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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... Latest Releases
The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly. |
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| NOVEMBER 24, 1998 5:22 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Greg Denier 202-223-1591 or e-mail: press@ufcw.org |
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| Food, Commercial Workers Nationwide to March on Wal-Mart Headquarters in Arkansas; Pre-March Rallies Scheduled | ||||
| WASHINGTON - November 24 - The following was released today by the
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union: Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) will face a new test of its recently unveiled "Neighborhood Market" format when more than a thousand workers, religious leaders and community activists descend on Bentonville, Ark., to tell the retail giant, "Not in My Neighborhood." The company recently opened four traditional supermarkets, operating under the name "Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market" in Arkansas as a test of the company's intended takeover of the supermarket business. Wal-Mart has, until now, limited its grocery sales to "Supercenters" that combine a retail food operation with a general merchandise store. Wal-Mart has announced its plan to double its retail food sales over the next five years, and already has the distribution network in place. Wal-Mart's takeover move is a direct threat to the jobs, wages and health benefits of supermarket employees, and will bring one of the largest demonstrations to Wal-Mart's headquarters in the history of the company. In contrast to Wal-Mart, most major supermarket chains provide employer-paid health benefits, pension plans and living wages for workers. At Wal-Mart, six out of 10 workers are not covered under the company health plan, and, for those who are, the average cost is about $1,200 a year. Wal-Mart wages are, on average, about $3 an hour less than major supermarket chains. Wal-Mart won't, as is often claimed, create any new jobs, but rather will destroy current supermarket jobs along with the decent wages and health benefits that come with those jobs. A new entry into the supermarket business does not generate any additional demand for groceries, a company can only take business and jobs from existing retail food operators. "Wal-Mart would take jobs that have health benefits and turn them into jobs that don't. The workers and their families lose their health care, the community loses as more of its limited resources go to a growing number of families that have to rely on publicly-funded health services, and other companies lose as they have to pay higher costs to insure their own workers. When Wal-Mart wins, everybody else loses," said UFCW President Douglas H. Dority. The Dec. 2 "Not in My Neighborhood" march will kick off at2 p.m. at Wal-Mart headquarters and will be followed by a rally in the Bentonville, Ark., town square. John Sweeney, president of the 13.5 million member AFL-CIO, and UFCW President Dority will lead the demonstration of rank-and-file workers from across the country. Workers will assemble in three cities designated as staging areas for a bus caravan to Bentonville. Pre-march rallies will be held on Dec. 1 in the designated cities. Sweeney and Dority will address each of the rallies. The pre-march rallies will be held at: Machinists Hall Little Rock Hilton Kansas City Airport Hilton ------ Visit the UFCW website at http://www.ufcw.org ### |
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