Wake-Up Wal-Mart Update

Fair Share Health Care Takes Off

Victory in Maryland is sweet… but it’s only the beginning! Americans across the country are discussing the implications of the Maryland State Legislature’s historic override of Governor Ehrlich’s veto on Fair Share Heath Care Legislation on January 12. Maryland's decision is only a first in our battle to make Wal-Mart a more-responsible corporate citizen through Fair Share Health Care legislation. Right now, over 30 states are looking into similar measures to stop the shifting of health care costs onto state taxpayers.

WakeUpWalMart.com is calling on citizens across the country to sign up to be Citizen Co-Sponsors of the similar legislation:

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/health-legislative.html

Wal-Mart Goes After Disabled Ex-Worker's Settlement

Just when you think Wal-Mart couldn’t stoop any lower, they sue a disabled former employee to recover what the company spent on her medical care.

If the suit prevails in federal court in St. Louis, it would force Debbie Shank to repay the more than $417,000 she won in a suit over a car wreck. Repaying these funds would drain the trust fund set up for her care and burden taxpayers with a larger share of her nursing home expenses. Shank's lawyer, Maurice Graham, said, "In view of the unfavorable publicity that Wal-Mart is getting around the country ... I'm surprised they're pursuing this against their former employee, particularly since she remains so devastated and so in need of these funds."

“Shank worked nights stocking shelves at a Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau, leaving days free to spend with her three sons. Her husband, Jim Shank, said that now she cannot always tell which son is which. She has brain stem damage, must use a wheelchair and cannot move more than one arm and two fingers…”

Read the whole article at http://wakeupwalmart.com/news/20060121-slpd.html

“Bye Bye Wal-Mart”

Citizens in Nashua, New Hampshire, led by the community group Citizen’s Action of Southern New Hampshire, won a victory last Thursday night when the town planning board voted to reject the building of a new Wal-Mart. Nashua, New Hampshire is just one town among many continuing to say no to Wal-Mart expansion until it becomes a responsible and moral employer.

“After the vote, the crowd of about 100 people sat in stunned silence for several seconds before beginning to applaud…”

Wal-Mart’s proposal first surfaced more than three years ago, and the grassroots group Citizens Action of Southern New Hampshire has been fighting the project for about a year.

Read the whole article at http://wakeupwalmart.com/news/20060120-nt.html

Court: Case Against Wal-Mart Can Proceed

A federal appeals court told a lower court Thursday to rule on a lawsuit by Wal-Mart workers who say that the company unfairly threatened to withhold benefits from employees who unionize. The original lawsuit was filed by several employees of a Wal-Mart tire and lube service center in Kingman, Ariz., who had sought a vote on unionizing in October 2000. At issue is a union exclusion clause that Wal-Mart at the time had in its benefits booklets for employees, stating that unionized employees were not eligible for profit sharing, 401K and health plans.

Read the whole article at http://wakeupwalmart.com/news/20060119-ap.html