WASHINGTON, D.C. – Leaders of the Making Change at Walmart campaign hailed the news that one of the largest pension funds in the world has decided to divest from Walmart stores. Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds (ABP) announced today that the retirement fund would no longer invest in the retail giant due to the company’s repeated violation of international labor standards. The fund, which has over $300 billion in assets and is the third largest in the world, had over $147 million invested in Walmart as of September 30, 2011.

“This is an important day for Walmart associates who want to be treated with respect,” said Dan Schlademan, director of Making Change at Walmart. “We’re pleased to see that ABP realizes that Walmart might be saying the right thing about respecting workers, but continues to engage in all kinds of bad behavior. This should send a clear message to Walmart and its shareholders: treating workers poorly is bad for business.”

Last October, Walmart associates brought that message to company shareholders during the annual analyst meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas. Workers testified about the unfair tactics

Continue reading DUTCH PENSION FUND DUMPS WALMART: Cites repeated violation of international labor standards

(reposted from Respect DC)

WASHINGTON, DC, November 22nd — Today, DC Mayor Vincent Gray and Walmart announced a so-called “community partnership” between the District and the retail giant. Community activists called the agreement a failure of leadership by the Mayor, noting the agreement is not enforceable and included no significant concessions from Walmart.

“As a Ward 7 resident, I am very disappointed,” said Rev. Kendrick Curry of the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church. “This has no teeth. This will allow Walmart to drain what is already in the community to nothing.”

Instead, the agreement only provides a window dressing for the reality that Walmart will drive good jobs from the District and replace them with low wage jobs without benefits. The backroom deal contains no specifics around wages, local hiring, or the limited workforce development plan. Most disturbingly, there is nothing in the partnership to ensure the creation of good jobs for DC residents.

“This includes nothing to address wages or the quality of these jobs,” said Marina Streznewski of the DC Jobs Council. “The DC living wage is $12.50 an hour. How will people working at these stores afford to live in DC?”

Critics also noted that the announcement today

Continue reading Community Coalition Slams Walmart, Gray for Sham Benefits Agreement

This week, as Walmart hosted Wall Street analysts and investors for a week of discussion regarding the company’s financial health and outlook, nearly 100 members of the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart), part of the 99%, returned to Walmart’s “Home Office” in Bentonville, AR to demand an “open door” meeting, per the company’s policy, with CEO Mike Duke. In June of this year, OUR Walmart made its first visit to the corporate headquarters seeking a meeting with the CEO in order to deliver the organization’s Declaration for Respect, which members developed in order to identify priority concerns including: a desire for more respect and dignity on the job, more flexibility in scheduling, addressing rampant understaffing and excessive workloads at Walmart among others.

Support this effort:

As a groundswell of occupations

Continue reading OUR Walmart Associates, the 99%, Strive to Change Walmart and Change the Economy!

Walmart is the largest private employer in this country and nearly 60% of its hourly employees are women. It sets the standards for the retail industry, its suppliers, and for employers in general. How Walmart treats women ultimately has ramifications for all women, not just those who work in its stores.

And unfortunately, according to many of its Associates, Walmart is not truly a place of opportunity for women. The company avoided accountability recently when the Supreme Court dismissed the class action status of Dukes v. Walmart, the largest sex discrimination case in history. And although (with much public relations fan-fare) Walmart just announced a “women friendly initiative,” the effort doesn’t address a core problem at Walmart: the way women who work there are treated.

Urge Walmart CEO Mike Duke to meet with OUR Walmart and national Women’s groups

Today, many national groups that advocate for women, including the National Organization for Women, National Women’s Law Center, and Family Values at Work, announced that they are joining Making Change at

Continue reading Call on Walmart’s CEO to Listen to Women

Starting on September 26th and continuing throughout the week, JwJ coalitions teamed up with United Food and Commercial Workers locals, the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) and students to blitz Walmart stores across the nation. Volunteers talked with Walmart associates about their working conditions and passed out leaflets encouraging them to join OUR Walmart.

OUR Walmart is an organization founded and run by Walmart hourly associates who are dedicated to improving both working conditions and the company as a whole. Walmart is one of the most powerful companies in the world, taking in $408.2 billion in revenue last year, but it pays its sales associates meager wages, an average of $8.81 an hour. These shockingly low wages force many workers to rely on publicly subsidized health care and worry about being able to pay for essentials like housing and food.

In all other countries Walmart employees are unionized, but here in the United States workers are often afraid to speak out and hold Walmart to its own promises and policies. OUR

Continue reading JwJ Joins Blitz to Build Respect for Workers at Walmart

By Veronica Mora, a student at St. Cloud State University and intern at United States Student Association.

“Mayor Gray, Mayor Gray, help us make Walmart pay!” echoed across the Freedom Plaza where community members gathered to voice their demands loudly on the hot and humid Wednesday afternoon last week. As the speakers took the microphone, a common theme was repeated: the community will not stand idly by as negotiations are agreed upon without their input. The people demanded that Walmart put their promises in writing and transparency and respect from Mayor Gray as voting constituents of our communities.

In recent months, Walmart has unveiled a plan to open 4 stores in Washington, D.C. They claim that their stores will create new jobs and raise the standard of living in the wards in which they are established. But community organizers have witnessed the contrary, especially in the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court ruling in Dukes v. Walmart. These community members have joined together in a coalition, Living Wages and Healthy Living Coalition, and have demanded to be included in the negotiations, as

Continue reading WalMart: Respect DC!

Earlier today, the Supreme Court handed down a decision against the female plaintiffs in Walmart vs. Dukes, stopping the women of Walmart from filing a single class action lawsuit alleging that the company systematically discriminated against women in its pay and promotion practices.

Tomorrow, Jobs with Justice coalitions in cities across the country will join with allies in the women’s movement to stand with the women of Walmart and to push for an end to Walmart’s attempts to block legal access to women seeking justice. Rallies are planned in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, San Francisco, & more. FIND A RALLY NEAR YOU.

In light of the Supreme Court ruling, Jobs with Justice believes it is critical that Congress acts now to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure women have additional protections in the workplace and that Walmart create improved policies that ensure full access to equal pay and promotional opportunities and training for associates to transition into management so women will never be systematically discriminated against solely based on their gender. It is also essential that Walmart continues to

Continue reading Tomorrow: Rallies to Stand with Women at Walmart

Bentonville, AR (June 16, 2011)—Today, Sarita Gupta of Jobs with Justice and other allies from around the country joined together in support of the Organization United for Respect at Walmart’s (OUR Walmart) successful public debut. OUR Walmart is a national organization of, by and for hourly Walmart Associates who are devoted to making Walmart a better and more respectful employer.

As part of the organization’s public debut, nearly 100 Walmart Associates traveled to Bentonville, AR to take their message of respect directly to Walmart’s headquarters.  Karen Casey, the head of Human Resources and Labor Relations for Walmart responded to fears Associates had of being fired for participating in OUR Walmart by saying, “You have my word that none of the Associates will be retaliated against.”

Joining them were community, faith and student allies mobilized by Jobs with Justice–including Victor Sanchez from the US Student Association, Priscilla Gonzalez of the Domestic Workers United and National Domestic Workers Alliance, Rev Grayland Hagler of Plymouth United Church of Christ and Rev Noemi Mena of National City Christian Church.

“This is only the beginning“, said Gupta. “Jobs

Continue reading Jobs with Justice joins OUR Walmart at Home Office in Arkansas

As the largest private sector employer in the United States, Walmart has enormous power to set the trends not just for the retail and service industries, but for the economy as a whole. Wages and working conditions set at Walmart have a ripple-effect throughout all jobs: low wages, limited access to health care, and no retirement security.

On June 7th,associates at Walmart stores nationwide launched the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, or OUR Walmart.  OUR Walmart was founded with a mission to ensure that every Associate, regardless of his or her title, age, race, or sex, is respected at Walmart.

Click here to let Walmart Associates know that you stand with them as they work to make a difference in their own stores & their company.

Jobs with Justice is making change at Walmart on two fronts: