Tips for How to Talk With Wal?Mart Workers

Here are some suggestions on what to expect and what to do when you go to a Wal?Mart store.  

* Recognize that many Wal?Mart workers have been  brainwashed by management with lies about unions, intimidation, and threats of firing workers who speak with union representatives.  If they know you are a union person, they may be afraid to talk with you.  Honor this fear and don’t force yourself on anyone. 

* Make eye contact.  Smile.  We’re not what Wal?Mart workers have been warned to expect when they encounter union activists.  We are great, committed, friendly people who believe in justice.

* Don’t be disruptive.  Don’t distribute literature unless an employee requests it.

* Make small talk and be friendly.  Kids and the weather are good neutral topics.  Don’t jump directly to a discussion about unions the first time you visit.

* If a manager confronts you and/or your group and tells you to leave the store, ask why you are being asked to go.  If he/she persists and/or threatens you with arrest, leave the store and contact the UFCW local union in your area so that charges can be filed with the National Labor Relations Board. 

* Let your friends, neighbors, and coworkers — and the local media if possible — know that customers are being thrown out of Wal?Mart or Sam’s Club stores for wearing clothing with union or other organizational logos or for merely talking with employees.

Don’t be intimidated yourself.  Go back on a regular basis — in groups or by yourself.  Your continued presence does make a difference.