| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 17, 1999 |
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WAL-MART'S HANDPICKED JUDGE FORCED TO WITHDRAW FROM WORKER RIGHTS CASE Giant Retailer Knowingly Used Judge to Restrain Exercise of Worker Rights Knowing He Held Company Stock Worker Organization Motion Demanding Recusal Grudgingly Granted Wal-Mart's hometown judge with more than a half million dollars in Wal- Mart stock withdrew December 7 from a case in which he granted the company a restraining order last September to block the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) from distributing information in the retailer's stores. Despite generally accepted ethical standards that judges remove themselves where even an apparent conflict of interest is involved, Judge Don Huffman of Arkansas' 19th Judicial District W, Division II remained sitting in the case until the UFCW demanded he recuse himself. In a cynical maneuver that holds the American legal system in contempt, Wal-Mart went to Judge Huffman for the order even though company lawyers were fully aware that he'd been obliged to recuse himself in another case involving Wal-Mart and Amazon.Com. For his part, Judge Huffman did not hesitate to do Wal-Mart's bidding. In an order that the UFCW charges is unfounded and arbitrary, Huffman used his bench in the Bentonville, Ark. county courtroom to block the international union from handing Wal-Mart employees a simple card on worker rights in any Wal-Mart store anywhere in the United States At stake for Wal-Mart in the case is its ability to maintain a workforce at substandard wages and benefits, and to keep that workforce uninformed about the right of workers to negotiate as a group over wages and working conditions. At stake for American workers is the protection of basic rights against a malevolent multinational corporation and a handpicked judge willing to use his courtroom for the corporation's interests. Using a hometown judge with a known conflict of interest in a backdoor move to suppress basic rights is the same kind of contempt for American principles that Wal-Mart has shown in other legal proceedings. The company's disregard for the law stretches outside of Arkansas and has brought court imposed sanctions for abuse of the judicial system in at least 15 cases in Florida, Texas, Nebraska and Nevada. In a recent case, Wal-Mart was fined $18 million for failing to provide court ordered materials. The giant retailer also has run afoul of workplace laws in the U.S. and Canada on issues ranging from failing to pay overtime to sexual harassment to intimidating workers for supporting a union. Huffman's recusal is an important first step for working people in an effort to force the world's largest retailer to operate within the law. Wal-Mart is the nation's largest private employer with 900,000 employees. Wages at Wal-Mart are from $2 to $3 below average for the retail trades. Over 600,000 Wal-Mart workers are not covered under the company health benefit plan. The UFCW is the largest organization of retail workers in North America, with 1.4 million members. Workers at retail food industry leaders such as Kroger and Safeway are members of the UFCW. United Food and Commercial Workers International Union: A Voice for Working America |
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