Wal Mart Workers Are Organizing in Dallas!
Members of the inside organizing committee at the Wal-Mart store at 3155 Wheatland Rd in Dallas, backed by their outside solidarity backers, held a press conference on June 2. Organizer Sarah Solis proudly introduced several of the much-admired "associates" from the store. They talked about justice and fairness for themselves and their fellow workers. They particularly blasted management's anti-union tactics, which are coordinated by a special team of company union busters.
It wasn't the first time that North Texas Jobs with Justice Activists had met them, because they participated in our pizza luncheon May 20 and the picket on May 29. Activists from University of North Texas at Denton and civil rights leader Reverend L. Charles Stovall, recognizing the importance of this drive, turned out for the workers. Reverend Stovall was particularly eloquent in his demand for worker justice. United Food and Commercial Workers organizer Drew McGuire and I also spoke about the importance of the Employee Free Choice Act.
The mistreatment of Wal-Mart workers shows the great need for the Act. Its time limits, had they been in force, would have prevented Wal-Mart's nine-year foot-dragging in the case of the meat cutters in Jacksonville, Texas, who chose the union years ago. Union organizers are calling for justice for all workers through the Employee Free Choice Act even while they ask for help for the Wal-Mart drive.
Organizer Sarah Solis and two of the workers from the Wheatland store appeared on the "Workers Beat" program on KNON the morning of June 3. They talked about the specific problems of dealing with Wal-Mart management and their anti-union team, but they showed tremendous concern for their brothers and sisters inside the store, whether they had stepped up to join the union or are, so far, too intimidated.
They talked about the larger value of the drive. Wal-Mart is the biggest private employer in the United States, and their anti-union attitude is legendary. Organizing Wal-Mart and passing the Employee Free Choice Act are both vital needs of our workers' movement. Let's do everything that we can to make it work! Stay tuned!
--Gene