stating they want to form a union. The act also would require employers to meet with union employees within 90 days or face federal arbitrators, who would set terms of the union contracts good for up to two years.

...If the free choice act does not pass, the United Food and Commercial Workers union will continue efforts to unionize retail workers, including those at Wal-Mart, said Meghan Scott of WakeUpWalMart. WakeUpWalMart also is using shareholders' week to launch a national petition drive and will distribute 50,000 cards asking people to support better wages, health care and working conditions for Walmart workers, according to a news release.

and from the Washington Post:

Area Wal-Mart Workers Join Effort to Unionize

The United Food and Commercial Workers union held organizing campaigns at several Wal-Mart stores across the country this week -- including one yesterday in Landover Hills -- as it renews pressure on the world's largest retailer to increase pay and improve health benefits.

In the Washington area, union representatives said they have been responding to increased inquiries from workers. UFCW Local 400 spokesman Mark Federici said hundreds of Wal-Mart employees in the area have signed union authorization cards, but he declined to give a specific number.

"They see their company actually being a rare success story in this tight economy, and they rightfully are asking where do they fit in to all that," he said.

Similar rallies were held at stores in Seattle and Miami this week, a few days before Wal-Mart will hold its annual shareholders meeting Friday at its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. The UFCW is hoping to build on momentum from a rally it held in April that drew Wal-Mart employees from 17 states to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers and lobby for the Employee Free Choice Act, the labor movement's top legislative priority. The bill would allow unions to organize through signing cards rather than a secret ballot election, as many companies require.