Contra Costa County Residents vs. Walmart

[proud patriot]

on the March ballot measure L created by the Board of
Supervisers will stop WalMart in our County.

We already have a Walmart in Pittsburg and a Sams Club
in Concord , but Walmart wants more .

To Protect our Small businesses we need to educate
our community to the smear tactics used by walmart
against unions and our very astute board of supervisers .

I recieved a mailer from "Contra Costa Consumers for Choice"
yesterday claiming that unions are bad and choice is good
paid for by Walmart . :eyes:

Walmart Fucked up by trying this in my neighborhood , cause
I've never fought for anything locally before , but now
I will .

I would like to get people together to Fight this
opposition to Measure L .

Thanks

[Melsky]

1. Well, Unions are bad

for greedy rich stockholders. How much money do they really need? I was kind of neutral on unions until I started reading about Walmart business practices. Walmart is just the epitome of bad business, bad community relations, bad employer. Good for you for working against them.

[proud patriot]

2. At some point I will utilize the masses at DU to help us

but since this is my first attempt at local activism
I'm going to need to learn and get the help from
the Board of Supervisers and others in my community first.

[Room101]

3. What do you propose?

What is the plan of action?

[proud patriot]

4. Well I called the board of Supervisers for some direction

and they haven't called me back .

Perhaps local Unions can help us also .

My ideas are this

Canvass local small business (we need signs that
they can put up in their windows) We need to make
small bussinesses aware of this fight and their
committed customers.

We need to also go to the poorer areas of the county
to help the people be aware that just because the prices
are cheaper at walmart doesn't mean shopping there
saves them money . That in fact Walmart undermines
keeping jobs in America .

That their Made In America Labels are a big FAT lie.

This is just off the top of my head .

[jcc]

5. CC Consumers for Choice huh?

They only send things to the registered Republicans in my family.

Not only do we have the two large stores that you named, but we have Targets in both Walnut Creek and Concord, two Costcos in the general area, Walgreens and Longs up the cazoo.

Keep us informed.

[proud patriot]

6. I believe because I live in a Moderate Repuke area that's why I got one

I think there is also Walmart in Danville if I'm
not mistaken . Plus we have K-Marts at least 2 that I
can think of .

Good god we have soooooooo much choice

[bluestateguy]

7. Ugh! Wal-Mart wants to defile my native homeland!

I'm a Walnut Creek native and the thought of a Wal-Mart there makes me sick!

[proud patriot]

8. you're from Walnut Creek? .. Nice city

Yes Walmart is on a rampage out here
luckily the CC Board Of Supervisors is on
to them .

[Myra]

9. I'm sure you saw this proud patriot. Just in case...

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040105&c=1&s=krugman

Posted December 18, 2003

"The Death of Horatio Alger
by Paul Krugman

The other day I found myself reading a leftist rag that made outrageous claims about America. It said that we are becoming a society in which the poor tend to stay poor, no matter how hard they work; in which sons are much more likely to inherit the socioeconomic status of their father than they were a generation ago.

The name of the leftist rag? Business Week, which published an article titled "Waking Up From the American Dream." The article summarizes recent research showing that social mobility in the United States (which was never as high as legend had it) has declined considerably over the past few decades. If you put that research together with other research that shows a drastic increase in income and wealth inequality, you reach an uncomfortable conclusion: America looks more and more like a class-ridden society.

And guess what? Our political leaders are doing everything they can to fortify class inequality, while denouncing anyone who complains--or even points out what is happening--as a practitioner of "class warfare."
...
Business Week attributes this to the "Wal-Martization" of the economy, the proliferation of dead-end, low-wage jobs and the disappearance of jobs that provide entry to the middle class. That's surely part of the explanation. But public policy plays a role--and will, if present trends continue, play an even bigger role in the future..."

[proud patriot]

10. Wow , no I hadn't seen this . Thanks Myra

:loveya:

[Myra]

12. Good fight you're fighting proud patriot.

Gov Dean mentioned good ol' Wal Mart today in his NH appearance.
How they love to have lots and lots of "part time" employees so they
don't have to give them benefits.

Wal Mart is *the* metaphor for 'Merka...sorry to say.
And/or the model...sorry to say.


"...At Wal-Mart, which employs 1.2 million people nationwide, the same worker is paid $9 and may or may not choose to purchase company health insurance that is more expensive than what other companies offer. A Las Vegas health official told the Times that Wal-Mart workers regularly show up at hospital emergency rooms for routine medical care -- which means the community, in effect, is underwriting Wal-Mart's success in paying workers as little as possible.

While a Raley's worker might some day afford the American dream of buying house, Wal-Mart workers, at $9 an hour, can forget about it.

And while Wal-Mart promotes an all-American image, it forces businesses that want to do business with Wal-Mart to move manufacturing plants to cheap labor markets overseas -- and then to squeeze overseas production costs.
...
Over time, the new paradigm becomes self-fulfilling: Someone who is paid Wal-Mart wages may not be able to afford to shop anywhere else..."

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/columns/03note.html


"Betty Fought loved her job as a Wal-Mart greeter, one of the smiling employees who welcome shoppers in the nearly 3,000 U.S. stores of the world's largest retailer. Working full-time again at 60 after strokes disabled her husband Edward, an electrician, Fought twice stopped suspected shoplifters at the Aberdeen, Wash., store...

But when Fought fell while pushing carts and became disabled, managers for Wal-Mart—the nation's largest private employer, founded in 1962 in Rogers, Ark., by retailing titan Sam Walton—stopped being so friendly. The Foughts waited so long for workers' compensation they had to take out a second mortgage which, along with other bills, at one point left them living on $18 a month.

"It was a surprise the way they treated me," 66-year-old Fought says today. She had to go to court to win workers' compensation..."

http://www.aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/magazine/walmart.cfm

[davidinalameda]

11. but if it wasn't for Wal-Mart

where would we buy all of our cheap plastic crap from China?

:shrug:

:-)

[proud patriot]

13. I just had an idea

What about a meetup "yes on L in Contra Costa"

I'm going to look into this .

[Myra]

14. proud patriot, you know PBS/NOW has a segment on Contra Costra

Vs WalMart this week, right?

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/walmart.html

It shows how if there's big opposition to them
coming into an area they bypass it by getting on the ballot.
Then voters often approve a store.

Shows how other communities that subsidized a Wal Mart
got screwed over by them when they were supposed to start getting
money from sales tax. Then WM closed that store and opened down
the street.

How a WM opening in the area means thousands of
employees draining public assistence and tax money because
they can't afford health care. How WM even depends on public
agencies to provide what they won't.

How they bust unions.

How they actually hurt a community, both people and gov't.

You know, the usual WM crap.

[proud patriot]

15. You are the best Myra

:loveya:

[Myra]

16. No way. You're the best for taking on Wal-Mart. They're the worst.

And they're the model that 'Merkan industry wants to use.

[proud patriot]

17. update and a website to get measure L passed

www.na4lc.org

[proud patriot]

18. Article in SF Chronicle

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=379218

[proud patriot]

19. Neighborhood Alliance For Local Control

You can sign up for the mailing list
for events and activism in contra Costa County .

Keep The Power In Your Hands
Vote Yes on Measure L, March 2, 2004
http://na4lc.org/