UFCW President Hansen Statement on President Obama’s Upcoming Visit to Walmart
WASHINGTON, D.C.
— Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today released the following statement regarding President
Obama’s upcoming visit to a California Walmart to discuss energy efficiency.
“On Friday,
President Obama will stand side by side with a company known for low
wages, few benefits, unreliable
hours, discrimination against women, violating workers’ rights, and
yes, environmental degradation. Despite promising to be a leader on
climate, Walmart's greenhouse gas pollution continues to rise.
According to its own Global Responsibility Report, the company’s
emissions grew 2 percent, nearly half a million metric tons, in the last
year alone. In addition, Walmart still lags badly behind other large
companies when it comes to renewable power,
with its projects and purchases deriving only 3 percent of electricity
from these sources.
“More
than anything, the President’s visit sends a terrible message to
workers across America. He is lending credibility
to a bad actor when he should be joining the calls for Walmart to
change. A federal agency—the National Labor Relations Board—is
prosecuting Walmart for retaliating against workers who stand up and
speak out. Taxpayers are subsidizing Walmart which pays many
of its own workers so little that they must rely on food stamps and
Medicaid. And at a time when there is a renewed conversation about
addressing income inequality, Walmart’s business model is making the
problem worse.
“After the pep rally in California, I invite the President to meet with Walmart workers who can tell him firsthand
about their struggles.”
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The
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
(UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the
retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW
protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class
by fighting for health care reform, living wages,
retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize
so that working men and women and their families can realize the
American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect
workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle
class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/
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