Just Say "Hell NO!"

Dear Auntie Nanuuq, Something big just happened -- over 25,000 times. Last week, the Wal-Mart Watch communities in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles sent more than 25,000 letters to their City Council members. They asked their leaders to keep Wal-Mart out of their cities -- and to support the Employee Free Choice Act because it offers the best chance to ensure Wal-Mart treats its workers with dignity and respect. But the Wal-Mart Watch community is just getting started -- and it's your turn to help. Make sure your state legislators also get the message. Send them a letter urging them to stand up to Wal-Mart now: http://action.walmartwatch.com/legislature Wal-Mart is trying to use the recession as an excuse to build stores in cities that have already rejected it. At the same time, it is spending millions to fight the Employee Free Choice Act -- the one thing on the table that will prevent the company from taking advantage of its workers. Although your state legislators can't pass the Employee Free Choice Act by themselves, they can urge their Senators and Congressmen to pass the bill, and pressure local city councils to halt further Wal-Mart projects until it becomes law. Now's the time to send the message: http://action.walmartwatch.com/legislature Here are some of the messages Wal-Mart Watch members like you wrote to their City Councils: "Chicagoans didn't want Wal-Mart when the economy was booming and we don't want it now! The fact remains that wherever Wal-Mart appears, small businesses and vital economic communities disappear." "Wal-mart is absolutely antithetical to what NYC is to me, not to mention as anti-nyc neighborhood as it gets. We need more small businesses hiring people at respectable wages to boost the city, and the people living here. Wal-mart certainly won't help me, a tax payer paying directly into the district." "I encourage you to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act. Without this legislation, Wal-Mart would only hurt LA's economy and lower standards of living for many workers and families." "Unless Wal-Mart radically changes its employment practices (which is highly unlikely), it's important that we not allow them to open stores in NYC. Wal-Mart hurts both workers and local businesses. WE can't have that here. Unless the EFCA is passed, keep them out of NYC!" Make their message even stronger by speaking out to your state officials now: http://action.walmartwatch.com/legislature For years, we've been fighting together to make Wal-Mart a more responsible company. We've had many victories, but Wal-Mart still refuses to pay living wages and benefits, and refuses to respect the communities in which it operates. It's time to force Wal-Mart to change -- and that begins with you. As always, thank you for your support. Sincerely, David Nassar Wal-Mart Watch

Paid for by WalmartWatch.com

Save the Yellowstone Bison from Slaughter: May 7, 2009

Right now, newborn wild bison -- better known as buffalo -- are grazing under their mothers' watchful eyes on the lush Horse Butte peninsula near Yellowstone National Park in Montana.

But on May 15, this pastoral scene could turn ugly if the government begins hazing the buffalo back into the park with helicopters, horses and ATVs, as they did last year at this time.



If this operation proceeds, some buffalo could die, including young calves and pregnant cows.

Please speak out immediately to stop the government's annual hazing operation.

This wildlife tragedy replays almost every year on Horse Butte -- a birthing ground for the buffalo.



First, a helicopter invades the stillness, circling low to scare wild buffalo out of the woods, so that government agents on ATVs and horses can chase them back to Yellowstone.

With no time to rest or nurse during this relentless chase, some calves collapse and even die of exhaustion before ever reaching their grazing grounds deep within the park.

The saddest part? This senseless tragedy is unnecessary. The justification for hazing and killing buffalo is that they could spread the disease brucellosis to domestic cattle. That is why buffalo are generally not welcome outside Yellowstone Park in Montana -- and why thousands have been slaughtered or hazed back into the park in recent years.

But the fact is, there has never been a documented case of brucellosis transmission from buffalo to cattle in the wild.

More to the point, there are no cattle at all on Horse Butte, so there is absolutely no reason to haze and endanger Yellowstone's wild buffalo.



So please, help us give newborn buffalo a better chance at survival this spring.

Tell the Secretary of Agriculture to intervene right away and prevent the hazing of wild buffalo in the weeks ahead.

As living links to the great herds that once thundered across America's plains, Yellowstone's buffalo are a national treasure. Please join me in urging our government to protect them -- instead of subjecting them to needless suffering.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

360: Wal Mart Watch: December 24, 2007

This year, Wal-Mart pulled millions of recalled products off its shelves -- from toys to food to children's car seats and cribs.


So what is Lee Scott, Wal-Mart's CEO, doing to inform his customers about these recalls? He put a tiny link at the very bottom of the Wal-Mart homepage. That's it.


Surely the biggest company in the world can do better than that -- especially during the holiday season, when Wal-Mart sells even more toys than Toys 'R' Us.


But since Mr. Scott won't be open about Wal-Mart's product recalls, we are doing it for him.


Wal-Mart Watch has launched a new site, Recall Wal-Mart, which is full of information about the recalled products sold at Wal-Mart. It also has a tool that lets you send a letter to Lee Scott about Wal-Mart's role in its customers' health.


Check out the site, and tell Mr. Scott that when Wal-Mart has a recall, it should be the first thing on their website, not the last:


http://www.RecallWalMart.com

Wal-Mart Watch believes there is a reason Wal-Mart stocks so many recalled products and then buries the news at the bottom of its website. Mr. Scott is putting the company's interests ahead of its customers' safety.


Many of these recalls are the result of the intense cost-cutting pressure Wal-Mart puts on its overseas suppliers -- thousands of which are located in China, where safety standards are much weaker.


Because of Wal-Mart's tremendous size and influence, manufacturers are forced to meet its demands. When Wal-Mart requires lower prices, that means sacrificing quality and using cheaper materials, like lead paint.


To make matters worse, once the dangers of these products came to light, Lee Scott failed to properly inform Wal-Mart's customers about the recalls. That's just irresponsible.


Visit Recall Wal-Mart and tell CEO Lee Scott to put customers' safety first:


http://www.RecallWalMart.com

This isn't the first time Lee Scott has put the corporation first instead of people.


For years, Wal-Mart has been skimping on employee wages and benefits, so that less than half of its workforce gets its health coverage from the company.


Wal-Mart also hurts local communities and neighbors by forcing small businesses to shut down and spoiling the local environment.


And Wal-Mart has continually tried to bilk communities on the local tax bill, whether it is petitioning to lower its property value or setting up dubious foreign arrangements to take advantage of tax loopholes -- depriving communities of much-needed revenue.


Wal-Mart Founder Sam Walton valued the communities that supported his stores, and he valued honesty with his customers. Wal-Mart has long since abandoned his original vision.


Again and again, Lee Scott has shown that Wal-Mart's interests are more important than the people it serves or the communities it calls home. Visit Recall Wal-Mart and tell the retail giant you've had enough:


http://www.RecallWalMart.com

Sincerely,


David Nassar

Wal-Mart Watch

Paid for by WalmartWatch.com, a campaign of Five Stones and The Center for Community and Corporate Ethics