September 7, 2005

WakeUpWalMart.com Reaches Record Milestone of American Support

Washington, D.C. — WakeUpWalMart.com, the group leading the national fight to change Wal-Mart, announced today it has achieved a record milestone of support. Over 66,215 Americans have now joined the WakeUpWalMart.com movement, which was launched on April 5th of this year. The WakeUpWalMart.com campaign now enjoys growing grassroots support in all 50 states.

“”All across America, from towns to cities, from red states to blue states, Americans have made our campaign a true grassroots movement. We will not stop fighting. We will use every political, legislative, economic, and legal tool available to grow this movement into an army of change. In the days ahead, on behalf of the American people, we will change Wal-Mart into a corporation that reflects the best of American values,”” said Paul Blank, Campaign Director for WakeUpWalMart.com

In just five months, WakeUpWalMart.com has become one of America’s fastest growing political and social movements. Supporters of the effort have signed on to the campaign at public events held by the group or via the campaign website, WakeUpWalMart.com. The group also officially announced that its next goal is to reach 150,000 supporters by December 31st, 2005.

“”WakeUpWalMart.com is a powerful, broad-based, movement to change the largest corporation in the world. Our supporters will take the fight for a better America to Wal-Mart from one corner of this nation to the other. We will not rest until this company ‘wakes up’ and does what is right for its workers, our families, our communities, and the nation,”” added Paul Blank.

With the support of over 66,215 Americans, the WakeUpWalMart.com campaign has successfully led the national fight to change Wal-Mart. Among the many accomplishments of the WakeUpWalMart.com campaign and its supporters include:

  • Launched the “”Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart”” Mother’s Day Campaign where 21,788 Americans signed the “”Love Mom, not Wal-Mart”” pledge and promised to not purchase their Mother’s Day gift at Wal-Mart until the company addressed its record of discriminating against 2 million women.
  • Coordinated a National “”Mother’s Day of Action”” on May 7th in 26 states and 70 cities and towns to raise awareness about Wal-Mart’s record of gender discrimination.
  • Hosted a press conference with several key Members of Congress, including Rep. Rosa De Lauro. Rep. De Lauro then released a “”Dear Colleague Letter”” from 51 Members of Congress asking Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, to release wage data to investigate claims of gender discrimination.
  • Mobilized thousands of supporters to successfully force Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, to end the “”Wal-Mart Nazi Ad”” and publicly apologize for using the ad against Arizona citizens who opposed Wal-Mart.
  • Launched the “”Make Wal-Mart Care About Health Care”” campaign with a series of press conferences in 8 states and 325 Meet-Ups in over 270 cities involving over 10,000 supporters of Democracy for America (DFA) and WakeUpWalMart.com. Press conferences with civic, community, and labor leaders were held in Concord, NH; Seattle, WA; Phoenix, AZ; Madison, WI; Little Rock, AR; Austin, TX; Hartford, CT; and Atlanta, GA.
  • Hosted a press conference with Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator John Corzine, and Representative Anthony Weiner to introduce the Health Care Accountability Act – the first national legislation that would expose the true cost that American taxpayers bear because Wal-Mart forces tens of thousands of its workers onto public health care, like Medicaid.
  • Held house meetings in 134 cities and 38 states where nearly 2,000 citizens agreed to become citizen co-sponsors of “”Fair Share Health Care”” legislation. The WakeUpWalMart.com campaign will be leading the effort to introduce “”Fair Share Health Care”” legislation in all 50 states in the coming months.
  • Officially launched on June 23rd our “”Community Fight Campaign”” that provides the most comprehensive strategies and tools to help supporters and activists fight the destructive effects of Wal-Mart in their community.

The efforts to change Wal-Mart will reach a new level in the coming days and months as WakeUpWalMart.com prepares to mobilize its supporters in a series of new campaigns that will reach out to Americans all over the nation.