The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is spearheading a campaign to expose the business practices of Wal-Mart, which the union and others say drives down wages and benefits, costs American taxpayers millions of dollars every year, and leads to the loss of thousands of American jobs to overseas companies.

UFCW president Joseph Hansen told the AFT executive council meeting on May 18 that the broad-based Wake-Up Wal-Mart campaign is aimed at drawing the public's attention to the giant retailer's harmful business practices. "This is not just a UFCW problem or a labor problem. It's a problem for [all] workers and it's a problem for our society."

Wal-Mart's "race to the bottom" in salaries and benefits force some of its employees to rely on government-funded programs, such as food stamps and child healthcare. "We're exposing what a real drain Wal-Mart is on taxpayers," explained Hansen.

One of the goals of the Wake-Up Wal-Mart campaign, Hansen said, is to help Wal-Mart workers understand that they have a right to organize and be represented by a union.

Further, Wal-Mart's relentless efforts to drive down the costs of goods has meant many suppliers have moved their production to China, where child labor laws are not enforced and free trade unions are suppressed. Wal-Mart is now just behind eight other countries as the biggest trading partner for China, he noted.

The campaign, which is supported by labor unions, community organizations and environmental groups, as well as elected leaders, has already raised the public profile of the retailer's child labor violations and its treatment of female employees, who routinely are paid less than their male counterparts, the UFCW president said.

A resolution passed by delegates to last July's AFT convention points out that Wal-Mart's practices hurts funding for schools and public services, and urges affiliates and members to refrain from shopping at Wal-Mart. It also calls on the AFT to work with its community and labor allies in support of Wal-Mart workers' struggle "to organize for collective representation."

AFT members are urged to shop at stores other than Wal-Mart for their back-to-school supplies. (See also related story in American Teacher.)

For details, visit the campaign's Web site at http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/. [Roger Glass]

May 24, 2005