NOW, others to protest against Wal-Mart

Sept. 16, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Members of the Mat-Su chapter of the National Organization forWomen and People for Palmer on Saturday morning will demonstrate against Wal-Mart's practices and its potential move into Palmer, according to the head of the NOW chapter.

"You really see and feel the power of free speech when you do these things," Barbara McDaniel said.

People who are able and willing to sacrifice their Saturday, between 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., will be standing on the corner of the Parks Highway and Seward Meridian Parkway, the main access to Wasilla's Wal-Mart.

Turnout has been slow since the protests began four years ago, McDaniel said, but the protesters usually plan their event around the back-to-school shopping season to expose more people to their concerns about Wal-Mart.

"It's mostly an issue of pay equity, a pattern of discrimination of women over the years," she said. "Even though they've made an appearance of making changes from the top down doesn't mean managers are actually complying with that. Female workers get lower pay, fewer promotions and less training than their male counterparts."

The issue of discrimination crystallized when six current and former female associates filed a lawsuit in which they claim that Wal-Mart discriminates against women. In June 2004, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California certified the case as a class action.

According to information provided on a company Web site, www.wal

martfacts.com, Wal-Mart disputes the allegations and believes certification should be reversed because the plaintiffs' claims "are not representative of the experience of women working at Wal-Mart."

"Wal-Mart does not tolerate discrimination of any kind," the Web site stated. "Wal-Mart is a great place for women to work, and isolated complaints that arise from its 3000+ stores do not change this fact."

The site also stated that 60 percent of the company's employees are women and that 40 percent of its managers are women. "We have been steadily increasing the percentage of women in management for years, and have in place diversity initiatives to ensure that promotions of qualified women and minorities are consistent with the rate they apply for these jobs."

Its alleged treatment of women unfairly tops McDaniel's list of gripes against Wal-Mart, but People for Palmer members are concerned that the national franchise's low prices drive small, locally owned stores out of business, according to Mary Ann Cockle, a member of PTP, a group that formed when word spread that Wal-Mart might be building a new store in a field adjacent to the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

Her group plans to be a little less aggressive than NOW, Cockle said.

"I've got some ideas for slogans. Low prices, low wages, low standards," Cockle said, adding that she doesn't know how many citizens from PFP will show up for the event.

Although word of a Palmer Wal-Mart may garner some demonstrators, many of those potential sign-holders are business owners who will be too busy working to join the protest.

"I don't hate Wal-Mart. I even shop at Wal-Mart, but I don't want it in Palmer," said Evie McNamee, owner of Alaska's Finest, on Wednesday.

"I didn't feel this way until I did the research. Once I did the research, I saw what happened to great little towns like ours. We have a Norman Rockwell feeling, and yet we could lose it within a year of Wal-Mart opening," she said. "People only have so much disposable income. They go to Wal-Mart and drop that disposable income. Then, what do the businesses in Palmer have? Zilch," McNamee said.

Wal-Mart's Web site states that the company brings improvements to communities, including jobs, community support, charitable donations and volunteers.

"A new Wal-Mart in a community means new jobs, commerce and tax revenues that help fund basic services like police, fire protection and schools," the site stated.

"Last year, Wal-Mart generated $8.5 million in sales tax revenues for our communities."

Septembers in Alaska have earned a rainy reputation, but sleeting weather won't stop Saturday's two-hour protest, according to both McDaniel and Cockle.

"I'll be prepared with waterproof signs," said Cockle, adding that she'll bring a raincoat as well.

According to a Thursday report from the National Weather Service, Wasilla should experience mostly cloudy skies with light winds and showers should hold off until evening.

"We will continue to try to educate people and have them understand what's going on at Wal-Mart," McDaniel said. "I think it's working, we see a lot of advertisements about how great they are, rather than for their products. They're trying to improve their image. Wal-Mart needs to remember: There is no wealth without labor. It's a mutual relationship."

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.