Gillibrand Blasts Ruling on Wal-mart Discrimination Case - Canandaigua, NY by Julie Sherwood- MPNnow

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U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today to overturn the lower court’s ruling that would have allowed more than one million women to proceed with a class-action discrimination lawsuit against Wal-mart.

“I am deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the lower court’s decision and deny the largest civil rights class action suit in our history from moving forward. Pay discrimination in the workplace is unacceptable and all too real. Women in this country will continue to face an uphill battle until Congress fulfills its obligation to level the playing field and close existing loopholes by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act. The time to end discrimination is now and I will continue to work with my colleagues to end this economic injustice"

Wal-mart Continues To Try and Buy New York’s Love

Rather Than Coming Before The City Council or Community Board, Walmart Resorts To The Only Strategy It Knows, Spend $$$$

As Walmart continues to avoid answering hard questions to New Yorkers, the company has been spending significant amounts of money in political contributions and political-style advertising to try to buy New Yorkers’ love. Today, the company announced a charitable contribution in another attempt to buy their way into New York City.

An analysis of Walmart’s New York State lobbying data from the New York State Commission on Public Integrity shows it spent $1.85 million on lobbying (including political-style advertisements) in the first four months of 2011. In 2007 through 2010, the company spent $335,385.

A similar shift has occurred in political contributions. An analysis of data from the National Institute on Money in State Politics, shows that between 2003 and 2010, Wal-Mart contributed $562,877 to statewide candidates in New York. Overall contributions have grown dramatically each election cycle in advance of the company’s efforts to expand into New York City, beginning with a mere $4,020 in 2004 and reaching $273,000 by 2010.

The mega-retailer can’t boost its flagging U.S. sales unless it expands into the nation’s largest cities, so it’s trying to break its way into New York with new store formats and new products, and most importantly-- a new image.

“Walmart can’t be trusted. The company is embracing progressive values in its public relations campaign to avoid tough questions about its history of alleged discrimination and putting local mom and pops out business.,” said Stephanie Yazgi, spokesperson for Walmart Free NYC. “Walmart’s convenient contribution won’t distract New Yorkers from its track record: the company is facing the largest gender bias class-action lawsuit in U.S. history, it has sold more guns than any company in the United States, and it failed The Human Right Campaign’s national LGBT scorecard.”

Walmart Lobbyist Spending

Lobbyist	2007	2008	2009	2010	2007-10	2011
Law Offices of Claudia Wagner LLC	$32,000	-	-	$22,500	$54,500
Patricia Lynch Associates	$65,000	$65,000	$62,834	$61,752	$254,586
Manatt, Phelps and Phillips LLP				$22,500	$22,500	$30,000
Philip Serghini	$620	$203	$2,976	-	$3,799
Walmart Stores						$1,756,853
The Wright Group						$24,000
Hodes and Landy						$30,000
York Group Associates						$16,000
Total	$97,620	$65,203	$65,810	$84,252	$335,385	$1,856,853

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Already Fired Once By Wal-mart for Massively Condemned “Harold, Call Me” Ad, Infamous Terry Nelson’s Firm Now Welcomed Back To Wal-mart Family

Already Fired Once By Wal-mart for Massively Condemned “Harold, Call Me” Ad, Infamous Terry Nelson’s Firm Now Welcomed Back To Wal-mart Family

At The Time, Wal-mart Said Firing Nelson Was: "..The right course of action" — What Has Changed?

African-American elected officials unequivocally slammed Wal-mart today for working with infamous race-baiting political operative Terry Nelson’s firm FP1 Strategies- five years after they already fired him once for being behind the universally condemned racially tinged “Harold, call me” ad in the 2006 Tennessee senate race. The ad received national criticism from all corners of the political world and was eventually pulled, after which Wal-mart severed its relationship with Nelson. However, Walmart, through its joint lobbying efforts with other retailers, is now working with Nelson’s new firm, a shocking reversal from five years ago when Wal-mart said they fired Nelson because ''we believe this is the right course of action.''

In reaction to the news that Wal-mart is working with Nelson, African-American elected officials roundly criticized Wal-mart and called for them to drop him, again:

Said Council Member Charles Barron: “First Wal-mart in its racist ways has been known to discriminate against African-American, black and brown workers. Wal-mart has been known to discriminate against women. And now to work again with a professional known race baiter is unacceptable. Wal-mart must not come into New York City.”

Said Council Member Letitia James: “It’s unbelievable that Wal-mart would work with a firm tied to someone like Nelson after firing him once for one of the worst ads in our lifetime. Wal-mart needs to sever the relationship once and for all and never bring him back."

Nelson has a long history of transgressions. Aside from being behind one of the most widely condemned political ads in recent memory, Nelson also:

• Was affiliated with the 2002 phone jamming scandal in 2002 in New Hampshire
• Was involved in, although not indicted for, the Tom Delay money-laundering transactions

NYC Comptroller John C. Liu on Wal-mart

New York City Comptroller John C. Liu issued the following statement in response to questions concerning the NYC Pension Funds’ presentation at Wal-Mart’s annual meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas today.

“Low prices are good, but it is Wal-Mart’s responsibility to ensure that it is not passing to its customers savings bought with abusive labor practices,” Comptroller Liu said. “Wal-Mart can and should do much more to hold its suppliers accountable for protecting human and workers’ rights. Wal-Mart can’t claim to be that bright yellow smiley face that we see around the world if its global suppliers don’t protect their workers from abuse or intimidation.”

The NYC Pension Funds’ shareholder proposal calls on Wal-Mart’s board to require that the company’s suppliers publish reports on their compliance with internationally recognized standards of human and workers’ rights. Kalpona Akter, a labor rights leader in Bangladesh and former garment worker, presented the proposal to Wal-Mart’s board of directors at the invitation of Comptroller Liu and the Funds.

The NYC Pension Funds hold 5,696,055 shares of Wal-Mart, Inc. valued at $305,023,745.25 million as of 6/2/2011.

Moms Unite to Tell Wal-mart to Stay Out of NYC

Citing Back-to-Back Recalls on Games and Bunk Beds, Higher Prices on Toys, and the Largest Sex Discrimination Case in U.S. History, Moms Say Wal-mart Can’t Be Trusted

Honorable Una Clarke, Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, Former Working Mother at Wal-mart, and Local Mother & Daughter Come Together on Mother’s Day to Oppose Wal-mart

New York- On Mother’s Day, mothers from across New York came together to say ‘no’ to Wal-mart and to tell the Arkansas based giant that it can’t be trusted, and isn’t welcome in New York City. The mothers said they are unsettled by Wal-mart's track record of putting women and children in harm's way:

· Wal-mart is facing the largest class action lawsuit for sex discrimination in U.S. history

· Hazardous bunk beds sold at Wal-mart were recalled Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

· Wal-mart raised prices on kids’ toys during the holiday shopping season

· Largest seller of guns in the U.S.

“Having worked at Wal-mart and knowing how they treat moms I can tell you it’s never Mothers Day there,” said Zorylaine Perez, a mother of five and former Wal-mart employee who has joined Make the Road New York to stop Wal-mart from coming to the City. “Wal-mart can spend all the money they want to tell people otherwise but when it comes down to it they don’t value the ability of working moms to support their families as demonstrated by low wages I earned.”

“Mother's Day is a day we set aside to celebrate the sacrifices and contributions our mothers have made in our lives. However there are those who choose to take advantage and misunderstand the sacrifices by paying sub-par wages that are not in line with the cost of living. Wal-mart is a company that takes advantage of our mother's and we cannot allow them to take advantage of NYC's mothers. This Mother’s Day I honor my mother and all the mothers by reminding Wal-mart we will not let you walk all over them in stripping our mothers dignity with subpar wages,” said New York City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras.

Minister Patricia Malcolm from CUSH said: “As women of faith and great value we are tired of being used, abused, underpaid and underserved. On this day, mother’s day we stand united to protect all that we stand for, recognizing that we are the backbones of our families and community and will no longer put up with those whose intentions are to further take advantage of us, like Wal-mart does.”

Nikeisha Sinclair, a retail worker of 3 years, Retail Action Project member and mother of a 6 year old daughter, “ Wal-mart keeps paying low wages even though the cost of everything is going up these days. New York’s moms deserve better than a retailer who is the biggest corporation in the world yet still cuts corners preventing mothers like me from providing for our families.”

Wal-mart has suffered 7 consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines in the US[1] and last year, Wal-mart Stores lost U.S. market share to its competitors for the first time in a decade.[2] To make up for falling sales, Wal-mart is looking to expand into major cities including New York.

“Wal-mart does not share mothers’ values,” said Former New York City Councilwoman Una Clarke, mother of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. “Wal-mart raised prices on kids’ toys at Christmas. They sell bunk beds at risk of falling. They’re accused of discriminating against more than a million women- many of whom are mothers. New York’s mothers and grandmothers deserve better.”

"The world's largest retailer - Wal-Mart -- has already handed out its Mother's Day present in the form of unfair wages, and discriminatory promotion practices according to thousands of Californian women who have brought the country's largest class action gender discrimination lawsuit against the company. But this is "business as usual" for the retailer whose unfair labor practices in the past have ranged from such issues as breach of wage and hour laws, paying workers impoverished wages to violations of child labor laws and illegal intimidation of workers who have the right to choose a union to protect them. This abuse of workers offers the public just a small glimpse into this company's standard operating procedures -- a patriarchal culture that profits on the exploitation of vulnerable workers such as working mothers. So, this Mother's Day, in addition to those chocolates and flowers we will invariably send our mothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends, and partners, send a special message from New Yorkers to Wal-Mart -- only fair retailers need apply,” said Fran Moccio Former Director, Institute for Women and Work at Cornell University

“Mothers on the Move is committed to fighting for economic justice for all New Yorkers—that’s why we oppose any Wal-mart stores in our neighborhoods,” said Mothers on the Move. “Wal-mart squeezes out neighborhood stores and the workers they employ. We won’t let that happen here.”

Anti-Walmart Flash Mob Strikes Again - Walmart Free NYC & Jobs for Justice

A Few Weeks After Focusing on Related Co., the Flash Mob Disrupts Wal-mart CEO Mike Duke Appearance in Bryant Prk

Activists Promise to Continue Disrupting Wal-mart and It's Partners

On April 27, Walmart CEO Mike Duke visited New York City to have breakfast with the Wall Street Journal and a roomful of corporate elites. Everyday New Yorkers weren't invited. But we have a lot of strong opinions about his plans to take over our city and flood it with poverty wage jobs. So we decided to throw him a little surprise party, brass band in tow!

A hundred singing and dancing activists converged on Bryant Park on Wednesday to protest Walmart for its record of mistreating women, African Americans and Latinos and the LGBT community, and to confront Walmart CEO Mike Duke in person.


New York Jobs with Justice and members of the Walmart-Free NYC Coalition, including RWDSU, the Retail Action Project, New York Communities for Change, and Make the Road NY, held up yellow frowny-face masks and surrounded the windows of the Bryant Park Grill, chanting “Walmart cheats, Walmart hates, Walmart discriminates!” for nearly an hour as Mike Duke spoke inside.



Amid the chanting, a brass band loudly performed a dance number in front of the windows called "Mr. Walmart," modeled on Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff,” with a drag-clad Lady Liberty telling a performer dressed as Mr. Walmart on stilts, "Who do you think you are?/ Mr. Walmart/ You’re never gonna get my love."



“Walmart can spend as much money as it wants to buy its way into New York,” said Javier Valdes, Deputy Director of Make the Road NY, one of New York City’s largest community organizations. “But that doesn’t change the fact that Walmart doesn’t share New York’s values. They have settled a lawsuit for discriminating against black truck drivers, fired Latino workers who complained about being called racial slurs, and is facing the largest sex discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.”



Walmart is reportedly looking to open many stores throughout the five boroughs. One possible location is the Gateway II development in East New York, Brooklyn, which is being developed by the Related Companies, who was the focus of the first Anti-Walmart flash mob. The site was subject to a lengthy community planning process, and Related’s recently reported move to introduce a Walmart into those plans without community consent have raised a flurry of opposition from concerned residents, community organizations and local elected officials.



At a recent Housing Preservation and Development hearing, concerns were raised that the City-sponsored appraisal of the land was incomplete.



According to event organizer Austin Guest of NY Jobs with Justice, “If Walmart opens stores in our city, there is no indication that they will stop their track record of killing local jobs, treating workers poorly, and eliminating competition from responsible employers. We will keep following Walmart and its allies to make sure that New Yorkers know what Walmart will bring with them into New York.”



For more information, visit www.walmartfreenyc.com

Victims of Gun Violence to Mayor Bloomberg: Condemn Wal-mart for Increasing Gun Sales

Wal-mart’s Cure For Struggling Sales? Reverse its Decision to Stop Selling Rifles, Shotguns and Ammunition at Many U.S. Stores

Communities and Families Plagued by Gun Violence Call on Mayor Bloomberg, a Strong Anti-Gun Advocate, To Tell Nation’s Largest Seller of Firearms it is Not Welcome in NYC

Victims of gun violence and leaders and families in communities plagued by gun violence, along with New York City elected officials, today denounced Wal-mart’s decision to sell more rifles, shotguns and ammunition at hundreds of stores nationwide after removing them from many stores five years ago.


Wal-mart’s decision comes after 7 consecutive quarters of same store sales declines in the U.S., which has spurred the retailer to pursue an aggressive urban expansion plan into New York City including a location in East New York, a neighborhood plagued by gun violence.


In 2008, Wal-mart enjoyed a major public relations boost when it announced it would participate in Mayor Bloomberg’s Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership- a move even the NRA derided as nothing more than a “public relations stunt.”


The families of gun violence victims urged the Mayor to be as serious as he says he is about preventing firearm deaths before they happen, by telling the nation’s largest firearms dealer that it is not welcome in New York City.


Jackie Rowe Adams from Harlem Mothers Save said, “The mayor needs to step up and renounce Wal-mart’s awful decision. We have seen what guns have done to our communities, and bringing in a Wal-mart to our communities would send the wrong message- that we condone their gun sale policies which put people’s lives in danger.


Parents United to Rally for Gun Violence Elimination (PURGE), founder Freddie Hamilton said: “I hope a strong anti gun advocate like Mayor Bloomberg will recognize a disastrous decision when he sees one and calls on Wal-mart to stop. We need fewer guns on the streets, and Wal-mart’s decision will only mean more guns on the streets.


Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said:"As the largest seller of firearms and ammunition in America, Wal-Mart does not belong in New York City. I urge Mayor Bloomberg to continue his leadership on gun control by joining the fight against Wal-Mart coming to our City.”


Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said:“The Wal-mart charm offensive ends today with news that the conglomerate plans to expand considerably the sale of weapons and ammunition. We know that the bullets that killed six people and wounded a United States Congresswoman in Arizona were purchased at Wal-mart, and now the retailer wants to make ammunition more accessible in both rural and urban markets. If the city wants to remain a leader on gun control, we need to take a hard stand against Wal-mart’s decision and make it clear that any corporation that looks for new markets to sell guns and fosters a culture of violence is not welcome in New York."


Councilmember Tish James said: “Any commercial establishment that sells guns by the truck-load does not belong in New York City. Guns are a scourge in New York City and no one sells more guns than Wal-mart, they don’t belong in our city.”


Councilmember Charles Barron: "East NY is plagued by the scourge of gun violence. And at the same time that Wal-mart is trying to buy their way into New York, they are quietly starting to sell guns and ammunition again. This is Wal-mart once again going back on a promise they’ve made because of their terrible sales, what other promises will they break?"


Councilmember Jumaane Williams said: "The gun violence in my district cannot be ignored and it cannot be accepted. Wal-mart bringing stockpiles of guns and ammo into our city would be a public safety hazard of the most heinous kind. This is the opposite of what we need to end gun violence in my district and in the City. Wal-mart is a company that will put lives in danger in order to turn a profit and I will not stand by and watch this happen without a fight."


When it comes to gun control and gun violence prevention, Wal-mart doesn’t appear to share New York’s values:

• Firearm sales: Wal-mart is the # 1 seller of fire arms in the US and takes in millions in profits from gun sales.
• Arizona: Wal-mart sold Jared Lee Laughner the ammunition he used in the Arizona shooting earlier this year, as was widely reported in the news media.
• Evading Laws: Wal-mart has a history of not complying with gun laws. In 2004, Wal-mart paid more than $14 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the California Attorney General alleging that the company committed thousands of violations of California state gun safety laws, including selling ammunition to minors and selling firearms to convicted felons, as was reported by the news media at the time.
• Wal-mart’s Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership is a sham: The partnership relies on voluntarily compliance, and there are no actual obligations for Wal-mart to comply.

EAST NEW YORKERS ORGANIZE AGAINST MEGA-DEVELOPER RELATED COMPANIES FOR FAILING TO COME CLEAN ON WALMART

Barron, Small Business Owner, Local Leaders Say Related Wouldn’t Have to Duck Gateway Mall Questions if it Partnered with Trustworthy Stores

Barron to Go Store-to-Store to Mobilize Small Business Owners in Fight Against Developer’s Plans for a Wal-mart

Today Councilman Charles Barron joined with community leaders, residents, local business owners including the owner of New Lots Hardware Eddie Peralta in front of his local business to slam Gateway Mall developer Related Companies for failing to come clean on plans for Gateway II with regard to Wal-mart

Neighborhood residents and business owners oppose Wal-mart because they say the world’s richest retailer can’t be trusted, with its past record of pushing out local retailers, discriminating against African-Americans, Latinos, and women, and running expensive public relations campaign instead of answering questions at public hearings.

“Wal-Mart is trying to buy its way into our communities with a massive ad campaign, fancy commercials, and a slick website, instead of participating in open and public hearings and answering the community’s concerns. We are demanding that the Related Companies honor the City Council agreement not to bring Wal-Mart to our community,” said Councilman Charles Barron. “The reality is that Wal-Mart is a predatory retailer that pays low wages,provides inadequate healthcare and pensions and are anti-union. If Wal-Mart comes in, jobs will be lost.

Nathan Bradley of Community Board 5 says, "I have placed many phone calls to Related companies to asked them to come to our community board meeting to present their plans for Gateway II to CB 5, but they have ignored the community and have not responded to the many requests".

“I have tried to communicate with Wal-mart with no success. We would like them to participate in our community forum on April 28, 2011. It will be a good opportunity to speak with community residents. Unfortunately no one has responded," said Anna Aguirre, from community organization UCC.

• Wal-mart says it will build stores with union labor and pay employees above-average wages. They said the same thing in Chicago- spending $2.5 million on favorable advertising in the first 6 months of 2010. But as soon as Wal-mart won the zoning approval it needed, it said it never made a wage promise (June 2010), and publicly distanced itself from union labor (Feb 2011)
• According to an April 2011 Crain’s Chicago investigation, Wal-mart’s “benefits to minority contractors didn’t match the hype,” with much of the large-scale work going to non-minority firms.

“Wal-mart doesn’t share our values- they’re facing the largest gender bias class-action lawsuit in U.S. history, they sell more guns than any company in the world, and they deny workers a fair day’s pay and breaks,” said Maria Maisonet, East New York resident. “New Yorkers know better. We know past track records matter. And that’s why small business owners, tenant leaders, and community leaders are coming together to agree: Wal-mart doesn’t share our values, it can’t be trusted to keep its word, and doesn’t belong in East New York.”

Related suffered a week of negative press around its rumored partnership with Wal-mart, including a flash mob at the company’s head quarters, public scrutiny of the Gateway appraisal, and criticism for obfuscating its plans to bring Wal-mart to New York City.

East New Yorkers urged Related Companies to ditch Wal-mart, and instead choose responsible retailers and grocers like Shoprite, who has publicly expressed interest in the site.

According to a recent Crain’s New York article, full-time workers at ShopRite start at $11.75 an hour, and those wages go up to $12.50 within a year on the job. Wages continue to rise, based on experience, and the average full-time wage at the supermarket chain is $16 an hour. Employees also receive either a $1-an-hour bonus or time-and-a-half for working Sundays, depending on their length of service. Health care and pension benefits are fully paid by ShopRite, and 87% of ShopRite workers receive health coverage.

Wal-mart, on the other hand, says it pays an average hourly wage of $13.09 to full-time associates in its New York state stores, but it won’t release starting salary information, and has consistently denied an invitation from New York UFCW locals to have the state controller audit its records to ascertain actual wage levels. According to IBISWorld the average Wal-mart sales associate working full-time hours earns$8.81/hour.

After the press conference, Councilman Barron visited nearby small business owners to engage them in the fight against the developer’s plans to bring in Wal-mart.

“We make New York great and keep the money in our communities where it belongs. We can’t let Wal-mart, or Related Companies, push us out now,” said Eddie Peralta, small business owner of New Lots Hardware.