Who Will Cross The Line and Stand With Wal-Mart Over America's Working Families?
A Nationwide Public Challenge
Today, Tuesday May 8th, 2007, America’s working families issued a nationwide public challenge to any and all participants in Wal-Mart’s latest health care publicity stunt to honor the “Picket Line for America’s Working Families,” and not support Wal-Mart’s health care hypocrisy.
TAKE THE PUBLIC CHALLENGE – Sign the Petition
Will You Cross the Line and Stand with Wal-Mart or America’s Working Families?
I ________________ stand with America’s hard-working families and the 735,000 Wal-Mart workers who have no company health care, not Wal-Mart, a company that fails to provide company health care to over half of its employees and their families, undermines health care benefits for millions of hard-working Americans, and disingenuously supports universal health care.
WakeUpWalMart.com is holding this grassroots action to protest the fact that while Wal-Mart disingenuously touts its empty support for “universal health care,” the company remains one of the most irresponsible corporate citizens with a terrible health care record.
BACKGROUND
In February, Wal-Mart announced it supposedly supported universal health care. But, at the same press conference, Wal-Mart’s CEO declared that Wal-Mart would NOT increase its own health care spending to help the 735,000 Wal-Mart workers and their families who have no company health care, and would NOT stop its financial and political support for right-wing candidates who oppose universal health care.
In addition, at today’s event Wal-Mart will be joined by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Hypocritically, though, Wal-Mart, through its special interest lobby association, has been a staunch opponent of Gov. Rendell’s universal health care plan.
THE FACTS: WHY WAL-MART’S CALL FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE IS HYPOCRITICAL
-
Wal-Mart leaves over 53 percent of its workers (more than 735,000 employees and their families) without company health care;
- 46 percent of the children of Wal-Mart’s employees are either uninsured or on public health care assistance;
- Wal-Mart costs taxpayers an estimated $1.3 billion every year because so many uninsured Wal-Mart workers are forced onto public health care.
- In 18 out of 19 states, Wal-Mart leads all employers with the greatest number of employees or dependents on public health care assistance.
- In Pennsylvania, to showcase its hypocrisy, Wal-Mart, through its special interest lobbying association, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), has actively opposed efforts to pass universal health care in Pennsylvania.
- In Pennsylvania, Wal-Mart’s irresponsible behavior costs taxpayers in that state an estimated $59 million in total taxpayer-related public health care costs.
