| Wal-Mart Unveils Small-Store Format in Phoenix |
Wal-Mart opened its first four 15,000-sq. ft. stores in Phoenix in October. These stores, called Marketside, are the first small-format stores for Wal-Mart nationally and are expected to be a direct competitor to Tesco’s Fresh & Easy stores.
Tesco is the largest retailer in the U.K. and a major competitor of Wal-Mart. Fresh & Easy has 25 stores in the Phoenix area, with more planned. These stores carry many ready-to-eat meals. |
| Wal-Mart Investigation |
Labor groups have asked the Federal Election Commission to determine whether Wal-Mart made “prohibited corporate expenditures” when it organized compulsory politically-themed meetings across the country. At the meetings, employees were warned that a Democratic president would back the Employee Free Choice Act and other pro-union legislation that the company opposes.
The groups say the meetings illegally pressured employees to vote against Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, and other Democrats in the November election.
The complaint cites a report in The Wall Street Journal that department managers, many of whom are paid by the hour, were among those summoned to the compulsory meetings. Federal election law prohibits companies from telling hourly employees how they should vote. |
| Wal-Mart workers
unionized in Quebec |
Eight auto repair workers in Gatineau, Quebec, became the only Wal-Mart employees in North America with a union contract when an arbitrator forced the company to accept its terms. As a result, the members of Local 486 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada will see their wages rise to a minimum of $11.54 an hour from their previous $8.50 an hour.
“The 50-page agreement represents 98 percent of what the union asked for,” Local 486 President Guy Chenier said. The workers who install tires, change oil and fill propane tanks also made gains on their wages for working on statutory holidays, have more generous vacations and will see their wages increase periodically.
The workers were organized under terms of Canadian law that allow for “card-check” certification of unions. If and when it becomes law, the proposed Employee Free Choice Act would give American workers a similar option. |
| Wal-Mart Opens Even Larger Store |
In Albany, N.Y., Wal-Mart has opened a 260,000-sq. ft. store on two floors. Most Supercenters are around 200,000 square feet. Wal-Mart used to be on the second floor with a Sam’s Club on the first floor. But now the Wal-Mart will take up both floors. |
| Wal-Mart Sweatshop Workers Speak Out to U.S. Activists |
Two Wal-Mart sweatshop workers have been touring the Midwest, telling people about the mega-corporation’s bad track record of human rights.
Dider Leiton, a fruit picker from Costa Rica, and Savin Phal, a Cambodian clothing worker, are sponsored on their journey by the International Labor Rights Forum and the SweatFree Communities activist group.
“Because the United States imports many products from Costa Rica, I want people here … to know that their bananas and pineapples were produced under inhumane conditions with very low wages, in total violation of environmental and labor laws, and causing health problems and other difficulties in life for the workers in these industries,” Leiton said at a town hall meeting in Dearborn, Mich.
“I would like to ask Wal-Mart and people in the U.S. to put pressure on the owner of this factory, Kings Land, to negotiate with our union and respect Cambodian labor laws and our rights,” Phal said.
She then explained how she was forced to work overtime and earned wages too low to cover even the most basic living expenses. |
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