Economists weigh in on Walmart Black Friday protests - People's World
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www.peoplesworl d . o r g December 6, 2014
Economists weigh in on
Walmart Black Friday
protests
By John Wojcik
A
s Black Friday strikes and protests in solidarity with workers, do some chanting and
continued, growing calls for change maybe take some selfies, deliver a memo to the
were reflected at Walmart. Some 1,600 store manager, and contribute to building a fair
strikes and protests took place at economy - for us all.”
Walmart stores, according organizers. A new report out from Demos, meanwhile,
Economists, labor law experts and other pro- shows big box retailers spent $30 million on elec-
fessionals joined the huge number of labor unions tions and lobbying during the 2014 election cycle,
and allied groups that were endorsing and plan- almost six times more than they spent in 2000-
ning to join in the protests. and overwhelmingly supported Republicans over
Among them were Robert Reich, former U.S. La- Democrats.
bor Secretary.
He outlines how America’s richest family could T H I S W E E K :
single handedly change the direction of Walmart.
Labor law expert John Logan weighed in with his • Economists weigh in on Walmart Black Friday protests
own remarks: “The tide may be turning against • We honor you for your work
the billion-dollar corporations like Walmart that • Turning Ferguson outrage into united action for justice
provide substandard jobs and expect taxpayers to • Tabaré Vázquez y el gobierno que viene
pick up the tab.
• St. Louis protesters want justice for VonDerrit Meyers
“As a result of escalating protests, interna-
tional action and community support, workers are READ MORE NEWS AND OPINION DAILY AT WWW.PEOPLESWORLD.ORG
finally being heard concerning poverty wages, lack
of hours, and erratic scheduling, meager benefits
and dead-end jobs.” The report finds Walmart is one of the biggest
Carol Joyner of Labor Project for Working Fam- political donors in the country, and its owners, the
ilies said that Thanksgiving festivities did not stop Waltons, spent a total of $7.3 million in campaign
her from joining the Black Friday Protests. “I’ll contributions between 2000 and 2014, heavily fa-
gather up my turkey-filled friends and relatives voring Republican candidates and PACs.
and visit my nearest Walmart. I’ll stand outside The report, Retail Politics, states: “Walmart is
Page 1
the biggest spender by a wide margin, with $2.4 “There are certainly retailers that provide high
million in donations through its Political Action quality jobs, but the data show that far too often
Committee (PAC) and individual donations and retailers are paying wages that are woefully inad-
Big box retailers $12.5 million in lobbying expenses during the equate to live on. So long as companies can get
spent $30 million 2014 electoral cycle. away with paying unlivable wages, the American
on elections and “This political spending is a problem for de- taxpayer is getting a bad deal. The savings may
lobbying during mocracy, because extensive research suggests that seem great on Black Friday, but we’re effectively
the 2014 election the domination of wealth in our political process paying extra all year long.”
can significantly effect public policy, and that the
cycle.
priorities of the affluent often diverge from ma-
jority opinion. On issues like taxation, economic
regulation, Social Security, and the minimum
wage the differences can be stark.”
David Cooper, an economic analyst at the Eco-
nomic Policy Institute, says low wages in retail
across the board and Black Friday deals are con-
nected. He explained why taxpayers should be
concerned.
“There’s robust research showing that the ex-
ceedingly low wages paid by some large retailers,”
he said, “significantly depresses wages at similar
John Wojcik is co-editor of peoplesworld.org
competing firms.
We honor you for your work
David Cavendish
W
ith the recent commemoration of for example-faces many difficulties. No one needs
Veterans Day, we often heard the to go through the list of daily stressful conditions
phrase “we honor you for your ser- that can lead to burnout, injury, or illness. Not to
vice” directed at those who served mention the end product of their work, oftentimes
in the armed forces. And honored they should be, a commodity that an owner sells at a profit.
It is only when
for they made great sacrifices while in the mili- The bottom line is that the two statements
people
tary. Some received serious wounds, both physical express two very different outlooks on life. Again,
understand that
and mental; and if nothing else, they gave up years no one takes anything away from the veteran, yet
labor is at the of their lives, while some were placed in harm’s the ubiquity of the phrase “we honor your service”
core of all we way in combat zones. We cannot forget the more is really the outgrowth of a system that has incor-
know that we will than 100,000 Americans who gave their lives in porated war and militarism into its basic fabric.
make progress conflicts just since World War II. “We honor your work” describes a view that the
toward the Even on Labor Day there are few statements production of goods and services in a society is
creation of a honoring workers for their work, other than those the result of people making a daily sacrifice-their
socialist society. from the AFL-CIO, a labor union, or from some time and their labor-so that modern civilization
in the progressive community. Almost nothing can exist.
in the media or at sporting events (where profes- Maybe it is unrealistic to expect a high level
sional team owners fall over themselves to honor of respect for those who work in a capitalist so-
veterans). Everyone would agree that the average ciety. It is only when people understand that la-
person who gets up in the morning and goes to bor is at the core of all we know that we will make
work-in an office, a factory, a mine, or a hospital, progress toward the creation of a socialist society.
www. p e o p l e s w o r l d . o r g Page 2Turning Ferguson outrage into united action
for justice
PW Editorial
O
utrage. That’s the sentiment in Fergu- Calls for a special prosecutor went unheeded, addi-
son and around the country in reaction tionally undermining public confidence.
to the failure of the Ferguson grand jury It’s no surprise then that faith in justice system,
to indict Darren Wilson for the murder particularly among young people has been lost.
of Michael Brown. Sadly, some of the outrage in Ferguson took
The decision was not unexpected. From the violent forms last night complete with the familiar
outset, local and state authorities carried out a pattern of police provocation and the reaction of Nearly 400 are
campaign to criminalize Brown: video footage was some protestors. But the call of Michael Brown’s killed yearly by
released of him allegedly shoplifting at a local gro- parents along with the civil rights, labor and com- police,
cery; even grand jury testimony of forensic evidence munity organizations to honor his life with peaceful exceeding the
purporting to favor the policeman’s version of the protests is sure to prevail. numbers lynched
deadly encounter was leaked to the press. The NAACP is calling for a 120-mile 7-day during the height
Still many held out a glimmer of hope that a “Journey for Justice” march from Ferguson to the of Jim Crow.
process leading to justice would prevail. Instead governor’s mansion in Jefferson City.
the worst fears of decent minded Americans were The country may be reaching a turning point.
realized. Once again a deadly pattern of racist po- The spate of police murder of young black and brown
lice murder of black and brown youth was upheld, men is at new level. Nearly 400 are killed yearly by
a pattern that almost guarantees immunity for the police, exceeding the numbers lynched during the
perpetrators in blue. height of Jim Crow.
Indeed, the grand jury process from the begin- Whether a turning point will be reached will
ning had the appearance - if not reality - of being depend on the degree of public pressure to insure
rigged. From the outset, St. Louis County Prosecut- justice is done.
ing Attorney Bob McCulloch’s close ties to local We urge our readers to continue fighting for
police were cause for concern, concerns that were justice for Michael Brown by participating in the
justified when the prosecutor failed to provide the militant and peaceful protests occurring all over the
grand jury with possible charges against Wilson. country. Let’s keep the pressure on!
www. p e o p l e s w o r l d . o r g Page 3LOCAL NEWS Tabaré Vázquez y el gobierno que viene
L O C A L C O N T A C T
Prensa Latina
contact@peoplesworld.org
L
a abrumadora victoria elec- leyes que envíe al Parlamento -que no
toral de Tabaré Vázquez, del requieran mayorías especiales- serán
St. Louis protesters gobernante Frente Amplio aprobadas.
(FA), considerada histórica, Así, el gobierno Vázquez-Sendic
demand justice for augura un próximo gobierno poco podrá cumplir sin obstáculos el pro-
común para el país y la región. grama gubernamental, aprobado en
VonDerrit Meyers Aparte de vencer con casi 13 puntos reciente congreso del FA.
porcentuales por encima de su rival, Sorprendió a algunos observadores
By James Raines Luís Lacalle Pou (41), del opositor que el FA no sufriera, como es común,
Partido Nacional (PN) y sus aliados, un desgaste electoral luego de 10 años
Some 100 protesters congregated on su votación -53,6 por ciento- es con- en el gobierno y que, además, creciera
Shaw Ave. near the spot where 18-year- siderada la más alta de la historia del en el interior del país, otrora bastión
old VonDerrit Myers was killed by off-duty país. de los partidos tradicionales.
police officer Jason Flanery on Oct. 8. The El ex presidente (2005 al 2010) re- El FA ganó en 12 de los 19 departa-
police claim Myers was armed and fired at cibirá el tercer gobierno del FA (2015- mentos del país, incluido Montevideo,
Flanery. While that has yet to be indepen- 2020), el próximo primero de marzo, lo que muchos expertos consideran
dently confirmed, an independent autopsy de manos del presidente José Mujica, un dato clave con miras a las eleccio-
shows that Myers was shot seven times, six quien deja la presidencia con una nes departamentales y municipales a
times in the back of his legs, and once in the cifra record de popularidad: 65 por realizarse en mayo del próximo año.
face. ciento. En ese sentido, Vázquez manifestó in-
The historic Shaw neighborhood is a well- En las eleccioens del pasado 26 de terés en iniciar cuanto antes la tran-
integrated neighborhood compared too octubre, Mujica (89) fue electo sena- sición del actual gobierno al próximo,
much of St. Louis or any other city of its size. dor con la más alta votación, por lo para lo cual Mujica ordenó a sus min-
As the group of mostly college-aged white que seguirá trabajando por el FA den- istros preparar los documentos perti-
residents marched through the mist towards tro del Parlamento. Preguntado sobre nentes sobre la marcha de sus respec-
Grand Ave., chanting familiar slogans, a su futuro, respondió: “ya no puedo tivas carteras.
dozen police vehicles followed. dejar de ser militante”. Lo más probable es que ese pro-
From the number of Guy Fawkes masks, Vázquez (74) también entrará en la ceso comience después del día 10, que
college students in keffiyehs, and famil- historia como el primer presidente el presidente uruguayo regresará de
iar chants the group shuffled through, you reelecto en este siglo (el tercero en la una gira por Venezuela, Ecuador y
could mistake them for Occupiers (“This is historia del país), y contará además México.
what democracy looks like!). con mayoría en ambas cámaras del Mientras tanto, se espera que en
Janece Jones, Tynisha Smith, and Brittany Parlamento, que asume funciones el los próximos días, Vázquez anuncie
Furr are out this evening to support the fight venidero 15 de febrero. los nombres de sus futuros ministros,
against police violence. While police vio- El FA obtuvo en las elecciones de aunque ya informó que el actual vice-
lence and institutional racism are nothing octubre, 50 de los 99 miembros de la presidente Danilo Astori, será su min-
new Janece Jones said that the movement Cámara de Diputados y 15 de los 30 istro de Economía y Finanzas.
in St. Louis “is different.” She said that all integrantes del Senado, al que ahora
of the “people coming together is new, this se suma el vicepresidente electo, Raúl
generation is different, we’re not as crazy as Sendic (52), que presidirá ese cuerpo.
people make us out to be.” The three women Los analistas señalan que esa mayoría
laughed. “Maybe this will be an example,” -alcanzada por tercera vez consecu-
Smith said. Her friends nodded in agree- tiva por el FA- proporciona tranqui-
ment: “It isn’t even about race anymore,” lidad al nuevo mandatario, porque las
she said. “It is about injustice.”
N A T I O N A L C O N T A C T
Editorial: (773) 446-9920 Business: (212) 924-2523
Email: contact@peoplesworld.org
www. p e o p l e s w o r l d . o r g Page 4You can also read
