This is a corporate accountability item.
Too good not to post on Iowa Topics.
Tom
Subj: Give Wal-Mart a Lesson from Kids
Date: 7/12/2005 1:04:30 PM Central Daylight Time
From: [log in to unmask] (Working Families e-Activist Network)
Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A>
To: [log in to unmask] (Thomas Mathews)
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Dear Working Families e-Activist, Let Wal-Mart Hear It from Children
Help your child send a message to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott to let him know your
family won’t be buying any back-to-school
supplies from
Wal-Mart this year. Mail your child’s
letter by Aug. 1 to:
Lee Scott
C/O Wal-Mart Campaign
AFL-CIO
815 16th St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006
We'll see that Scott
gets the message—
loud and clear.
Connecticut just fined Wal-Mart for child labor law violations. And in
January, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $134,540 after being cited for child labor violations
in Connecticut, Arkansas and New Hampshire. Really—that’s not the kind of
place we want to shop for our children’s back-to-school supplies, is it? This
is a great opportunity to send a strong message to Wal-Mart and start the
children in your life on the way to activism. Help them write letters by Aug. 1 to
Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott telling him why their families won’t buy school
supplies from Wal-Mart this year. Here are some unpleasant facts about Wal-Mart they
can use as they write their letters:
Wal-Mart has racked up huge fines for child labor law violations. The rich
company reportedly makes children younger than 18 work through their meal
breaks, work very late and even work during school hours. Several states have found
Wal-Mart workers younger than 18 operating dangerous equipment, such as chain
saws, and working in dangerous areas like trash compactors. (The New York
Times, 1/13/04; The Associated Press, 2/18/05; The Hartford Courant, 6/18/05)
Wal-Mart pays poverty-level wages and fails to provide affordable health
insurance to more than 600,000 employees. That means Wal-Mart workers and their
families have a hard time paying the bills and getting the health care they
need. (Wal-Mart annual reports; BusinessWeek, 10/2/03)
Wal-Mart has a shameful record of paying women less than men—discriminating
against moms. Wal-Mart paid full-time male employees $5,000 more than women on
average in 2001. Some 1.6 million women are eligible to join a class-action
lawsuit charging Wal-Mart with discrimination. (Richard Drogin, Ph.D., 2/03; Los
Angeles Times, 12/30/04)
Wal-Mart sells products made by young people in other countries who work in
horrible conditions over long hours for little money doing dangerous jobs. In
Africa, workers who make clothing for Wal-Mart are forced to put in too many
hours, are yelled at by their bosses, are not paid enough to take care of their
families and can’t even take breaks to use the bathroom. Wal-Mart refused to
investigate stories that shoes and jeans from Asia were being made by workers
in forced labor camps. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/14/04; China Labor Watch,
the National Labor Committee and Clean Clothes Campaign reports)
Wal-Mart can afford to do better. Wal-Mart—America's largest private
employer—raked in $10 billion in profits last year. CEO Lee Scott landed nearly $23
million in total compensation last year alone. Wal-Mart has no excuse for its
behavior. Help your children write letters telling Scott his company is hurting
families, communities and children here and around the world—and that’s why
your family won’t be shopping for back-to-school supplies at Wal-Mart this
year. Please send the letters to: Lee Scott
C/O Wal-Mart Campaign
AFL-CIO
815 16th St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006 We'll see that Scott gets the message—loud and clear.
Thank you for working to stop the Wal-Marting of America’s jobs and for
getting the children involved. To learn more about how Wal-Mart affects your
community, go to: <A HREF="http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/t1at-y91cq57/">http://www.walmartcostsyou.com</A> Thanks for all that you do for
working families. In solidarity, Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO
July 12, 2005 P.S. Help us get thousands of letters from children to Wal-Mart
CEO Lee Scott. Please forward this e-mail to parents you know who also want
to stop the Wal-Marting of America’s jobs. Thanks!
<A HREF="http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/5pat-y91cq5I/"><IMG SRC="http://img.getactivehub.com/aflcio/custom_images/wfean/20050114_button_unionshop.gif" WIDTH="300" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" DATASIZE="1787"></A>
Tell your friends about the many reasons not to do back-to-school shopping at
Wal-Mart. Invite them to join the campaign by visiting:
<IMG SRC="http://img.getactivehub.com/images/tellafriend_icon.gif" WIDTH="32" HEIGHT="10" BORDER="0" DATASIZE="126"><A HREF="http://www.unionvoice.org/join-forward.html?domain=wfean&r=1pat-y91fcgi"> Tell-a-friend!</A>
If you received this message from a friend, you can <A HREF="http://www.unionvoice.org/wfean/join.html?r=1pat-y91fcgiE">sign up for Working
Families e-Activist Network</A>.
If you would like to unsubscribe from the e-Activist Network, or update your
account settings, please visit your <A HREF="http://www.unionvoice.org/wfean/smp.tcl?nkey=uebbesr176b3ee&">subscription management page</A>.
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Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 18:03:55 GMT
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From: "Working Families e-Activist Network" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Thomas Mathews" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Give Wal-Mart a Lesson from Kids
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