Hold Wal-Mart Accountable for Black Friday Death

From Wal-Mart Watch

Like many of you, I was outraged and saddened when I heard about Jdimytai Damour, the Long Island Wal-Mart employee who was trampled to death by holiday shoppers. In a statement yesterday, I extended our sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Jdimytai Damour.

I want to know how and why this happened.

Yes, there is plenty of blame to go around - including the thousands of Wal-Mart shoppers who participated in the stampede.

The responsibility, however, lies with Wal-Mart. As Mr. Damour's employer, the company put him in that position and made all of the decisions that led to that moment. Wal-Mart's management did not have enough trained employees in place, nor did they use common sense policies to discourage the customers from rushing the store.

Why? It would have cost Wal-Mart money to take those precautions, and the workers had no voice in the decisions.

Take a moment to send an email to executives at Wal-Mart and demand that they take responsibility for Wal-Mart's refusal to take precautions to protect their employees:

http://www.walmartspeakout.com/accountable

Here at Wal-Mart Watch, we hear the stories of so many employees frightened to stand up for their basic rights, worried that they'll lose their jobs for speaking up.

Wal-Mart employees have been forced to work overtime without compensation, denied lunch and bathroom breaks, and threatened for requesting reasonable changes in their schedule.

Now more than ever, we need to stand up for Wal-Mart employees and give them the opportunity they need to fight for higher wages, better health care, and safer work conditions.

Please send an email to Wal-Mart's management to hold them accountable for Wal-Mart's failure to protect its employees and prevent this tragedy. Wal-Mart simply must change its ways and start treating its employees with the dignity and respect they deserve.

http://www.walmartspeakout.com/accountable

Declare Independence from Big Oil!

from ShameOnBigOil:



Tell your friends to join you and declare their independence from Big Oil!

Support Credit Card Reform!

from Consumers Union:

Monday was a sobering day. The stock market sinks. Banks verge on collapse. 401ks shrivel. Fannie, Freddie, Bear Stearns and now the insurance industry get bailouts. Could it possibly get worse?

Yes -- without change, big banks losing money on Wall Street could try to squeeze you to recoup their profits. A quick credit card rate increase here, a new fee there, might be good for them, but creates crisis for you.

Congress will vote in the next few days to head-off a credit crunch aimed at you by cracking down on abusive credit card company tactics.

DO SOMETHING! Tell your House members to vote for the credit card reform bill now!

About 50 million American households carry an average $17,000 in credit card debt. This bill would stop unjustified interest rate hikes on that debt.

The bill also would stop the companies’ unfair practice of applying your payments to low-interest balances first leaving the high-interest debt to compound and bury more of us in debt.

Paying off credit card debt should be fair to everyone, not just a way to squeeze more money out of you. But the banking lobby continues their campaign to stall these reforms.

Only days remain for Congress to pass this bill before they break for the year. Don’t let them walk away without heading off a new crisis that would further erode your financial security.

ALERT: Not in My Cart!

From Consumers Union:

The holiday shopping season will begin in just a few weeks, yet we still have a long way to go before we can trust the safety of the products on our store shelves.

Congress has taken some first steps -- investigational hearings and initial bill proposals -- but it won't be easy to get real protections through Congress quickly. Consumers Union will testify before a Senate Committee this week, and it's time to raise the volume.

Will you join us in holding Congress' feet to the fire?

Send a message urging your members of Congress to strengthen product safety and import laws now, before anyone else gets hurt.

Hazardous imports continue to flood the American marketplace. More than 12 million children’s toys have been recalled this year alone!

Just last week, J.C. Penney recalled Winnie the Pooh toys for excessive lead levels, and the Cub Scouts pulled a lead-laden merit badge. More dangerous imported products may be sitting on the shelves of stores around the country right now. But will they be caught before they are bought?

The dangerous combination of lax safety regulations, a lack of enforcement, and a shortage of federal inspectors will only lead to more recalls.

Visit NotInMyCart.org and send a message to Congress to help keep yourself, your loved ones, and all Americans safe this holiday season.

Once you've sent your letter, please tell your friends and family and ask them to join you and thousands of others in helping to make consumer products safe!

ALERT: Secure Your Social Security

From Consumers Union:

Do you know where your Social Security number is? It is probably in the hands of every insurance company you've ever had, your bank, your credit card companies, your doctor, the hospital where you had your surgery, your student loan company, your university admissions office and more.

Your Social Security number is yours -- and should be protected.

Your Social Security number gives thieves the key to your credit and your money. With so many copies floating around, it's no wonder ID theft has directly affected one in four Americans.

Lawmakers concerned about your privacy recently filed strong legislation to protect you. Help us pass this new law in 2008 with a quick message to your own Representative now.