There was an interesting article about the walmart campaign locally here in vegas about a year ago. The main point of the article was that the ufcw pays homeless people to picket walmart, pays them less than they'd make at walmart and when the line got hot they'd go into walmart to buy water and blister cream.
That about sums up my opinion on the walmart campaign.
I haven't had any direct contact with UFCW on this and don't have any knowledge of what they're aiming at long term. They don't seem on the surface to be trying to organize walmart workers, unlike FLOC and CIW, who actually do have mass membership in the fields.
Look forward to seeing the article when it's done.
The UFCW is trying to organize Wal-Mart workers. Maybe not trying hard, and certainly not succesfully, but they are trying. I was in contact with an UFCW organizer in GA a few years back, who was working a series of stores along one of the corridors to downtown Atlanta. (Fellow was a former Wal_mart manager who, I gathered, had not so much had a change of heart, as made a clever career move. I went home and bathed.)
All of which makes me wonder if this little Wake-Up Wal_mart campaign is a corrolary to those worker organining efforts, or just a publicity campaign against Wal_mart, to benifit the UFCW... how?
All of which makes me wonder if this little Wake-Up Wal_mart campaign is a corrolary to those worker organining efforts, or just a publicity campaign against Wal_mart, to benifit the UFCW... how?
Its not that the campaign is a bad idea. Its not. Corporate campaigns where you put economic and community social pressure against a company until they agree to neutrality and/or card check is smart strategic campaigning. UFCW is just not good at it. However, their strategic campaigns and research depts are currently being swarmed by new staff from other unions that are good at it. So My opinion may change if the observable data changes.
March 9th AP Article...
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Union Campaigns Are Beginning to Hurt Wal-Mart Stores Operations, Analyst Says
NEW YORK (AP) -- A Bank of America Securities analyst on Friday said union campaigns against Wal-Mart are beginning to hurt the world's largest retailer's operations.
In a note to investors, Bank of America analyst David Strasser said Bank of America spoke to representatives from the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union to discuss why Wal-Mart is a focus for unions.
The three groups sponsoring a campaign to force Wal-Mart to make changes including improving pay and benefits, include Change To Win, a group of seven unions including SEIU and UFCW, WakeUpWalMart.com, a project of the UFCW and Wal-Mart Watch, an independent non-profit.
The groups have said that Wal-Mart is "the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, and therefore they get the highest return on investment by focusing on Wal-Mart," Strasser wrote.
"This union fixation has cost Wal-Mart real estate sites in key locations, adversely impacted comp store sales to some degree, and has distracted management from focusing on its retail strategy," Strasser wrote. "Additionally, (Chief Executive) Lee Scott now spends a large amount of time improving Wal-Mart's image domestically and abroad, and Wal-Mart has been forced to focus advertising dollars on defending their brand.
"This is surprising considering the positive impact (Wal-Mart) has on its low income consumers and the broader U.S. economy."
Strasser, who rates Wal-Mart "Buy," added that the degree of impact was difficult to quantify. However, because having to fight the campaign has forced a change in advertising strategy to improve its corporate image, the campaign might be ultimately good for the company.
"We believe that Wal-Mart has an advertising budget that approximates $580 million, which is increasingly being allocated to brand image marketing to fight these attacks," Strasser wrote.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shares fell 49 cents to $47.40 during afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
High School students struck and marched across Germany yesterday in protest against classroom overcrowding, lack of teachers, and the pressure of examinations.
How the ICC is perceived by a very disillusioned ex-member.
While researching an article that seeks to show the contrast between effective, organized boycotts (such as FLOC's and the CIW's) and the more widespread, but largely impotent discontent with Wal-Mart, I learned that the UFCW is sponsoring a campaign called Wake Up Wal-Mart .
http://wakeupwalmart.com/
The program appears a mixed bag. Some good aspects, like the organizing appears to be on an community level, with (presumably) a certain level of local autonomy. Some not so good, such as no recommended courses of action beyond the usual impotent, write-your-politician type stuff.
Does anyone have first hand experience with, or knowledge of this campaign? Think it might have any potential? Know what the UFCW hopes to accomplish in the long term?
thanks, randy