| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 16, 2000 |
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WAL-MART WORKERS SAY LOUD AND CLEAR: WE WANT A VOICE! Wal-Mart workers in Ocala, Florida are joining workers across the country who are getting together to say: we want a voice! Employees of the meat and seafood department in the Ocala Wal-Mart Supercenter filed a petition Monday with the Labor Board for a union representation election. Their petition comes just after meat and seafood department employees at the Wal- Mart Supercenter in Palestine, Texas won their battle to have a choice for a voice as the result of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision ordering a union representation election. Wal-Mart's union-busting lawyers have gone bust with a series of schemes to deny workers a chance to vote in union elections. In Jacksonville, Texas?where employees won the first union election in a U.S. Wal-Mart last month?Wal-Mart failed to deny workers a voice with its claim that meat workers were not a distinct and separate group of employees. In Palestine, Texas, Wal-Mart claimed that the meat department workers may have different responsibilities at some future date; therefore, employees should not be able vote on the union. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) demanded that Wal-Mart immediately bargain with union-represented employees at the Jacksonville store. Wal-Mart has threatened to change the duties and assignments of meat department employees across the country. Under federal labor law, employers are required to negotiate with the workers over any changes in the work conditions if the workers have selected union representation. The UFCW has also filed federal labor board charges for suppressing the rights of workers to vote for a voice. The union is asking for a federal injunction to stop Wal-Mart from implementing a scheme to reassign and change the duties of meat department employees. Wal-Mart meat department workers are not backing down in their fight to have a voice over changes and conditions in their workplaces. Wal- Mart is expected to again oppose the right of the Ocala workers to have an election. A NLRB hearing is scheduled for March 27, 2000. The Board will set a date for the Palestine election in the next few days. Wal-Mart workers across the country who are abused and fed-up are standing up and sticking together in a powerful cyber-network to make a change in their workplaces through a union. At www.UFCW.org, www.walmartyrs.com and a number of independent Wal-Mart worker websites, workers are sharing their experiences of unfair treatment at Wal-Mart and learning how to make Wal-Mart a better place to work. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is the largest organization of retail workers in North America, with 1.4 million members. UFCW represents workers at retail food industry leaders such as Kroger and Safeway. -30- |
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