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How Walmart Helped Lay the Groundwork for the Government Shutdown

Oct 07, 2013

Reposted from The Walmart 1%

source: www.business2community.com

As the government shutdown drags on, many pundits have drawn attention to how gerrymandering has helped give the American people a handful of right-wing Republicans willing to shut down the government as part of their ideological crusade against Obamacare. What has not been widely understood is how Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, is also a top funder of an effort to turn state legislatures red and control the redistricting process.   Perhaps Republican operative and former Bush advisor Karl Rove put it best when he wrote, “He who controls redistricting can control Congress” in a 2010 Wall Street Journal editorial. And with the millions Walmart gives to the Republican State Leadership Committee, the Republicans Party’s top influencer of redistricting, Walmart and the Waltons have played a disturbingly significant role.

SHUTDOWNS

The House has seen an increase in “safe” Republican seats since the last shutdown in 1995. Politico describes the difference: “79 of the 236 House Republicans serving during the last shutdown resided in districts that Clinton won in 1992. Today, just 17 of the 232 House Republicans are in districts that Obama won in 2012.”

The result: primaries pose a bigger risk to most Republicans than the general election, and Republicans are engaging in a race to the extreme right. This theory is borne out by Think Progress’ tally of House Republicans who are willing to resolve the crisis and back a continuing resolution like the one passed by the house. As of last Tuesday, there were only 14 such House Republicans, and in their districts Obama averaged 48.8% of the vote in 2012.

WALMART’S ROLE

This is where Walmart comes in. The 2010 Republican takeover of state legislatures was led by the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), a so-called dark money group that can take in unlimited corporate contributions and obscures that money’s origins as it is redistributed to influence state races. A Pro Publica report explains that when it was formed in 2002, the RSLC “was primarily a vehicle for donors like health care and tobacco companies to influence state legislatures, key battlegrounds for regulations that affect corporate America.” But in 2010, the group got a new chairman and a new focus: to influence redistricting.

To control redistricting before the 2012 elections, Republicans would first have to win as many state legislatures as they could in 2010. That year Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Nationally, the GOP’s effort will be spearheaded by the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC). Funded by 80,000 donors, it spent more than $20 million in the last election cycle on legislative races and for attorney general, lieutenant governor and secretary of state campaigns.”

The RSLC may have thousands of donors, but Walmart is consistently among the top 20. Since the 2004 election cycle, Walmart has given the Republican State Leadership Committee over $1.5 million, according to data compiled by Open Secrets. In the ongoing election cycle, Walmart is currently the group’s top donor.

WALMART’S RECORD DONATING TO RIGHT-WING CAUSES

All of this is in keeping with Walmart and the Walton family’s (which controls Walmart) long history of backing Republicans and right wing-causes, especially at the state level. Since the 2004 cycle, Walmart has spent over $12.7 million in state-level races (not counting its contributions to the RSLC), according to Follow the Money. Nearly 80% of that money went to Republican candidates and party committees. The Waltons, meanwhile, give almost exclusively to Republicans, and in 2010 they helped finance the Republican takeover in a big way. Despite not being from there, six Waltons were among the top fifteen political donors in Wisconsin legislative races during that election cycle. In fact, Alice Walton was the top individual donor to Wisconsin legislators during the 2010 cycle.

IT WORKED

The 2010 GOP strategy worked. Walmart joined forces with the US Chamber of Commerce (which Walmart also funds), tobacco companies, pharmaceutical companies, and others to fund the RSLC and help Republicans win 675 legislative seats and gain control of 12 more legislatures, including places like North Carolina, where it had been over a century since the GOP last controlled the state. Ultimately, Pro Publica explains, “the GOP oversaw redrawing of lines for four times as many congressional districts as Democrats.” So even after Democratic candidates for Congress won 1.1 million more votes than Republicans, the GOP was able to maintain its control of the House.

For $1.5 million over the past decade, Walmart was able to help the Republican State Leadership Committee secure control over the Congressional redistricting process. This in turn gave the Republicans 54% of House seats despite winning only 45% of the popular vote and ample opportunity to grind the government to a halt, even without the support of most Americans.

 

 

 

 

Economic Justice, In the News, Packing and Processing, Retail, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

New Data Link Decline of Middle Class to the Decline in Union Membership

Sep 19, 2013

New data released this week underscore the fact that smaller numbers of unionized workers mean less bargaining power, a weakened middle class and lower wages for everyone.

unions middle income

credit: Huffington Post

On Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual report on incomes and poverty.  According to the report, the median household income in the U.S. in 2012 was $51,017, and not much different from the 2011 median income of $51,100.  However, when you look at the median household incomes over the last 25 years, the median household income in 1989 was $51,681—meaning that a typical middle class family earned more in 1989 than middle class families did last year.  The nation’s official poverty rate in 2012 also remained stagnant at 15 percent, representing 46.5 million people who are living at or below the poverty line.

Another study this week from Center for American Progress builds on the U.S. Census Bureau data and links the slide of middle class incomes to the decline in union membership since the 1960s.  Between 1967 and 2012, union membership fell from 28.3 percent of all workers to 11.3 percent in all 50 states.  The decline in union membership is reflected in the decline in the share of the nation’s income going to the middle 60 percent of households, which fell from 52.3 percent to 45.7 percent over the same time period.

As the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow, it’s clear that something needs to be done to rebuild the middle class.  Making it easier for workers to stick together in a union to bargain for better wages and benefits is a good place to start.

Corporate Responsibility, Economic Justice, In the News, Retail, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Walmart

Walmart Worker Reacts to Weak Q2 Earnings Report

Aug 16, 2013

Reposted from Making Change at Walmart

 

9511041369_8a4f189592_zWalmart’s second quarter sales report shows the continuation of negative same store sales. In response, OUR Walmart member Larry Born, who has worked at Walmart in Crestwood, IL for over three years, issued the following statement:

“Today’s numbers make it clear that Walmart’s labor practices aren’t just hurting workers like me—they’re also hurting business. Instead of listening to employees who raise concerns about working conditions and their impact on sales and the company’s reputation, Walmart has tried to suppress our fundamental right to speak out for better jobs by firing and disciplining many of us who simply want what’s best for our families and for the company.

“Now major investors are divesting from the company as a direct result of its labor practices, and Walmart’s urban expansion efforts are facing resistance from cities like Washington, DC that don’t want to bring Walmart values into their communities. Until Walmart shows a real commitment to creating good jobs that can support a family and strengthen local economies, the company will continue to face roadblocks in this key part of its business strategy.

“Similarly, while associates struggle to support their families as a result of erratic and inadequate hours, Walmart is receiving the lowest customer satisfaction scores compared to other supermarkets,thanks to the empty shelves and long checkout lines caused by understaffing. At the international level, costs related to Walmart’s violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are sky-high, and the company’s reputation with the public and with investors has been seriously damaged by its refusal to join other retailers in committing to improve safety at supplier factories in Bangladesh, where Walmart was found to have procured clothing as recently as 2012 in the factory collapse that killed over 1000 garment workers.

“If Walmart wants to reverse these trends, the company should start by listening to its associates. With $16 billion in profits every year, Walmart can easily afford to increase pay and access to full-time hours so that we can make our stores great places to shop and so that every Walmart worker can support their family—without relying on public assistance. These commonsense changes will help repair the company’s image, lift its bottom-line, and strengthen our entire economy.”

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LEGAL DISCLAIMER: UFCW and OUR Walmart have the purpose of helping Wal-Mart employees as individuals or groups in their dealings with Wal-Mart over labor rights and standards and their efforts to have Wal-Mart publicly commit to adhering to labor rights and standards. UFCW and OUR Walmart have no intent to have Walmart recognize or bargain with UFCW or OUR Walmart as the representative of Walmart employees.