PENNSYLVANIA SITE FIGHT: PANEL BEGINS PLANNING
Planning panel opens door for Wal-Mart [Patriot News (Penn.)]
While citizens groups around the midstate often try to keep Wal-Mart out, one in Newberry Twp. wants the retail giant to come in.
In 1995, Mary Updegraff and 6,000 others petitioned the Bentonville, Ark., retailer to build a store in Newberry Twp.
More than a decade later, her wish is close to reality.
For her petition-organizing efforts, Updegraff got a letter from the president of Wal-Mart and a promise to look into possibilities.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Friday, June 29 | 1 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Watch Report: “Work at Your Own Risk”
Wal-Mart Watch today released a new report on the retail giant’s workers’ inadequate workers’ compensation program that exposes serious risks to both its workers and the public. The report, titled “Work At Your Own Risk,” highlights ways Wal-Mart puts the health of their employees as risk while shifting the burden of caring for its on-the-job injured employees onto the taxpayer. It explains how Wal-Mart, the United States’ largest private employer, has a track record of difficulty in complying with state workers’ compensation laws, while putting its employees’ health in jeopardy. The study examines seven state case studies that have ramifications for the company’s operations in all 50 states. Key examples include:
- In 2001, the State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries made the unprecedented move of threatening to seize control of Wal-Mart’s entire injured worker program, after the company showed itself “unwilling or unable to manage its workers’ compensation program as required by law.” A decertification case ultimately was settled, but Wal-Mart is prohibited from self-administering its workers’ compensation program claims in Washington until 2010.
- In 2004, Maine amended the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act and began tracking workers’ compensation payments and claims challenges, finding Wal-Mart’s challenging of workers’ compensation claims was “off the charts.”
- Class action was filed in 2007 in Oklahoma for retaliation against employees who filed workers’ compensation claims. The charges include cutting hours, transferring employees to less desirable positions, and termination. There are over 30,000 people employed by Wal-Mart in Oklahoma.
- Individual stories reflect a policy, whether formal or informal, of fighting claims regardless of validity, and delaying payments as long as possible. The result is an increase in the number of employees forced onto federal and state programs to pay for treatment and subsidize lost wages, effectively shifting the cost of compensation workers away from Wal-Mart and onto taxpayers.
Click here to read the full report.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, June 28 | 19 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart hearings open up [Sentinel & Enterprise (Lancaster, Mass.)]
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_6240919?source=rssWal-Mart hearings open up [Sentinel & Enterprise (Lancaster, Mass.)
LANCASTER—Wal-Mart returned to the town spotlight on Tuesday evening, as conservation commission hearings on the retailer’s proposed 24-hour Supercenter opened.
Commissioners decided to hire a special independent consultant at Wal-Mart’s expense, saying they need the expertise on such a complex project. Tuesday’s discussion focused on how to proceed with the hearing, not the project’s engineering details, as members readied themselves for what they expect to be a long deliberation.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Thursday, June 28 | 0 comments | Permalink
VERMONT SITE FIGHT: PERMIT DEADLINE
Wal-Mart faces permit deadline [Bennington (Vt.) Banner]
BENNINGTON — The Vermont Environmental Court set a firmer deadline Monday for an out-of-state developer to double the size of the current Wal-Mart.
Jonathan Levy of Ohio won town permits in January 2006 to increase the size of the Wal-Mart in the Monument Plaza on Northside Drive to 112,000 square feet.After a year without any action, however, the Environmental Court said in March that Levy should file his Act 250 permit with the District 8 Environmental Commission by May 21. That date was not met.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Wednesday, June 27 | 0 comments | Permalink
MASSACHUSETTS SITE FIGHT: HEARING COMMENCES
Wal-Mart hearing opens [Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette Lancaster]Wal-Mart hearing opens [Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette Lancaster]
LANCASTER— The Lancaster Conservation Commission opened its first public hearing on the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on Old Union Turnpike last night, but did not take any testimony from the applicant’s engineers.
Commission member Thomas G. Kennedy will be chairing the public hearings on Wal-Mart and asked commission members to vote on several meeting protocols.
“Because of the size of this project, I think we need to be diligent in structuring these public hearings,” Mr. Kennedy said. “First, I think we should hire a consulting engineer to review all of the materials and the project itself.”
The commission approved the request, and the town will be putting out a request for proposals to hire an engineering firm to review notice-of-intent issues, public input and help write the final order of conditions decision.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Wednesday, June 27 | 0 comments | Permalink
NEW YORK SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART FOES LOSE IN HAMBURG
Wal-Mart foes lose in Hamburg [Buffalo (N.Y.) News]
One of the major hurdles preventing Wal-Mart from moving down Southwestern Boulevard in Hamburg has been removed with the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing the town of mishandling the project.
Hamburg First, a small organization represented by frequent Wal-Mart opponent David Seeger, had filed a suit in State Supreme Court alleging the town failed to follow proper environmental review procedures.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Wednesday, June 27 | 0 comments | Permalink
VERMONT SITE FIGHT: E-COURT SQUEEZES WAL-MART TO FILE PLAN
E-court squeezes Wal-Mart to file plan [Rutland (Vt.) Herald]
BENNINGTON — The Vermont Environmental Court nudged a developer planning to build a new Wal-Mart into moving forward during a status conference on the project on Monday in Barre.
The court accepted the applicant’s request that he be allowed to file for an Act 250 permit from the District 8 Environmental Commission by Oct. 1, according to Rutland lawyer Alan B. George, but also warned it may move forward with other hearings on the matter if the filing is delayed.
Ohio developer Jonathon Levy was granted permits in January 2006 to replace the town’s current Wal-Mart with a new 112,000-square-foot store at the same location as the present store on Northside Drive. Levy owns the shopping center that also houses a Price Chopper Supermarket and a Wendy’s restaurant.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Tuesday, June 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
Monsey, NY. Religious Community Concerned About Proposed Wal-Mart
Hasidic residents continue to protest planned Wal-Mart Eyewitness News [WABC-TV (New York, NY)]
A planned 215,000-square-foot Wal-mart in Monsey continues to draw community ire more than two years after it was unveiled.
The community of 28,000, mostly Hasidic Jews, say the store will disrupt their lives. They say they are fearful for the safety of families walking to synagogue. They wonder if frowned-upon items like bikinis and lingerie will be on display for all to see. They worry the outsiders who shop there will transform the atmosphere of the quiet, sheltered community.
“The reason a lot of us came to live in Monsey is because we wanted to raise our families in a safe place, away from the influences of the outside world,” resident Yossi Weinberger told the New York Times. “I’m not sure it will be easy to do it if we have such a gigantic piece of the outside world move to our town.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, June 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
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