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Group sets new anti-Wal-Mart campaign
Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:00 PM BST
By Jessica Wohl
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A union-backed group ramped up its efforts against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. <WMT.N> on
Thursday with a new commercial and a letter from the president of the American Federation of Teachers asking the
retailer's chief executive to change some labor practices.
WakeUpWalMart.com, which calls itself quot;America's Campaign to Change Wal-Mart,quot; also added four staffers a few
weeks after two left to join U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' campaign staff. The new workers
all worked on Democratic campaigns in the past.
Groups such as WakeUpWalMart.com have begun various grass-roots campaigns to draw attention to what they
say are poverty-level wages, inadequate health care benefits and other issues with the world's largest retailer.
The advertising campaign, called quot;Send Wal-Mart Back to School,quot; highlights issues such as taxpayers dealing
with the burden of Wal-Mart employees' health care costs. A television commercial is set to air on Thursday in 26
U.S. markets including Boston and Las Vegas, the group said.
WakeUpWalMart.com will also ask shoppers to sign a pledge promising not to buy school supplies at Wal-Mart this
year unless the company agrees to pay a living wage, end discrimination against women, not stand for any illegal
child labor and provide employees with more affordable health care.
That move comes after Wal-Mart in late July slashed prices on back-to-school merchandise such as pencils, pens
and notebooks by 10 to 50 percent to try to reignite sales.
quot;We know it's tough right now and Americans are looking to us to provide the best value on back-to-school
shopping lists,quot; a Wal-Mart spokesman said.
Wal-Mart reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday and cut its earnings forecast as economic
pressures such as higher fuel prices leave shoppers with less to spend.
The letter from American Federation of Teachers President Edward McElroy asks CEO Lee Scott to address
evidence of quot;illegal child labor, violating wage and hour laws, paying poverty-level wages, discriminating against
women, and shifting the burden of employee health care to taxpayers.quot;
A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company creates thousands of jobs each year, many in areas in need of
opportunity.
quot;Our associates choose to work at Wal-Mart because they know we offer real career opportunities and provide
competitive pay and affordable health care,quot; the spokesman said.
The new WakeUpWalMart.com staffers named on Thursday are Deputy Campaign Director Meghan Scott and
Senior Advisers Nick Baldick, Richie Ross and Jeremy Van Ess.
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