WASHINGTON — December 21 — With 52% of the 13,134 votes cast, Wal-Mart won the 5th annual on-line ‘Grinch of the Year’ election sponsored by the national office of Jobs with Justice. Nominated by Wake-Up Wal-Mart, the company is criticized for leading the global race to the bottom; boosting profits for its executives on the backs of its employees through low wages, insufficient healthcare and discrimination.

“Given the competition from Donald Rumsfeld and Verizon Wireless, Wal-Mart should be extremely satisfied to have won the ‘Grinch of the Year’ award,” said Fred Azcarate, executive director of Jobs with Justice. “With no end in sight for their continued poor treatment of workers, the communities they live in, and the environment we suspect that they’ll go for a 3-peat next year.”

Donald Rumsfeld, the U. S. Secretary of Defense, came in second place with 24% of the votes. Rumsfeld was nominated by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) after he proposed to strip over 600,000 federal employees—men and women dedicated to serving their country—of their collective bargaining rights.

Verizon Wireless, nominated by the Communication Workers of America (CWA), came in third place with 16% of the vote, with the final 8% going to write-in candidates—President Bush receiving the bulk of the write-in votes.

The ‘Grinch of the Year’ awards began locally with Jobs with Justice Coalitions around the country highlighting the greedy grinch in their hometowns. That tradition has remained in many areas with Governor Mitch Daniels winning in Indiana after threatening to close 80% of the state’s social service offices and Ron Lohr of Lohr Distribution winning in St Louis, MO for permanently replacing their striking beer delivery drivers. Their drivers were striking to protect health care for their families and a reasonable workload for a good wage.

Jobs with Justice is a national campaign for workers’ rights. Around the country, local Jobs with Justice Coalitions unite labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations to build power for working people.

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