WAKEUPWALMART.COM LAUNCHES NEW EMOTIONAL TV-AD AS PART OF “WOMEN & FAMILIES DESERVE BETTER THAN WAL-MART” NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION

COORDINATED PRESS CONFERENCES SCHEDULED IN 8 STATES

STATEMENT BY MARTHA BURK, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS, ASKING WAL-MART TO END ITS ANTI-FAMILY POLICIES

Washington, D.C. - Today, WakeUpWalMart.com, America’s campaign to change Wal-Mart, continued its national Hope for the Holidays campaign by launching a national day of action called, “Women and Families Deserve Better than Wal-Mart,” and an emotional TV ad entitled “1000 Years.”

The “Women and Families Deserve Better than Wal-Mart” national day of action kicks off with coordinated press conferences in 8 states and the distribution of over 100,000 pink flyers in over 20 states. Both the flyers and the press conferences highlight the terrible price women, children, and families pay every day because of Wal-Mart’s immoral business practices.

As part of the focus on Wal-Mart’s negative impact on women, families and children, WakeUpWalMart.com unveiled its most emotional and powerful television ad yet, entitled “1000 Years.” The ad, which will run in over 42 media markets, captures current Wal-Mart Associate Charmaine Givens in an extraordinarily real and overwhelming moment when she realizes that it will take her over 1,000 years to earn what Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott earned in just one year. A full transcript of the TV ad is below.

At the press conferences, community leaders, women’s groups and grassroots supporters will issue a “Holiday wake-up call” to Wal-Mart and call on Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott to end the company’s anti-family policies by Christmas Day. Wal-Mart’s anti-family policies have led to over 775,000 Wal-Mart employees and their families without company health care, penalized workers and their families for taking a day off to care for a sick child, repeated child labor law violations and the largest gender discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.

In addition, the group released a statement by Martha Burk, the director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Women’s Organizations which represents over 300 women’s organizations and 10 million women. In the statement Burk says, “Wal-Mart has a choice to make this holiday season. It can continue on a greedy and immoral path or it can do what is right and become the model employer we know it can become.” A full copy of Martha Burk’s statement is below.

Script of TV ad “1000 Years”

Announcer: How many years would it take an average Wal-Mart Associate to earn what Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott did in just one year.

Announcer: 1000 years.

Charmaine Givens: 1000 years. Hmm. A thousand years. That’s what I would have to work to make what Wal-Mart’s CEO earned in 1 year. I’m getting upset.

Announcer: With $11.2 billion in profit, Wal-Mart Associates don’t deserve to be treated this way.

Statement by Martha Burk, Director, Corporate Accountability Project, National Council of Women’s Organizations

The Holiday Season is a special time for Americans. It is a time for giving and sharing. It is a time for all of us, whether as individuals or as corporations, to recognize and embrace the opportunity to improve the lives of others. Unfortunately Wal-Mart, as America's largest private employer, continues to ignore its special responsibility to improve the lives of its workers and their families.

Because of its size and influence on American workplace practices, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to not only reflect the best of America's values, but to be a model employer that puts families first. A company with $11.2 billion in profits should not offer empty excuses as to why it cannot treat its employees, including the over 700,000 female workers, many of whom are parents raising children alone, with the dignity, respect, and fairness they deserve.

Over the past year, Wal-Mart has adopted some of the most anti-family policies in the company's history. Today, Wal-Mart Associates, all of whom who work hard to support their families, face a Wal-Mart where vicious salary caps have been imposed, a cruel open availability scheduling policy is the norm, low-deductible health care plans have been eliminated, an attendance policy that punishes workers for taking a day off to care for a sick child has been adopted, and hundreds of thousands of full-time Wal-Mart workers have been shifted to lower wage part-time jobs.

As if these anti-family policies weren’t enough, Wal-Mart in 2006 has left over half of its workers without company provided health care, has broken child labor laws, and has yet to settle the largest gender discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.

Wal-Mart has a choice to make this holiday season. It can continue on a greedy and immoral path or it can do what is right and become the model employer we know it can become.

In the spirit of the holiday season, we call on Wal-Mart to immediately reverse its recent anti-family actions, such as the salary caps and punitive attendance policies. The company must also adopt a zero tolerance policy on child labor violations, and institute practices that ensure gender equality and respect are the norm at Wal-Mart.

In the spirit of the holiday season, we urge Wal-Mart to embrace this simple truth "with great wealth comes great responsibility." And, Wal-Mart's great responsibility is to be an employer whose record and business policies reflect the best of American family values every single day.