As seen in American @ Work
February 2003
As union activist
prepared to take part in a National Day of Action at Wal-Mart stores,
Wal-Mart management also was preparing for everything up to and
including war.
In advance of Nov. 21,
when a coalition of unions and community groups gathered at Wal-Mart
stores and call on the company to respect workers and consumers,
Wal-Mart issued managers a confidential “Day of Action Checklist” memo.
Reviewing bomb threat
procedures was among the three-page, densely worded checklist, which
also mandated that a “sweep for outdated product is conducted for all
Fresh Areas by 10 a.m. local time on November 21st”-raising
questions about such Wal-Mart products the other 364 days of the year.
Managers were instructed to “obtain a copy of any literature being
distributed” and fax a copy to the company’s Labor Relations
Department.
The checklist’s
“Responding to the Media” section basically told managers to keep their
mouths shut-lest they let it slip that Wal-Mart employees don’t make a
living wage, are often required to work off the clock, are charged so
much for health insurance they can’t afford it and have been denied
their freedom to choose a union.
In the words of one
Wal-Mart manager quoted in the media, “We’re not anti-union. We just
don’t believe that unions have a place in our business.
