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[Carrie McLaren <stay.free AT verizon.net>]

In light of the news that Wal-Mart is planning to open a new store in 
Queens, and possibly Brooklyn as well, I've added these to the 
website (from Stay F---! #23):

"The Trouble with Wal-Mart: Whatever you've heard about the retail 
giant, it's a lot worse than you think. "
An interview with journalist Liza Featherstone, by Carrie McLaren
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/23/wal-mart-liza-featherstone.html

If there is one chain that stands above all others in deserving your 
wrath it is Wal-Mart. The most successful retailer in the world is, 
not coincidentally, a pioneer of some of the shadiest business 
practices imaginable. I'm not just talking about reckless sprawl, 
Kathy Lee's sweatshop line, or the censorship of popular music, but 
about Wal-Mart's uncanny knack for uncovering some of the most 
innovative ways to screw people over, all the while maintaining its 
wholesome, all-American image. For instance, the company locks 
late-shift employees in at night, forbidding them to leave the store. 
Managers have required workers to clock out yet stay on the job, in 
order to avoid paying them overtime. The company has hired illegal 
immigrants and forced them to work seven-day weeks without breaks. It 
spies on employees, fires anyone remotely suspected of union 
activity, violates child-labor laws, and discriminates against female 
employees.

It is this last misdeed that Liza Featherstone focuses on in her new 
book, Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at 
Wal-Mart. Featherstone, a New York--based journalist, chronicles the 
emergence of  Dukes v. Wal-Mart, a class-action suit by Wal-Mart's 
women workers that is currently winding its way through the courts. 
In telling the employees' stories, Featherstone discusses the broader 
societal impact of the retail giant, and the terrifying prospect of 
its continued growth. Wal-Mart thrives in part by offering poor and 
working-class people (its primary consumer base) the lowest prices 
around. But this boon to consumers is also a disaster for workers and 
local community members. That is, it hurts the very people it helps. 
Reading Featherstone's book made me realize that shopping at Wal-Mart 
is a little like smoking crack: the low-prices undoubtedly fill a 
need (particularly for the poor) but they only come back to bite you 
in the end. -- CM

STAY FREE!: In your book you discuss patterns of sex discrimination 
in Wal-Marts across the country. Women earn less; they can't get 
promoted; if they complain, they're punished; and so on. The 
plaintiffs in the current class-action suit have an airtight case. 
Did any of these women seriously consider pursuing private lawsuits? 
How did this end up as a class action?

LIZA FEATHERSTONE: Some of the women had filed claims with the Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission, but a lot of them wouldn't have 
pursued individual lawsuits, because most lawyers will say, "you 
don't want to do this." Small lawyers don't have the resources to 
take on a company of Wal-Mart's size. Some women have won lawsuits, 
and evidence from those cases informs this case, but women in general 
haven't had very good luck in getting lawyers to pursue Wal-Mart. So 
that's a reason why class action is a good strategy.

Continued at:
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/23/wal-mart-liza-featherstone.html

::::::::

Related article:

"Wal-Mart Pranked!"
A former employee gets his revenge
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/23/wal-mart-prank.html
by Joe the Peacock



::::::::  UPCOMING STAY F--- EVENTS

* * * Fri. February 4 - New York City - 6:30 PM
Interactive Telecommunications Program of NYU
(721 Broadway, 4th Floor)
I'm speaking on a panel -- End/Begin: New Directions in Activism -- 
with Clay Shirky (http://www.shirky.com) and Trebor Scholz 
(http://www.molodiez.org/). Come one, come all...


* * * March 24-26 - U of Iowa
"Collage as Cultural Practice"
http://www.uiowa.edu/~poroi/SIP/SIPcollage.htm

I'll be speaking at this nifty conference, which "seeks to examine 
interventionist collage practices in all media, with an emphasis on 
the social, political, and legal implications of this method of 
appropriation." Several folks involved with the Illegal Art Exhibit 
will be participating, including prankster/scholar Kembrew McLeod 
(who actually helped organize the festivities), Negativland's Mark 
Hosler, and filmmaker Craig Baldwin.



::::::::  OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

"Eyes on the Prize" Copyfight!

Thanks to copyright restrictions, Eyes on the Prize -- a classic 
documentary series about the Civil Rights Movement--has been 
unavailable for years. Now, in an effort to promote copyright reform, 
our friends at Downhill Battle have posted digital files of the film 
online and are encouraging people to host home screenings on February 
8:
http://www.downhillbattle.org/eyes/


::::::::

Let a Thousand Googles Bloom
by Lawrence Lessig
http://tinyurl.com/4acxf

A sharp LA Times editorial from Lawrence Lessig, pointing out the 
potential legal problems in Google's plan to digitize library books. 
Because current copyright law doesn't require owners to register 
their copyrights, figuring out which historial works are in the 
public domain and which aren't is often difficult and painstaking (if 
not impossible) research. Lessig's solution is a no-brainer: require 
registration.