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Wake-Up Wal-Mart Blog

Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the world with over $10 billion in profits. Yet, Wal-Mart lowers our wages, ships our jobs overseas, and shifts their health care costs onto American taxpayers. We believe it's time for Wal-Mart to Wake Up.

Wake Up Wal-Mart's First Holiday Ad of 2008November 25

Wake Up Wal-Mart has a new ad out. It's not hitting TV stations until Monday, but we thought you, our loyal blog readers, deserved a sneak peak:

More Wal-Mart Legal NewsNovember 25

As the previous blog entry, and countless others, testify, Wal-Mart has a tenuous relationship with the American legal system. Whether its forcing their employees to work off the clock, discriminating against women, or violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, Wal-Mart can't seem to stay on the right side of the law.

Well today is no exception. Wal-Mart is being sued, again, for demoting a worker because she took time off for a medical emergency. In addition to being immoral, this action was probably illegal. Lynda deBarros, the employee suing Wal-Mart, took time off through the Family and Medical Leave Act which is designed, specifically, to protect someone's job if they have to take time off due to a medical emergency.

Here's the full article from The Oregonian:

Employee in Oregon sues Wal-Mart

A Wal-Mart employee in Oregon has accused the mega-store chain in federal court of demoting her because she took time off during the Christmas shopping season to undergo an emergency hysterectomy.

Lynda deBarros filed suit Tuesday against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in U.S

Wal-Mart Pays $1.4 Million to California for OverchargingNovember 25

Here at Wake Up Wal-Mart, we love to hear from our activists and from regular Wal-Mart customers. We frequently get e-mails from folks asking to hear more about our campaign, or wanting to know what they can do about specific topics. We also get quite a few complaints about Wal-Mart, as you woud imagine. One frequent complaint we've received is pricing mistakes, overpricing, and pricing difference from area to area. Today, we saw this story from Reuters and it backed up what we've been hearing.

Wal-Mart settle Calif. pricing suit for $1.4 mln

Wal-Mart Stores Inc agreed to pay $1.4 million and refund $3 per customer for future pricing mistakes to settle a lawsuit by California authorities over price scanning errors at the chain's stores statewide, the California Attorney General said on Monday.

An investigation into allegations that Wal-Mart checkout counters were scanning items at higher prices than those advertised on store shelves and signs began in 2005, followed by a lawsuit filed earlier this year in San Diego.

Through random price checks, state investigators found that 164 Wal-Mart stores in 30 California counties had made scanning errors, which averaged $8.40 per customer, according to California Attorney General Edmund Brown and San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

The investigators found that customers we

Hope for the Holidays 2008November 24

This holiday season, every employee at Wal-Mart is projected to generate more than $2,000 in pure profit for the company. The numbers are staggering: from the work of 1.4 million Americans, Wal-Mart will reap billions of dollars in sales. But, is Wal-Mart holding up its end of the bargain?

We don't think so.

Wal-Mart is thriving in today's faltering economy, yet its employees struggle to keep their heads above water. Instead of giving back to working families, Wal-Mart is lobbying against overtime regulations aimed to benefit working Americans. Instead of giving business to America's struggling manufacturers, Wal-Mart continues to import over 70% of its goods from China. And, of course, Wal-Mart still pays poverty wages and offers unaffordable health care benefits.

If Wal-Mart won't give back to its hard working employees, we will. We're on a mission to give financial support to struggling Wal-Mart employees this holiday season, but we can't succeed without your help. Please contribute to our new Wal-Mart Workers' Holiday Fund today and give struggling Wal-Mart workers a chance at the kind of holiday they deserve.

Join our mission to benefit Wal-Mart workers this holiday season

WAKEUPWALMART.COM WELCOMES MICHAEL DUKE AS THE NEW CEO OF WAL-MART, INVITES HIM TO MAKE POSITIVE CHANGESNovember 21

For Immediate Release

WAKEUPWALMART.COM WELCOMES MICHAEL DUKE AS THE NEW CEO OF WAL-MART, INVITES HIM TO MAKE POSITIVE CHANGES

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced today that effective February 1st, Lee Scott will retire as the Chief Executive Officer of Wal-Mart and Mike Duke will take his place. It was also announced that Eduardo
Castro-Wright will be promoted to Vice-Chairman of Wal-Mart stores.

The following statement is attributed to Meghan Scott, Spokesperson for WakeUpWalMart.com.

“This is an incredible time of change and transition, both for
Wal-Mart, and the country. With its change in leadership, we hope
Wal-Mart will embrace this opportunity for a positive change in the way it does business.

“We invite Mr. Duke, as the new CEO of Wal-Mart, to live up to the
company’s responsibility to pay its workers a living wage, especially
in this dire economy where working people are struggling and Wal-Mart is profiting. We invite Mr. Duke to improve Wal-Mart’s employee benefits so that all of its associates can afford quality health care. Lastly, we invite Mr. Duke to make a real commitment to the American economy by keeping manufacturing jobs here in the United States, not pressuring its suppliers to go overseas.

“We welcome this important transition, and we welcome Mr. Duke. We
look forward to a better Wal-Mart, and we hope Mr. Duke can be the one to make it happen.”