Walmart & DC: A Tale of Two Tables
Friday, June 24, 2011
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)One table was bare, the other overflowing with
food. At one table sat dozens, while at the
other was just one person. The setting was
Freedom Plaza, as over 200 DC residents
gathered across the street from the Wilson
Building to demand that DC Mayor Vincent Gray
negotiate a strong, enforceable Community
Benefits Agreement with Walmart. Seated at the
long table full of empty plates, community
members jeered a costumed Walmart
representative at a nearby table laden with
food. Speakers representing a broad spectrum of
the DC community spoke to the need for
enforceable standards to ensure the community
benefit, and newly- elected At-Large City
Council member Vincent Orange stopped by to
show his support. “Walmart has a track record
of taking from and destroying communities, but
it can be different in DC,” said Rev. Howard
Finley. “Their record means we cannot just
take them at their word, we need to make them
put it in writing and sign on the dotted
line.” While Mayor Gray has said he will
negotiate a deal with Walmart, the Living
Wages, Healthy Communities coalition is
demanding a transparent process that allows the
community to be involved, rejecting a
“back-room” deal as unacceptable. The
action concluded with a delegation of 30
community members delivering messages to Mayor
Gray written on the empty plates. “Today we
made our voices heard, and the Mayor and
Walmart should be on notice: we will not stop
until we get a strong, enforceable CBA,” said
Mackenzie Baris of DC Jobs with Justice.
- photo by Lillian Walker
Shelton