Always in Court...Always Wal-Mart

Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

November 18, 2002

Wal-Mart employs more women than any company in the United States—and it's finally won an award from NOW's Women-Friendly Workplace Campaign.

But this award doesn't come with praise. On June 22, 2002, the National Organization for Women declared Wal-Mart a "Merchant of Shame" ... and today NOW members across the country are joining our allies in the United Food and Commercial Workers for this National Day of Action.

We come together with one message, with one goal—to let consumers know what Wal-Mart, the most-sued company in America, is really hiding behind all those smiley faces.

This is a company with a brain, but no heart and no conscience. And they need to hear that continuing their greedy, abusive ways will cost them the business of thinking consumers.

There are over 3,200 Wal-Marts in the United States. Behind those walls, there are over 900,000 employees. Nationwide, two-thirds of the low-paid "sales associates" are women, while two-thirds of the management employees are men, and not surprisingly, 90% of the store managers are men as well. The average "sales associate" makes an average of $6.10 per hour with a "full time" work week of only 28 hours—totaling less than $9,000 per year. So low that some families receive food stamps to get by.

Behind those walls are employees without health insurance—over 60% of Wal-Mart workers, predominantly women, can't afford the company's health insurance premiums, which rose 30% last year.

Behind those walls are women who, out of their measly wages, have to pay for birth control pills because their already-expensive insurance plan doesn't cover them;

Behind those walls are pharmacies that won't carry PREVEN, the morning-after pill. Try explaining that to a rape victim when Wal-Mart's pharmacy is the only one in town.

Behind those walls are workers who want to join a union to improve their working conditions—workers who will get fired if they're caught talking about a union.

We aren't targeting Wal-Mart for being a model of corporate success. We are targeting them for being a model of corporate greed.

"Always in Court, Always Wal-Mart." That's for sure. Over 3,000 lawsuits for workplace abuses nationwide, ranging from sexual harassment, to violations of child labor laws, to violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, to class action suits for sex discrimination, for preventing workers from organizing, for forcing employees to work off the clock, for wage and promotion discrimination...they tell the real Wal-Mart story.

The National Organization for Women stands here today in solidarity with Wal-Mart employees, most of them women, who demand the right to form a union, get a fair wage for their work, receive the overtime pay they've earned, have their promotions based on performance and not on gender, have access to a fair and affordable health care plan, and receive the dignity they deserve as human beings. And we demand that Wal-Mart put an end to the exploitive sweatshops that make Wal-Mart goods around the world.

This fight is for fairness, this fight is for justice, and this fight is for equality ... The National Organization for Women has been and will continue to be at the forefront of the struggle for equality. We stand in solidarity with union members and leaders who are here today, because this fight will be long, it will take many, many of us to press for change ...

... and we ask every woman who has shopped at Wal-Mart, and every man who cares about fairness, to consider where they want their money to go, and what kind of business they want to support.

Our message to Wal-Mart is this: A Women-Friendly workplace is good business, and good for business.

WHO:            A former Wal-Mart worker, a Wal-Mart customer and a Wal-Mart neighbor, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, UFCW President Doug Dority, NOW President Kim Gandy, NICWJ Board Member Mark Harrison, National Baptist Convention-USA, Inc. leader Dr. Bennie Mitchell and other supporting organizations.

WHEN:      November 18, 2002, 10:00 a.m.

WHERE:     United Methodist Building, Conference Room 1 & 2, 100 Maryland Ave. NE, Washington, D.C.

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