Wal-Mart recently withdrew from consideration of an empty Filene’s store at a downtown crossing location in Boston, Massachusetts, with no reasons given. A few days later, over the Labor Day break, Mayor Tom Menino of Boston baked Wal-Mart’s beans by denouncing the corporation’s lousy labor record. According to an account in the Boston Herald, Mayor Menino told union leaders, “Wal-Mart is not fair to labor. I think it’s important to be fair to workers.” Wal-Mart would not respond to the Mayor’s slam, but the Labor Day crowd in Boston had little good to say about the Arkansas retailer. Boston Teachers Union President Richard Stutman challenged Wal-Mart’s record on child labor law violations, and took on the company’s long-forgotten Made In America campaign, now turned into Chinese take-out. The Greater Boston Labor Council also pledged to work “very, very hard along with community allies and elected officials to keep Wal-Mart out of the Greater Boston area.” “It’s a major priority for the Greater Boston Labor Council to alert consumers to the horrendous working conditions of Wal-Mart employees.” U.S. Congressman Michael Capuano, the Boston Teachers’ Union, and the United Food and Commercial Workers held a press conference in Boston urging back-to-school shoppers to bypass Wal-Mart, as part of a nationwide campaign.
Wal-Mart told the Herald the whole Labor Day event was a “publicity stunt” by the unions, but the Mayor’s sharp comments against the company could hardly be called a welcoming gesture by city officials. After hard times in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and now Boston, Wal-Mart is clearly suffering from a chronic case of the Urban Blues.
