HCRG

for more information email info@hartfordcrg.org



News Releases & Info

Speak your onions! Click here to participate in our on-line forum.


Fact or Fiction?
You decide...
Click image for larger view


Wal-Mart Greeter Gone Wild

Image from Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal 5/8/06


Hercules California uses eminent domain to keep Wal-Mart out. Read more about it here:

ABC News
San Francisco Sierra Club


Wal-Mart:such a threat to local economies that a national group watches the local fights. Check out what they have to say here.
From National Public Radio:

June 5, 2006
Kathleen Dunn's guest explains why it's a good deal for consumers, but warns that Wal-Mart's version of cheap organic food will not be sustainable. (Real Player Required)

Feb. 27, 2006
Wal-Mart's Success Tied to Low Health-Care Costs

Feb. 1, 2006
Understanding 'The Wal-Mart Effect'

April 18, 2004
A Case For Intervention - an editorial by Ed Garvey


From PBS TV:
Is Wal-Mart Good For America?
Bill Moyers - NOW


Hartford residents aren't the only ones that have a beef against Wal-Mart. Check these out:
Mom's Vs. Wal-Mart
Neighborhood Retail Alliance
The Writing on The Wal
Wal-Mart Workers Rights
Working At Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Crime Watch

and these Wisconsin communities:
Jefferson
Spooner
Stoughton
Marinette
Monona
Monroe


But wait...there's more!!

The Wal-Mart You Don't Know - The High Cost Of Low Prices

The Man Who Said "NO!" To Wal-Mart and why you don't see Snapper Lawn Equipment in their stores.

Wal-Mart Fact Sheet, published by "Purple Ocean", an independent, non-profit,
fact-finding organization.

USA Today - Norway dumps Wal-Mart investment.

It really is amazing how easy it is to find out what a disaster Wal-Mart is and has been to cities all over the world.  

So why do our city leaders want to risk our hometown economy and quality of life on this monster?

Maybe it's time for you to ask them. Click here for more information.



The lighter side of Wal-Mart:
click here

----- INFORMATION JUST KEEPS COMING! -----
----- CHECK BACK OFTEN!
-----

Key for Newspapers listed below.

DR = Daily Reporter HEN = Hartford Express News HTP = Hartford Times Press

MCT = Madison Capitol Times

MJS = Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal WBDN = West Bend Daily News
AP = Associated Press WSJ = Wisconsin State Journal  

Many of these files are in PDF format. Download Adobe Reader here.
Documentation from Midwest Environmental Advocates
Hot Topics

Regarding the recall of Kathleen Isleb here.

Regarding the recall of Jacki Lokken here and here.


October 13, 2006 - MarketWatch - Wal-Mart enters political forray, targeting opponents

Aug. 4, 2006 - MJS - Ordinance reins in 'big boxes'

Aug. 2, 2006 - MJS - Backer of Wal-Mart annexation faces recall effort in Hartford

Aug. 1, 2006 - WBDN - Recall Launched - Group Calls Isleb Unresponsive

July 26, 2006 - AP - CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL PASSES WAGE ORDINANCE for "big box" stores.

July 25, 2006 - WSJ - Wal-Mart Settles Illegal Campaign Contribution Case

July 20, 2006 - HTP - HCRG Participates in Maxwell Street Days

July 6, 2006 - HTP - Citizens Group Will Monitor Wal-Mart's Progress

July 5, 2006 - WBDN - Environmental Group Challenges Wal-Mart

July 1, 2006 - MJS - Wal-Mart Tops Medicaid Rolls In Wisconsin - Again!!

June 28, 2006 - Press Release from Roll Call - Wal-Mart Flip-Flops on Minimum Wage

June 27, 2006 - Press Release - MEA - Wal-Mart and the Environment, appearing in Hartford Times Press 7/6/06

June 22, 2006 - HTP - Reconsider Wal-Mart decistion [Letter-to-the-Editor]

June 15, 2006 - Press Release - Economic Study Disproves Wal-Mart Claims

June 8, 2006 - HTP - Alderman Ziemer Speaks Out [Letter-to-the-Editor]

June 8, 2006 - HTP - Wal-Mart Offers Little To The Community [Letter-to-the-Editor]

May 25, 2006 - HTP - Wal-Mart Plan Raises Concerns [Letter-to-the-Editor]

May 20, 2006 - Wal-Mart Watch - Study Examinse Wal-Mart's Effect on Poverty Rates

May 11, 2006 - Press Release

May 4, 2006 - HTP - New Hartford Chamber of Commerce Director Weighs in on Wal-Mart Issue

May 4, 2006 - HTP - Questions Still Remain About Wal-Mart Plan [Letter-to-the-Editor]

May 4, 2006 - HTP - Citizens Group Forms in City of Hartford

April 28, 2006 - Editorial re: Walmart (Author unknown)

April 25, 2006 - Initial Press Release, a modified version of which was read to the Hartford Common Council on 4/25/06.

April 13, 2006 - HTP - Council Should Reconsider Wal-Mart Votes

April 11, 2006 - MJS - At hearing, state bankers oppose Wal-Mart plans

April 10, 2006 - DR - Objectors Make Case Against Wal-Mart Bank

April 5, 2006 - WBDN - Wal-Mart has an impact in Hartford

April 1, 2006 - WBDN - Write-In Files After Wal-Mart Gives Go-Ahead

April 1, 2006 - HEN - Council Favors Wal-Mart Resolutions

March 30, 2006 - WBDN - Approval Doesn't Deter Opponents

March 29, 2006 - WBDN - Wal-Mart approved, despite objections

March 24, 2006 - WBDN - Residents Attend Meeting to Hear Potential Impact of Wal-Mart Supercenter

March 18, 2006 - HEN - Commission Supports Wal-Mart Requests

Jan. 22, 2006 - MJS - Low prices, soaring pressures

October 26, 2005 - Wal-Mart Watch - Confidential memo reveals Wal-Mart stragegies to cut spending on employee health care and hire more part-time employees.

May 25, 2005 - More than 40% of the people who use BadgerCare are Wal-Mart employees

Aug. 14, 2001 - MCT - Wal-Mart Settles Complaint Accused of Below-Cost Prices

Feb. 2, 2001 - MCT - Wal-Mart Fires Back in Pricing Battle.pdf

Oct. 2, 2000 - MCT - Buyers Need to Look Beyond Low Prices

Sept. 29, 2000 - MCT - Wal-Mart's A Predator

Sept. 26, 2000 - MJS - Wal-Mart Faces State Charges of Illegally Cutting Prices

Sept. 26, 2000 - MCT - Wal-Mart Accused of Unfair Low Prices


Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA)

July 20, 2006 - MEA Letter to Plan Commission

Tracking "Big Box" developments in Wisconsin

May 2, 2006 - filing of comments with the US Army Corp of Engineers


HOT TOPICS

HEALTH CARE
Wal-Mart fails to provide health insurance to over half its employees. Who pays for it? We all do. Wal-Mart workers top Medicaid rolls in at least 16 states.
Read more.


WOMEN
Wal-Mart is the subject of the largest class action lawsuit in history by current and former female employees who were paid and promoted at significantly lower rates than their male co-workers.
Read more.


OUTSOURCING

If Wal-Mart were an independent nation, it would be China’s eighth-largest trading partner. Is Wal-Mart trading away America's future to fatten its corporate bottom line?
Read more.


LOCAL ECONOMIES

For every new Supercenter that Wal-Mart opens, two local supermarkets will close. How will this affect your town? Big box stores like Wal-Mart spend nearly four times less within local and state economies as local businesses do.
Read more.


WORKERS

The average pay for a Wal-Mart sales associate is $1,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. Business as usual? Not necessarily. Retail rival Costco pays its workers 65% more on average than Wal-Mart, yet earns more profits per employee.
Read more.


DISCRIMINATION
Two recent lawsuits by minority employees and customers have brought to light a disturbing pattern of racial discrimination by Wal-Mart.
Read more.

ENVIRONMENT
Wal-Mart has a long history of breaking environmental laws that its high-priced green-washing campaign can't hide. Its record of environmental abuse was described by one top law enforcement official as "widespread, systematic, repeated" and has incurred millions in fines from state and federal agencies.
Read more.


UNCHECKED GROWTH
Think Wal-Marts are everywhere you turn today? Just wait five years. Wal-Mart plans to nearly double its retail outlets in the U.S. by 2010 and has already demonstrated its willingness to play hardball with anyone who stands in its way.
Read more.


Authorized and paid for by HCRG
Michael Eggleston, Treasurer
Copyright 2006. Hartford Citizens for Responsible Government.
All rights reserved
.