Taking the Mask off Walmart

Community activists picketed Walmart stores in Fresno and Sacramento as part of WakeUpWalmart’s weeklong public relations campaign prior to Halloween. The campaign urged Walmart to “Take Off Your Mask” and tell the ugly truth about its health care policies. 

The effort supported Health Care for America Now in its push for health care reform. The campaign included an open letter to Walmart CEO Mike Duke, as well as media events,  and billing outside Walmart stores, online letter-writing and telephone calls to members of Congress.

Special attention was called to Walmart’s assertion that it supports “employer mandates” that require companies to provide health care for their employees.

“We want to make sure that Walmart is held accountable for its public support of the employer mandate,” UFCW 8 President Jacques Loveall said. “We also want to

 challenge Walmart to lead by actions, not just words. “It is especially important that Congress look behind Walmart’s mask of hypocrisy to see the real company, not some sanitized version of it.” 

Walmart recently began running a television ad claiming that 94 percent of its workers have some type of health care.

However, Walmart’s health insurance actually covers only some 50 percent of its employees. The company also fails to mention that many of its workers are forced onto state health plans because they cannot afford the company’s plans. 

“Taxpayers foot the bill because Walmart doesn’t pay enough for these employees to afford health insurance,” Loveall said. “The cost of health care has been escalating for all businesses, including Walmart, so the model we have today needs to be changed. It needs reform.

That’s why it’s important that we educate the public and hold Walmart accountable.”

Official publication of UFCW 8-Golden State Jacques Loveall, President