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| INGLEWOOD VOTERS SAY NO TO THE WALMARTIZATION OF AMERICA | ||||
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Inglewood, California, Voters Reject Wal-Mart's Effort for Expansion Residents of Inglewood, California, stood up for American values - they said "No," to the Walmartization of their community. They said "No," to the Arkansas retail giant's low wage, low benefit jobs. They said "No," to a store the size of 17 football fields that would have decimated local businesses. Voters rejected a referendum by Wal-Mart by voting 65% against a proposed Supercenter in Inglewood. Wal-Mart forced voters to the polls by refusing to accept rejection of their expansion plans by Inglewood City Council earlier this year. Wal-Mart abused the citizen referendum process by hiring people to collect signatures and force a ballot initiative - an effort that ignored zoning regulations and skirted traffic and environmental reviews. Wal-Mart was trying to buy the local political process but voters made it clear: you can't discount democracy. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) members held the line in Southern California for nearly 5 months fighting back demands by the supermarket employers that would have eliminated health benefits for workers. Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons used Wal-Mart's low-road benefit package as an excuse to lower the standards for supermarket workers in California. Customers stood behind the strikers throughout the work-stoppage and now those same people sent Wal-Mart the message that they are willing to fight for good jobs with good benefits. "Wal-Mart's arrogance blinded them to the fact that voters and consumers will not accept a giant retailer cramming low-wage, low benefit jobs in every community. Voters in Inglewood told Wal-Mart to respect their laws, their environmental standards and elected officials," said UFCW International President Joe Hansen. "Wal-Mart is undermining living standards across the country and tried to undermine the democratic process itself," Hansen continued. UFCW members in Inglewood joined with a broad citizen's coalition of local and statewide elected officials, community organizations, and religious leaders to mobilize voters against Wal-Mart's back-door bully tactics. |
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| The 1.3 million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) is America's neighborhood union representing workers in neighborhood grocery stores across the country. UFCW puts dinner on the table for America's families with members working in meatpacking and food processing. |
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