With 1.4 million Americans working in its stores, Wal-Mart bears a unique responsibility to its workers and our communities--which is why as Labor Day approaches, SEIU is part of a coalition of labor, environmental, consumer protection, and community groups led by UFCW that are challenging Wal-Mart to start practicing common-sense core American values like workers' rights, corporate responsibility, equal opportunity, quality jobs and environmental stewardship.
No other private, profit-making enterprise in the history of our country has had the economic scope and impact of Wal-Mart. "When a company gets to be as big as Wal-Mart and employs so many workers - more than any other private enterprise in the world - it is no longer a 'private' entity," said Neal Lichtenstein, author of The Retail Revolution: How Walmart Created a Brave New World of Business. "[Wal-Mart] sets the wage and benefit standard for every other mass retailer and influences the business practices of just about every firm in America's huge service sector. So Wal-Mart is part of this country's debate: on health care, wages, equal employment, and the role of trade unionism in our democracy."
Wal-Mart needs to change. Here's a simple breakdown of reasoning behind this campaign to hold Wal-Mart accountable for those challenges, and to the ideals it puts forth in its advertising:
Wal-Mart is America's store.Wal-Mart is America's workplace.
Wal-Mart is America's town center.
Wal-Mart must reflect America's values.
Hard work should bring pay and benefits that can support families.
Workers have rights that even the largest employer must recognize and respect.
There are two new "Common Sense Economics" TV ads to go along with the launch of the American Values Agenda for Change at Wal-Mart. Watch them here (Ad #1, Ad #2):
SEIU's Walmart Watch recently joined WakeUpWalmart.com to hold America's largest private employer accountable. Learn more about how you can help challenge Wal-Mart to embrace the American Values Agenda for Change at WakeUpWalmart.com.
