Wal-Mart to Employees: "Don't vote Democrat"

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Wal-Mart has taken its campaign against unions to a whole new level - holding mandatory meetings for employees to warn them against voting for Sen. Barack Obama or any Democrat in November.

The WSJ quotes a customer-service supervisor who was forced to attend one of the meetings:

"The meeting leader said, 'I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won't have a vote on whether you want a union.' I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote," she said.

Why, you may be asking, does Wal-Mart care so much about which party their employees vote for on Election Day?

Because Sen. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), legislation that would replace our broken system of NLRB elections with majority signup, impose stiff penalties on employers that violate the law, and force companies like Comcast, Cintas, and Verizon into binding mediation if they refused to agree to a first contract.

Sen. John McCain is on record opposing EFCA, having voted with most of his Republican colleagues in the Senate - with the support of President Bush - to fillibuster the bill earlier this year.

Take your Tax-Free shopping elsewhere this weekend

North Carolinians will enjoy a holiday on the state sales tax this weekend. Many will be shopping for back-to-school clothing, supplies, and electronics - most of it tax-free.

Major retailers like Wal-Mart are counting on your business during the tax-free holiday, but Wal-Mart has yet again shown nothing but contempt for your union labor.

Wal-Mart Watch has setup a petition here where you can send a message to Wal-Mart to stop intimidating its workers. Even better, however, is taking your dollars elsewhere this weekend and beyond.

Every dollar you spend at Wal-Mart is used to pay for mandatory meetings - like the ones exposed today in the WSJ - and other efforts to undermine workers' rights and defeat legislation vital to restoring our bargaining power in the United States.

Wal-Mart says, "Don't vote for Democrats because they'll vote for workers."

We say don't vote for Wal-Mart by taking your union secured paycheck somewhere - anywhere - else.