Unions open new anti-WalMart drive [View All]

TEACHERS UNIONS, UFCW, ALLIES
OPEN NEW ANTI-WAL-MART DRIVE
By Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff Writer
8/22/2005

COMMACK, N.Y. (PAI)--Marching, waving signs, supporting Mom and Pop stores and exposing company abuses, some 250 unionists and their allies gathered in mid-August for an anti-Wal-Mart rally in Commack on New York’s Long Island.
And the “Send Wal-Mart Back To School” rally, organized by the nation’s two big teachers unions--the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association--and the United Food and Commercial Workers, was anything but isolated.

Instead, it was one of many of nationwide events, ranging from an Aug. 10 press conference in front of a Jewel food store in Chicago to a planned Aug. 23 rally in the Twin Cities to demonstrations elsewhere, all urging back-to-school shoppers to avoid the anti-union retail behemoth and patronize union stores instead.

“We had a wonderful rally” in Commack. “There were 18 different unions, half a dozen politicians and numerous community leaders,” said Long Island Federation of Labor President John Durso. One feature: An enlarged “report card” on Wal-Mart’s record, including use of child labor in nearby Connecticut. The firm flunked.

“Long Island Moms & Dads support Long Island Mom & Pop stores,” a sign read. <snip>

http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2511&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0