| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 2, 2002 |
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Wal-Mart's War on Workers: Frontline Report From Texas and California College Station, Texas, and Lake Elsinore, California, are the latest locations where Wal-Mart will stand trial to face federal complaints for violating workers' rights. The nation's largest employer will stand trial in more than 15 locations because workers organizing with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) across the country are standing up and demanding that their workplace rights be respected. In College Station, because a Wal-Mart worker reported safety violations that threatened employees to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an official from the company's Bentonville, Arkansas, Home Office told employees that any fines imposed by OSHA would adversely affect their store bonuses. Threatening workers' store-level bonuses is a familiar Wal-Mart tactic, as the NLRB previously had charged College Station workers were threatened with loss of their bonuses if the union was chosen to represent the employees and that the company's expenditures to fight the union would come out of their bonuses. In a fifth amended complaint in College Station, the Board also found Wal-Mart had illegally denied several workers their right to have co-workers witness any interviews with managers. Among other things, workers were told that the right to a witness, known in labor law as an employee's "Weingarten rights", "did not hold water at [Wal-Mart]," even though two Circuit Courts of Appeal have upheld the right. This right to a witness is especially important to Wal-Mart workers because a common company tactic is to surround employees in disciplinary interviews with an intimidating group of managers. In California, the workers in a Tire & Lube Express department sought union representation, and were subjected to a wholesale assault by company officials. When the NLRB blocked an election to investigate the serious charges, Wal-Mart issued a press release blaming the union. A 15-month NLRB investigation has done more than vindicate the workers' charges, it produced additional evidence of Wal-Mart's war on workers. The company will now stand trial on charges it:
The Lake Elsinsore hearing is scheduled for May 28, 2002, in the NLRB's offices in Los Angeles. The College Station hearing will begin Sept. 11, 2002, in the Brazos County Courthouse in Bryan. Wal-Mart has waged a systematic campaign of intimidation and coercion against its associates across the country to deny workers a voice on the job. The NLRB has issued complaints against Wal-Mart for violations of federal labor law that include charges of intimidation, threats, retaliation, coercion and surveillance in: Jacksonville, TX, Tyler, TX, Lubbock, TX, New Castle, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Beckley, WV, Buckhannon, WV, Orlando, FL, Ocala, FL, Kingman, AZ, Las Vegas, NV, Mountain House, ID, Wasilla, AK, Pueblo, CO, Tahlequah, OK, Indianapolis, IN and Florence, KY. Wal-Mart's War on Workers: Frontline Report from Alaska, Iowa and Idaho The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is North America's largest organization of retail workers. With 1.4 million members in local stores and supermarkets across the United States, the UFCW is America's Neighborhood Union. UFCW members work at such industry giants as Kroger, Safeway and Albertson's. UFCW members produce the products that are the staples of America's dinner table including Heinz, Kraft and Campbell's. The UFCW is a voice for Working America. |
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