what be this mates?

"1 - Having failed to unionize 
any Wal-Marts,
 American labor unions
 have helped form a new and unusual type 
of workers' association 
to press Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
 to improve its wages 
and working conditions" 

 
 
 
"With its first beachhead 
in Central Florida,
 the two-month-old group 
is already battling Wal-Mart,
 the nation's largest corporation, 
over what it says 
is the company's practice
 of reducing the hours 
that many employees work, 
often from 40 a week to 34,
 30 or even fewer, 
jeopardizing some workers' health benefits."



"The association says it has nearly 
200 current and former Wal-Mart workers
 and is growing by 30 workers a week
. Members pay dues of $5 a month. 
In Florida, its membership includes
 workers from 30 stores 
in the Tampa, Orlando and St. Petersburg areas,
 and it is also seeking 
to enlist Wal-Mart employees in Texas" 

"The group's sponsors include 
the United Food and Commercial Workers Union
, the Service Employees International Union,
 and Acorn,
 an advocacy group for low-income people."

" It has also received support
 from the Marguerite Casey Foundation,
 which helps low-income families,
 and the Nathan Cummings Foundation,
 which promotes social justice."

"We are building something 
that's never been seen; 
it's neither fish nor fowl," said Wade Rathke,
 a top Acorn official
who is the chief organizer
 for the association"




"The group is urging 
the State of Florida 
to grant unemployment benefits 
to workers whose hours 
have been cut back by Wal-Mart.
 It is arguing that workers 
who quit Wal-Mart 
because the reduced hours
 meant they were not earning enough 
to live on deserve jobless benefits
. It also wants supplemental
 jobless benefits for workers 
with reduced hours who remain at Wal-Mart" 

 

"The association says Wal-Mart 
is betraying the desire 
of its founder, Sam Walton, 
to maintain a family-friendly company" 

"The Marguerite Casey Foundation
 has granted $250,000
 to an Acorn-backed project 
that is in turn giving
much of that money to the new association" 


"The association is the latest attempt
 by labor and community groups 
to squeeze at Wal-Mart's pressure points.
 In the past month,
 the food and commercial workers
 have led an effort, 
joined by the nation's two big teachers unions
 urging consumers 
not to purchase school supplies
 at Wal-Mart. 
Another group, Wal-Mart Watch, 
plans to announce a week 
of demonstrations and meetings nationwide 
in November to criticize 
Wal-Mart's wages and benefits"

"Labor leaders say they support 
the nonunion Wal-Mart Workers Association
 because with the company fighting aggressively
 against unionization,
 they recognize that it will be extremely hard
 to unionize any Wal-Marts"

"This dovetails nicely with what we're doing," 
said William McDonough, organizing director
 of the food and commercial workers 
Our role is to help Wal-Mart workers
    get a voice on the job." 



"The new association 
is not urging shoppers
 to boycott Wal-Mart"

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sprouts of the new 

the
   key 

          keep punching