Activists Ask Mike Rowe to Drop WalmartFebruary 21, 2014
Talk about a dirty job. TV host Mike Rowe is the voice for Walmart’s new TV ad campaign promoting American manufacturing.
Best known for hosting “Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery Channel, Rowe is also an outspoken advocate for infrastructure investment, fair trade policies and more blue-collar training opportunities. But pro-worker advocates say that Rowe shouldn’t use his working-man image to help Walmart’s PR campaign, despite the retailers’ claim that it will help invest more in buying American made goods. As a petition to Rowe from Jobs with Justice says: If Walmart is serious about rebuilding economic opportunities, it can start today by changing how it treats workers in its own stores. Walmart’s role as a low-wage employer, who retaliates, silences or outright fires workers for speaking up for better jobs should not be news to you. Walmart associates who have consistently called on the company to address low wages, erratic schedules, paltry benefits and unacceptable working conditions have been ignored. The company is well known for pioneering the low-pay, minimal benefits workplace model that has come to dominate the service industry. It is also infamous for its extreme anti-unionism. Recently leaked anti-union training documents given to all Walmart managers reveal just how far the company will go to stop workers from organizing. The workers’ rights group is asking Rowe to sit down with Walmart employees to talk about how the company can change its anti-worker policies. Please consider meeting with them to discuss how Walmart can live up to its responsibility as the world’s largest private employer and take immediate action to help rebuild America. Click here to sign the petition.
Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user Dave Pinter
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