Even wanted to know what it is like to live near a new Walmart store as it's being developed? Well today is your lucky day! This blog, ENDURING THE NEW HURRICANE WALMART: A Daily Diary Of What It's Like To Have A Massive Supercenter Built In A Formerly Quiet Neighborhood, from a local West Virginia news site is an ongoing first hand account of just that.

Here's just a sample of what you would be in for if Walmart decided to move in to your backyard:

A beautiful tree-covered hill and a quiet Hurricane neighborhood have been destroyed in order to build the new Walmart and Hurricane Marketplace.

Neighbors, including me,
are being subjected to
loud noise that I can hear inside my home with the windows closed, bright lights shining in my bedroom window before sunrise, and several cases of our water being cut off.

Greedy city and county officials looking to grab more property and Business and Occupancy taxes are refusing to enforce city and state noise ordinances, and are also refusing to buy out the homeowners that are living next to the construction site.

Hurricane City Manager Benjamin Newhouse, and Cleveland Construction Supervisor David Koon have both demanded that homeowners move if we don't like the noise. However neither is willing to cut a check for our homes.

The Putnam County Development Authority, which created this mess, refuses to buy us out and develop our land.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Did Walmart bring excessive noise, traffic, crime, or pollution to your neighborhood, as they so often do?

This piece originally appeared at The Huffington Post:

More bad headlines for Wal-Mart, the sexist employer. The company was nailed again by its own employees--this time in Kentucky.

In Wal-Mart's Annual Report to shareholders there is a two page note simply called "Legal Proceedings." In it, the company summarizes "a number of legal proceedings" which, "if adversely decided...may result in liability material to the Company's financial condition or results of operations." In addition to the well-known collection of wage and hour 'off the clock' class action lawsuits, are the gender discrimination lawsuits, including the massive Dukes v. Wal-Mart case which began 9 years ago. Damages sought by the women in the Dukes case could be so large that Wal-Mart admits, "the Company cannot reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss that may arise from the litigation."

Less well known is another lawsuit that was originally filed in the summer of 2001, just two months after the Dukes case. This case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The lawsuit, EEOC (Janice Smith) v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Janice Smith and all other women who made application or transfer requests since 1995 at the Wal-Mart distribution center in London, Kentucky, and were not hired or transferred into the warehouse positions for which they applied.

The EEOC sought backpay for these women not selected for hire or transfer, and injunctive relief. According to Wal-Mart, the Kentucky complaint charges that the retailer based its hiring decisions on gender---which is a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights act. Wal-Mart told his investors that it could not "reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss that may arise from this litigation."

But this week the EEOC helped quantify that loss. The federal agency announced that Wal-Mart had agreed to pay $11.7 million in back wages and compensatory damages, plus its share of employer taxes, and up as much as $250,000 in administration fees.

According to the EEOC, Walmart's London Distribution Center denied jobs to female applicants from 1998 through February 2005. Wal-Mart hired male entry-level applicants for warehouse positions---but excluded female applicants who were equally or better qualified. Wal-Mart routinely would tell female applicants that order filling positions were not "suitable" for women, and that they hired mostly 18- to 25-year-old men for these positions.

I just read this post, Walmart to Chileans - "We Can Only Spare A Dime" from John Perkins, author of Hoodwinked over at the The Huffington Post and thought it was interesting, and poignant, enough to share here. Check it out:

Walmart to Chileans - "We Can Only Spare A Dime"

"They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?"
(Yip Harburg, lyrics, "Brother Can You Spare A Dime")

My prayers go out to the Chilean people during this time of crisis. I also feel it's incredibly important in light of Walmart's announcement yesterday that they would be donating a million dollars in aid, to provide some perspective on this "corporatocracy" in action.

On January 23, 2009, barely a year and a half ago Walmart's press release touted "Walmart Confims Successful Tender Offer for D&S - Investment provides major foothold in key South American market." While most North Americans, financial analysts and journalists did not take note of this announcement, those of us tired of being "hoodwinked" certainly did.

D&S at the time of the acquisition was Chile's largest food retailer. Walmart's Executive vice president and CEO of the Americas, Craig Herkert said, "Partnering with D&S, with its strong brands, and its position as Chile's largest food retailer, is an important step in implementing Walmart's international strategy. We continue to focus on portfolio optimization, global leverage and winning in every market."

Walmart, because of this acquisition, now owns 58.2 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of D&S, while the Chilean owners now only hold 40.1 percent, with the remainder 1.7 percent being held by the public.

In both my books, HOODWINKED and THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, I've noted Walmart as a one of the companies that has avoided a true commitment to environmentally or socially responsible operations.

Walmart, Monsanto, De Beers, Exxon Mobile, Adidas, Ford, and GE are just some of the companies that exploit labor forces and destroy the environment in the name of enhancing their "portfolio optimization, global leverage" and greed-driven bottom lines.

When I read the announcement of Walmart pledging an initial one million dollars to aid grief-stricken Chile on Saturday, I could not help recalling the lyrics of Brother Can You Spare A Dime. Written in 1931, today it continues to herald the great failure of the predatory form of capitalism I write about in HOODWINKED.

Check out this piece from the Oakland Tribune on our kickoff event for our week of action:

The sick-leave policy of the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is putting the public at risk because workers are not paid the first day they take off for an illness, even if it is a serious contagious disease, according to members of several unions and labor watchdog groups.

The policy of docking pay on the first day of an illness, they said, ignores government recommendations to let H1N1 victims stay home without being penalized.

"Wal-Mart workers are coming to work sick," said Jenya Cassidy, of the Labor Project for Working Families, during a rally Wednesday organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 5, and Wake Up Wal-Mart.

"Everybody gets sick, but not everyone can afford to get well," Cassidy said.

Wal-Mart, which has become the largest grocer in the United States, denies the claim. But the specter of workers potentially spreading the H1N1 virus because they cannot afford to take time off has public health officials worried — especially retail workers who have frequent direct contact with the public.

Walmart started as a small five and dime store, but recently their model has been to open gigantic Super Centers often taking up acres of land with their store and massive parking lots. They typically sit on the edge of towns in suburban areas and bill themselves as a one stop shopping option.

But there is a different trend afoot recently. Walmart is trying to build smaller stores. In Mexico and England Walmart is looking into smaller format convenience style stores, and here in the US Walmart just announced that it would build a smaller store on top of Loewe's store in Baltimore.

It is certainly an interesting move on Walmart's part and seems to be a tactic to start moving in to urban markets, one of the few areas Walmart is not ubiquitous. Of course even with smaller stores, Walmart's entry in to a city could mean a lowering of area wages, closing of grocery stores and other stores, and tax dollars bled from the city on subsidies and state supported programs like Medicaid and SCHIP.

So what do you think. Will Walmart's new smaller format stores catch on? Will they enable Walmart to get its foot in to cities?

Check out our latest piece over on Huffington Post. It highlights the story of Patricia from Ohio, a Walmart worker who was faced with the choice of going to work sick or losing her job because of Walmart's irresponsible and harmful sick day policy.

WakeUpWalmart.com and a coalition of supporters today launched a national week of action against Walmart’s irresponsible sick leave policy. WakeUpWalmart.com will hold events at 50 Walmart stores across the country to deliver ‘demerits’ and a letter to local store managers calling on Walmart to change its unfair and harmful sick day policy.

Last fall the New York Times article Lack of Sick Days May Worsen Flu Pandemic, exposed Walmart’s track record of giving employees "demerits" that can lead to termination when they call in sick. A number of workers across the country reported retaliation and termination from Walmart due to illness.

Beatrice Parker, a former greeter at Walmart # 3371 in Charlotte, N.C., felt forced to resign due to Walmart's sick leave policy after suffering from a bladder infection caused by not being given bathroom breaks on the job.

In a new video released today, Parker describes abuse and age discrimination and asks Walmart CEO Mike Duke, “If you don't have any or can't have any concern for the way I was treated in this Walmart, please have some for the people who work there, especially the older people.” You can watch the video on the right of this post.

Walmart’s policies and actions create a working environment where employees feel they are faced with a choice between spreading the flu and keeping their job. Walmart deserves public demerits for sick leave policies that put the public at risk and make its employees sicker.

The Demerit Walmart program is supported by leading advocacy groups such as the MomsRising.org and the Labor Partnership for Working Families.

"MomsRising is extremely concerned by news reports that Walmart associates risk receiving demerits (which can lead to termination) for taking earned paid sick days," said MomsRising Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. "Such a practice is a public health hazard and a threat to the economic security of Walmart associates and their families. We call on Walmart to publicly respond to these charges and immediately end any ongoing practice of issuing demerits ."

Walmart is America’s largest private employer and sets the standard for workplaces in the retail industry. Walmart associates should not be afraid of losing their jobs simply because they are too sick to help customers. Walmart can and should live up to the highest possible workplace standards.

Wal-Mart has 44 properties for sale in Wisconsin, including 9 buildings that are sitting empty. Of these 9 properties, 3 are over 100,000 s.f. The dead store in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is not even listed by Wal-Mart Realty. The company is trying to sell the one lot remaining at its new Superstore site on Vanguard Avenue in Sheboygan just a few miles away from its ‘old’ store---but it is the dead store Wal-Mart left behind that now has city officials worried.

According to Wal-Mart, Sheboygan has roughly 82,000 people within a 10 mile radius of their new supercenter. But in 1989, when Wal-Mart first opened a discount store in this city, local officials had no idea that 17 years later the retailer would shut the store down. But even worse---Wal-Mart put restrictions on the building when they sold it to a private developer, that effectively ties up the store for another 4 years.

According to the Sheboygan-Press, the ‘old’ store has been empty since 2006. It was the anchor store for a mall known as Taylor Heights. Wal-Mart sold its building to developers based in Milwaukee---but there were some serious strings attached to the sale of the 129,000 s.f. building. Wal-Mart walked away from this huge property insisting that any new owner could not use it for a grocery store, pharmacy, or discount department store larger than 30,000 s.f. These restrictions are in place until the year 2014---giving the new Wal-Mart supercenter plenty of time to establish its customer base—without nearby competition.

Such deed covenants have been standard operating procedure at Wal-Mart realty, which is why you don’t see many empty Wal-Marts filled by competitors. This store in Sheboygan is one of an estimated 250 ‘ghost boxes’ that Wal-Mart is trying to unload. A Wal-Mart spokesman told the Sheboygan-Press that his company would like to have its dead stores reoccupied---just not with direct competitors.

Wal-Mart openly admits that these kind of deed restrictions are commonplace at Wal-Mart. “We welcome competition in the marketplace, but what we can’t be doing is providing infrastructure for our competitors in the same market,” the Wal-Mart spokesman told the newspaper. But this has left the city of Sheboygan chafing at the lack of redevelopment at this prominent commercial site. “It is obviously very frustrating,” Mayor Bob Ryan told the Press. The Mayor admitted that Wal-Mart’s actions “will hold back development at that property for years. And without that building filled, that area does not redevelop.”

Wal-Mart says it wants to get rid of these buildings, but its restrictions say otherwise. “We want to ensure our former locations are converted back into a productive use as soon as possible,” Wal-Mart explained to the Sheboygan-Press. “It makes good sense for us financially, and also for the community.” But holding these properties becomes a defensive way for Wal-Mart to keep the trade area as much to itself as possible.

What you can do: The building owner, BR Companies, says there have been retailers interested in the site, some of which were eliminated from contention because of Wal-Mart’s restrictions. Lack of an anchor at Taylor Heights prevents smaller stores from wanting to commit until they see who is filling the big empty space left by Wal-Mart. The owner revealed that he has gone back to Wal-Mart to try to get their permission to lease to a grocer---but so far Wal-Mart, the largest grocer in the world---has not consented.

About ten years ago, Wall Street analysts began criticizing Wal-Mart for carrying on its books hundreds of empty, nonproductive properties. At one point in the late 1990s, Wal-Mart had as many as 350 empty stores in their portfolio---stores they liked to refer to as ‘dark stores.’ They were carrying the expense of these stores, one-third of which were over 100,000 s.f., and one-third of which had been on the market for three years or longer. Wal-Mart responded to this criticism by hiring a bunch of private real estate companies across the country to help dispose of its properties, and expanded its Wal-Mart Realty staff to at least 7 people disposing of buildings and land. In some cases, Wal-Mart even gave away stores that were not moving. Despite this increased spending on marketing their ‘dark stores,’ several hundred of them are still dark.

If you assume at least 20 acres per site, Wal-Mart is currently sitting on at least 5,000 acres of properties with buildings—not counting the hundreds of parcels of land that they also are trying to sell.

Not only is the Taylor Heights mall 90% empty---but the Press says that at the nearby Memorial Mall, retailers are feeling a drop in traffic since Wal-Mart moved away. This unpleasant experience with dead stores has taught city officials in Sheboygan that they need to be better prepared next time. The city’s planning and zoning manager told the Press that he favors the idea of having empty big box stores demolished by their owner after a set time period to prevent dark stores in the first place. “We need to ensure that we do our due diligence to make sure these buildings are demolished so the vacancies don’t lead to areas that aren’t doing as well as they could be.”

Readers are urged to email Wal-Mart’s Real Estate manager Mike Webb at mike.webb@wal-mart.com with the following message: “Dear Mr. Webb, For four years now, city officials in Sheboygan, Wisconsin have been worrying over your ‘dark store’ in their city. The restrictive covenants you have placed on your property have guaranteed that the ‘old’ store will not be sold---and those restrictions are in place another 4 years. It’s time for Wal-Mart to stop sitting on this store, and to release its new owners from your anti-competitive covenants. Wal-Mart likes to talk about the competitive marketplace and consumer choice, yet you take overt action like this to prevent anyone from using stores that you have abandoned. Shoppers in Sheboygan are being harmed by your decision to tie up that property. It’s time for Wal-Mart to get out of the way, and let any willing tenant use the building.”

Walmart just announced, with much patting of their own back, that more of their employees are enrolled in their company health insurance this year. The total number of their own workers enrolled in their insurance? It is up to 54% from 52% last year. The industry standard, by the way, is 65% and many big retailers insure a much larger percentage of their workforce. Costco, for example insures 85% of its workers.

But the real news in Walmart's announcement is that more employees are uninsured and more employees are relying on state aid. The AP reports:

The number of Wal-Mart employees with health coverage — provided by either Wal-Mart or another source — dropped from 94 percent last year to 87 percent.

Wal-Mart said 43,000 of its workers receive health coverage through a state assistance program, up from 36,000 last year.

So not only does Walmart fail to insure 644,000 of its workers, a whopping 182,000 are left completely uninsured while another 43,000 (that Walmart admits to) must rely on Medicaid and other state run programs.

David Tovar, Walmart's spokesperson said, "We believe this is just one more indicator that our nation's current health care system is not sustainable." But the comment fails to understand that Walmart is a part of the problem with our nation's current health care system. Employers have to take some of the responsibility for providing health insurance and they fail to take any.

The Shaw’s supermarket on Whalley Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut is closing down. It’s one of 18 stores that are being sold off by Shaw’s owner, SuperValu.

The Shaw’s supermarket on Whalley Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut is closing down. It’s one of 18 stores that are being sold off by Shaw’s owner, SuperValu.

Most of the Shaw’s stores are being bought up by three other New England grocery chains, including Stop & Shop, ShopRite and PriceRite. The Shaw’s in New Haven doesn’t have a buyer yet. Wal-Mart is listed by Supermarket News as the largest grocery chain in the world. In America, Wal-Mart’s market share is in the mid 20% range for dry groceries, dairy and frozen foods.

Supervalu is listed as number 15 on the worldwide grocers list. Supervalu describes itself as a “mix of owned, licensed, franchised and affiliated stores, (which) serves millions of families from coast-to-coast.” The retail banners that Supervalu operates include: Acme, Albertsons, Bigg’s Bristol Farms, Cub, Farm Fresh, Hornbackaer, Jewe-Osco, Shaw’s/Star Market, Shop ‘N Save, and Shoppers. The company also controls the discount grocery chain Save-A-Lot.

The Shaw’s lineage goes back to 1860, when George C. Shaw opened his first store in Portland, Maine. A few years later, another native New Englander, Maynard A. Davis, opened his first Public Markets in Brockton and New Bedford, Massachusetts. These two stores merged, and today the Shaw’s/Star Market chain has over 30,000 workers in the six New England states---soon to be five states. The 18 stores being shut down represent around 9% of the 194 stores under the Shaw’s banner.

Supervalu as a conglomerate controls roughly 4,300 retail outlets in the United States. “We bring our national scale and local hyper-relevance to thousands of consumers, helping to make us ‘America’s Neighborhood Grocer.’” But in Connecticut, Supervalu is leaving the neighborhood.

According to the Hartford Courant’s account of the Shaw’s meltdown this week, the company had a 15 year track record in Connecticut, but had come under increasing pressures from competitors like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods. Today Wal-Mart has only 5 superstores in Connecticut, and 28 discount stores. But in 1994, just as Shaw’s was preparing to enter Connecticut, the state had only 2 Wal-Mart discount stores, and no supercenters.

A spokesman for Supermarket News told the Hartford Courant that Shaw’s had failed to differentiate itself. “They’ve had an inconsistent identity with the shopper. In order for a conventional supermarket to stand out, they have to be special, whether that’s local flavor or product or service offerings that are unique.” At their point of highest penetration, Shaw’s had 26 stores in Connecticut, but over the years they shut down 8 stores. A spokesman for Supervalu told the Courant, “While these decisions are always difficult given the impact on associates and customers, they ultimately allow us to operate more efficiently and effectively within a highly competitive retail environment.” That’s of little consolation to the workers who are losing their jobs in the middle of this recession.

What you can do: Many of the former Shaw’s stores will be unionized under their new owners. Brian Petronella, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) local 371, said 5 of the ShopRites will be represented by the UFCW. Local 371 will also represent the new Stop & Shop stores. The UFCW extended a hand to the Shaw’s workers who will work at ShopRite stores that are not unionized. “We will try to help those people get jobs at union locations,” Petronella told the Courant.

The demise of Shaw’s in Connecticut is just a continuation of the shift in market share towards the largest grocer in the world: Wal-Mart. In 2003, a study by Retail Forward, entitled “Wal-Mart Food: Big, and Getting Bigger,” pointed out that just ten or fifteen years ago, “Wal-Mart was barely on the food radar screen. Virtually overnight, the retailing behemoth has become the dominant grocer in America.” In 2003, Wal-Mart sales were bigger than the combined sales of the top ten U.S. supermarket retailers. “Wal-Mart has the proven ability to quickly blanket a market with its multi-format approach,” said Retail Forward, “to become a dominant---if not leading—market share player in rapid fashion, wreaking havoc for the incumbents.”

The latest incumbent is Shaw’s supermarkets. Seven years ago, Retail Forward predicted that “for every Wal-Mart supercenter that opens in the next five years, two supermarkets will close their doors. As a result, the supermarket industry is projected to lose 2,000 more stores over the next five years.” The consultant concluded that grocery stores can survive, but “the key is to be what Wal-Mart is not.” The analysts will say that Shaw’s failed to find a “distinct positioning strategy” that set them apart. But the fact is, the Connecticut market is saturated with grocery stores, and most of Wal-Mart’s stores still do not carry a full line of groceries--so the problem will get worse if Connecticut communities let Wal-Mart build more superstores.

Readers are urged to copy this article and send it to their local city or town officials with the following note: “When Wal-Mart files a proposal for a superstore in our town, please learn from the lesson of Shaw’s supermarkets, and understand that a Wal-Mart opening merely leads to to other stores closing. It does not happen overnight---but it happens---and when it does, people lose their jobs, and no added value comes to the local economy. It’s just an unproductive game of retail musical chairs, and shifting market share. Wal-Mart sales comes largely from other cash registers. If you understand that, then you behave differently when the superstore comes knocking on your door.”

After three infants suffocated to death due to faulty hardware on cribs, the CSPS has issued yet another recall for more than 500,000 cribs. Back in November, the CPSC recalled similar drop side cribs, and then, just a few weeks ago, the CPSC issued a second recall on cribs. That makes this the third major reacll on cribs in four months for a total of 3.2 million cribs. All the recalled cribs were sold at Walmart and other retailers.

As news of this recall hit, we read a few pretty gruesome stories that highlight how important this recall was. Here is a story from the Newark Advocate, for instance:

"On July 4, 2007, Isaac Grove was found dead after he had rolled in between the drop side of the crib and his mattress on the first block of Simms Avenue, said Dr. Jeff Lee, Licking County deputy coroner and chief forensic pathologist.

The crib had detached because of a broken plastic stop tab on the lower track, according to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission news release.

Isaac Grove's chest was squeezed and the infant suffocated within minutes, Lee said."

This is clearly a major issue, and we think it's simply disgraceful that any stores would allow products like this to be sold on their shelves.

Walmart, in particular has a history of dangerous products on their shelves. This is the 58th recall of Walmart products since the begining of 20008. Walmart can use its size and clout to push suppliers to produce at a lower cost, forcing them to cut corners to meet Walmart's price demands and still make a profit. One of the areas that suppliers could cut corners is product safety. Walmart has repeatedly carried products that have been identified as unsafe or dangerous by reputable consumer safety organizations and the CPSC.

But just as Walmart uses its size and clout to push for lower prices from its suppliers, Walmart could instead push its suppliers to produce impeccably safe products. Just recently Walmart announced that it would penalize companies that delivered products to its warehouses too early or late. Imagine if Walmart threatened to penalize companies who manufactured unsafe products, or stop carrying the companies goods all together. Somehow I think the companies would take notice, and everyone would be better off.

Do you want the real story about who destroyed America's REAL economy?

We wanted to recommend a new book that just hit the shelves. In Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism And The Economics Of Destruction, New America Foundation's Barry C. Lynn takes an explosive look at how Wall Street financiers took advantage of the overthrow of our antimonopoly laws to consolidate unprecedented powers.

They use these powers in ways that destroy jobs, degrade safety, crush independent businesses, forestall innovation, harm our environment, and threaten the political foundations of our democratic republic.

Not surprisingly, Walmart is a major player in this disturbing story. Lynn discusses Walmart as one of the quintessential examples of the destructive monopoly, arguing that Walmart needs to change its ways not just for the benefit of workers or communities, but for the entire economy.

Here is what others are saying about Cornered:

Cornered has changed my view of what's gone wrong with American capitalism. Brilliantly argued and meticulously reported, it confronts with the age-old enemy of both progressives and libertarian conservatives -- the power of monopoly.
-Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Brightsided.

This book is essential to understanding how we got into our current mess.
-Michael Mandel, chief economist, BusinessWeek.

This is a truly groundbreaking and eye-opening work that everyone interested in understanding how the world really operates should read.
-Ha Joon Chang, winner Leontief Prize in economics, author Bad Samaritans.

Did you catch "Undercover Boss" after the Super Bowl? It's a new reality show on CBS where executives go undercover at their own companies and work entry level jobs to see what it's like. In the first episode, Waste Management's President and Chief Operating Officer Larry O'Donnell works several different jobs over a week and discovers how tough life can be for his employees. He also discovers how his policies have affected workers.

It's nice to see a show that uncovers these kinds of problems in the American workplace. Of course, most of us already know how tough work can be, but most of us don't have a reality show. That's why American Rights At Work started Fix Our Jobs which is pushing for real, systematic reform in our workplace, not just feel good TV moments. They're asking folks to sign a petition to congress: "America’s workers need a voice on the job so they can fight for fair pay, real benefits, reasonable hours, and better working conditions. We need to fix our labor laws now!"

They're also asking for stories about your job, good or bad. We're sure you all have some stories to share, so go check out the site. You can also watch a video they put together just to the right.

We also want to hear from Walmart workers. Tell us your stories from work. What would Mike Duke find if he came to work as a greeter at your store for a day or two? Would he make the cut as an overnight stocker?

Would Mike Duke ever take on this kind of undercover assignment? We don't think so, but if he did, we're sure he'd find some pretty disturbing stories, just like Larry O'Donnell did.

Last week we told you about Walmart firing 300 workers from its headquarters staff as the company goes through a major restructuring. The 300 jobs were just the tip of the iceberg, with 10 Sam's Club stores closing, a major layoff of 11,000 workers at Sam's Club stores, and a new decentralized set up for the company that will shift many jobs away from the main office in Bentonville to regional offices.

When we told you about those 300 layoffs, we wondered if there might by more job losses on the way. As it turns out, there may be. The Northwest Arkansas Times reports that as the company starts creating regional offices and moving positions there, jobs in Bentonville will be eliminated. According to the article,

"some headquarters staff members will face a choice of relocating, looking for other jobs or retirement, according to several people familiar with the situation.

Wal-Mart declined to put a number on positions that could be moved out of Bentonville. Those decisions will be made case by case and it will take time to figure out what works for each area"

We'll certainly be keeping an eye on this transition to see how it affects the company. We can only hope that Walmart does all it can to ensure that jobs aren't eliminated unnecessarily, or workers aren't pushed out of their jobs. Walmart has a reputation, after all, for pushing workers with seniority out to reduce the cost of salary and benefits overall. It's one of the reasons Walmart has such a high turnover rate.

Back in September the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, and six nearby residents filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Orange County. They alleged that the country "supervisors failed to comply with the county’s comprehensive plan. The suit also claims the county’s zoning ordinance is invalid because it fails to comply with state laws requiring such ordinances to protect historic sites, and there were procedural defects in the approval process."

Today, the court heard the first arguments of the case.

Here's a quick excerpt from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's press release outlining their central arguments (it was emailed to me, so I don't have a link):

"The County has an affirmative responsibility to protect those historic resources under Virginia law and under the County’s own Comprehensive Plan for development. Yet, the Board ignored the concerns, objections and offers of assistance from the Governor and the Speaker of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 250 Civil War experts, and others.

The Battle of the Wilderness, where 26,000 men were killed or wounded in May of 1864, may not be as well known as Gettysburg or Antietam, but it marked a milestone in the Civil War. It was the first time generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met in battle. The site of the proposed 140,000-square-foot Wal-Mart superstore, along with 100,000 square feet of additional big box commercial development, stands on unprotected land within the historic boundaries of this battlefield. It is also immediately adjacent to the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, which was established by Congress in 1927. In a split vote, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a special use permit allowing the 240,000-square-foot project to proceed on August 25, 2009. This project poses a considerable risk of destruction and increased commercialization of a nationally significant and highly vulnerable historic site."

We'll certainly keep our eyes on the case. In the mean time, you can check out the National Trust for Historic Preservation's website here and read more about the case here.

Walmart is certainly shaking things up recently. A week ago, Walmart laid off more than 11,000 of its Sam's Club workers. Two weeks before that, Walmart closed down 10 Sam's Club stores putting 1,500 jobs at risk. Since the Sam's Club layoffs, Walmart has announced other substantial institutional changes like splitting its US operations in to regions and establishing a global online organization.

Then today, Walmart announced it would laying off another 300 employees from its Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters. Just about a year ago, Walmart laid off between 700 and 800 workers from headquarters.

Between the two layoffs, Walmart has let go around 9% of the 12,000 headquarters staff.

The positions being eliminated this time around were in the corporate affairs, finance, human resources, information systems and legal departments.

We're always concerned to hear about layoffs, especially from a company that is doing so well right now, racking up billions of dollars in sales.

With a 10% cut in Sam's club staff, and a nearly 10% cut in headquarter staff, are there more layoffs on the way?

You can read more about the layoffs, and the memo from Mike Duke from the Associated Press here.

Suddenly, without any advance notice, Wal-Mart has pulled out of a planned superstore project in the town of Evans, New York, which is located in southern Erie County, bordering on Lake Erie. The town includes the Village of Angola with a combined population of approximately 20,000 people. Wal-Mart’s overnight departure has left Evans officials embarrassed and disappointed. But for area residents opposed to the superstore, Wal-Mart’s farewell is a happy ending to a very bad movie.

Three years ago, activists in Angola wrote to Sprawl-Busters: “In September, 2006, we formed a group called ‘Friends of the Grandview’ to work on preserving and renovating the 1952 Grandview Drive-in movie theater. This facility is one of a kind. At nearly 120 feet wide, it’s one of the largest screens in the USA! It’s the only one in the USA to have retail space under the screen tower (maybe the world). It was the first in New York to have Radio Sound. First in USA to show a movie in stereo sound in the 60’s.

“None of us question the need for a general department store to replace the long lost Ames store in Derby, New York. The key question is: where would one fit without loss of existing stores and businesses and damage to our community? Would it not make more sense to build on vacant land, rather than destroy a viable and operating landmark drive-in that the community clearly wants preserved and renovated? And let’s not forget our Jubilee grocery Store. If Wal-Mart builds there, it’s history! Considering it’s the only one between Orchard Park and Gowanda, we would not want to loose the choice of shopping there.”

“We have collected around 1,500 signatures from people upset the Grandview did not open this season, and demanding it be renovated and reopened next year…Repeated attempts at contacting the owners and even having an attorney contact the owners brought no response. Wal-Mart made an appearance at the town board meeting and has expressed interest in tearing down our Drive-in and building a 130,000 s.f. supercenter! The Jubilee Foods Store is right on the Property. We doubt Wal-Mart would actually be dumb enough to purchase a property before they knew they would even be allowed to build anyway! The property is located at the corner of Route 5 and Lake Street in Angola, it is surrounded by homes on the south, to the east is a new Church with senior housing behind it, to the north east is a school and athletic field, and north of it borders a creek, and just beyond a nice new home in what they thought was a secluded area, now to be located next to a Wal-Mart loading dock, as well as another home and the VFW hall.”

Since 2005, local officials in Evans have done everything Wal-Mart wanted. A year ago, the Evans Planning Board issued findings under the State Environmental Quality Review that approved the Wal-Mart project. After evaluating the environmental, economic and social impacts of the proposed Wal-Mart supercenter project, the Planning Board concluded that it was “adopting the feasible, prudent and practicable alternative…that allows for mitigation of all environmental impacts to the greatest extent reasonable and practicable.” The Board admitted that the character of the site would change “in that a vacant drive-in theater will be replaced with a large retail use.” The Board also found that “the surrounding area will be impacted by an increase in traffic,” and that “adjacent residences to the north and south may experience a noticeable increase in noise and light from the project if not properly mitigated.”

The Board negotiated with Wal-Mart to get a unique looking store. “The building shall represent a design unique to the Town of Evans, and not a typical corporate big box design.” To protect the homes located on the northern edge of this project, town officials said Wal-Mart would construct a berm and a ten foot high fence---proof that the project is incompatible with surrounding residences. Compatible uses don’t require fences and berms.

When The Sun newspaper announced several days ago that Wal-Mart was abandoning the Drive-In site, local officials were caught off-guard. “This was totally unexpected,” said the Chair of the Town of Evans Planning Board. “The planning board has spent the better part of the last three years doing its due diligence to review all the aspects of the Wal-Mart application and plans. We wanted to make sure that if built, this would be the best possible project, would enhance the character of the town and would have minimal environmental impacts to the surrounding area. We had been working with them, which is why this just caught us completely off guard.”

The Town’s supervisor told the newspaper that “Sam Walton’s grandson” had made the decision to shut down the project. “Do I think the economy had something to do with this?” the supervisor asked. “Of course. I also would not be surprised if the opening of the new Wal-Mart in Hamburg (N.Y.) didn’t have an impact on this.” Now the town is left with a Drive-In movie that has been demolished, and 17 acres of land with no buyer in sight. The town’s five years of work with Wal-Mart has turned into something of a Horror Show for local officials. “We appealed to Wal-Mart to not do this,” one local official said.

What you can do: After the announcement of the death of this project, Wal-Mart issued one of its standard disclaimers to the media. “We thank the residents and the town planning department, supervisor and the town board for their collective efforts throughout this process. We remain committed to growing our business in Western New York and will continue to look for opportunities to provide good jobs that give our associates the chance to build careers.”

Sprawl-Busters has written about several earlier examples of Wal-Mart going after former Drive-In theaters. The landowners of these properties stand to make millions off the sale of their land, but residents are usually outraged that these properties are being destroyed. In this case, there are surrounding homes, and some obvious environmental issues to consider. A lawsuit had been filed to stop this superstore, but not that lawsuit is moot. The Jubilee grocery store in Angola, which reportedly has spent money to renovate, would likely have closed if a Wal-Mart supercenter had been built next door. The Friends of the Grandview lost their movie screen---but the Wal-Mart sequel will not be showing at a theater near Angola any time soon.

Readers are urged to email Evans Supervisor Francis Pordum at: supervisor@townofevans.org with the following message: “Dear Supervisor Pordum, Your Wal-Movie has a happy ending. The town of Evans, and the Village of Angola narrowly dodged an economic bullet that would have damaged the local economy and the character of your small communities. You are fortunate that Wal-Mart ended the film—rather than letting it continue. You now know the time and money the town spent on a corporation that makes decisions from Arkansas without your input. I hope this bad movie leaves you with a better understanding of why community-based economic development is preferable to chasing national chain stores. Wal-Mart never was a jobs and taxes project, because its sales largely would have come from existing businesses. But the final scene has been changed, and the ending is more upbeat than expected. Be thankful for that.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled two 'Princess and the Frog' charm necklaces today due to high levels of Cadmium, a dangerous heavy metal. The necklaces are sold exclusively at Walmart stores. It may sound like many other recall stories, but this is actually the first time the CPSC has recalled anything for containing Cadmium. The metal was spotlighted in a recent Associated Press investigation which discovered high levels of Cadmium in many pieces of children's jewelry.

Cadmium, like lead and other heavy metals, is a known carcinogen and can cause stunted brain development in children.

The Associated Press found that Chinese factories had started using Cadmium in products after they stopped using lead due to scrutiny from the US government during the last product safety scare.

In our opinion, it is no coincidence that this first Cadmium recall happened at Walmart, either. First because the use of cadmium seems to be linked with Chinese factories, at least so far. More than 70% of Walmart's goods come from China, making it likely that these toxic metal products could end up on Walmart's shelves. Second, Walmart has a history of using its size and clout to push suppliers to produce at a lower cost, forcing them to cut corners to meet Walmart's price demands and still make a profit. One of the areas that suppliers could cut corners is product safety.

We think it's pretty irresponsible for Walmart to be selling cadmium laced children's necklaces, or anything else with highly toxic chemicals, for that matter. That's why we launched a campaign over the holiday shopping season demanding that Walmart remove dangerous products from its shelves. Obviously they haven't listened.

You can read more about Walmart's dangerous products and sign an open letter to Mike Duke demanding that he take responsibility for consumer protection here.

The official CPSC press release about the Disney 'Princess and the Frog' necklaces is here.

Walmart has a pretty spotty record when it comes to grassroots support groups. They can't seem to resist the temptation to simply let PR firms make things up for them. There was the fake blog "Walmarting Across America" which, it was revealed, was actually organized by Walmart's PR firm. The vehicle the "bloggers" used as well as their meals, expenses and gas, were all provided for them. There was the fake "community group" Working Families for Walmart, which was also run by a PR firm Walmart hired.

And now it seems that Walmart is doing the same thing in Chicago, where they're struggling to get a foothold for their potential second store within city limits. Chicagoist, a prominent local blog, received some suspiciously pro-Walmart comments on their blog and decided to investigate. They found what seems to be theChicagoland Chamber of Commerce and Serafin & Associates are both working to push Walmart's agenda in Chicago, and posing as a local community group.

The Chicagoland admitted to launching the site Our Community, Our Choice which proclaims, "Everyone else but Chatham and the South Side are making the decisions – It's OUR CHOICE, NOT THEIRS."

You should read the full article from Chicagoist, but the following section is particularly interesting:

Mike Mini told me that Wal-Mart is indeed a member of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, that they have “a representative on the Government Affairs Committee,” and that “our process is kind of open. Any member that expresses an interest can come to meetings and work on issues that are important to them.” Is the Chamber working on behalf of Wal-Mart in the city? “We’re working on behalf of policies that we feel further business and commerce in the city.” Because I got to Mr. Mini through Our Community, Our Choice, I asked what his involvement in the site was. “It’s part of our advocacy effort to gain support,” and that “we set that up as a way to communicate with people. We were expecting this to come up for a vote before the council sooner, but obviously it’s been stalled.” I asked him if he was familiar with Serafin and Associates. “Yes, we have worked with them in our strategy sessions. We’ve worked with [Thomas] Serafin and his team.” When I told him that our site had gotten comments from the email address that led me to him and asked if he knew that it was being used to comment on blogs, he said “no, not that I’m aware of.” Are you surprised that an IP address from Serafin was being used that way? “No, not in particular.” Why not? “I really can’t comment without looking into it further.”

It's been a rough few weeks for Sam's Club employees. First came the announcement that ten Sam's Club stores would close and the 1,500 employees who worked there could lose their jobs. Then, yesterday, Walmart announced they would be laying off 11,200 workers. Most of those being laid off demonstrate products in the stores. Walmart's spokesperson made it clear that this wasn't about the economy, or the employees performance, rather, they were outsourcing the jobs to Shopper Events a company who's only purpose is to demonstrate products in Walmart stores.

Walmart has suggested that the 10,000 employees they are firing can apply for a job with Shopper Events, who will be hiring roughly 10,000 employees to fill the gap left by the lay off. It sure sounds a lot like Walmart is asking 10,000 of their employees to reapply for their own jobs.

Here's our official statement:

For Immediate Release: January 25, 2010

Walmart Sam’s Club Lowering Worker and Community Standards

Layoffs Raise Important Questions About Commitment to its Workforce

(Washington, DC) – The following is a statement from Wake Up Walmart:

Walmart launched another assault on living and working standards in communities across the country yesterday, by laying off more than ten thousand Sam’s Club employees. The company is outsourcing jobs, many of them part-time, to a company based in Arkansas.

Workers report that Walmart called them into mass meetings where they were offered boxes of tissues and told they were no longer needed by the nation’s largest private employer.

The mass layoffs raise serious questions such as whether or not older and more senior workers were targeted for lay off. Why hasn’t Walmart made a clearer path to employment with Shopper Events for these 11,000 associates – which they clearly have the power to do? And for workers hired by the outsourced company, what kind of jobs will Shoppers Events provide to the new applicants? Why is Walmart telling workers they must agree not to pursue age discrimination claims in order to qualify for severance pay?

Walmart and Sams Club workers seeking additional assistance and answers are encouraged to contact Walmart Workers for Change at 866-587-2299 or log on to http://www.walmartworkersforchange.org/.