DC Residents Demand Walmart Community Benefits Agreement

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

In dozens of one-on-one conversations, District residents shared their concerns over the weekend about Walmart’s plans to open four stores in DC. Around 30 activists gathered at the Plasterers' and Cement Masons' Local 891 union hall before spreading out to knock on doors in neighborhoods in Wards 5 and 7 on Saturday and Sunday (a Public Advocacy Day is planned today starting at 9a at the District Building; see below), talking to neighbors and collecting over a hundred signatures on post cards demanding the Mayor and City Council support getting Walmart to sign a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). “A CBA would address the concerns neighbors have about the potential negative affects of Walmart by guaranteeing that they will hire local residents, pay decent residents, and not harm the environment or small businesses,” said organizer Michael Wilson. Nearly 700 cards have been collected so far, and canvassing will continue every weekend. Click here to sign up for this coming weekend’s canvass. The Living Wages, Healthy Communities Coalition, which is sponsoring the canvass, is also holding its first public advocacy day today at 9a at the District Building.
- photo by Mike Wilson