American Rights at Work - New York Times: FEC should investigate Wal-Mart

New York Times: FEC should investigate Wal-Mart

The New York Times has called on the Federal Elections Commission to investigate Wal-Mart for illegally telling its workers how to vote. Wal-Mart has reportedly been “educating” its employees about the Employee Free Choice Act and intimidating its workers into voting for candidates who oppose the legislation:

…The Wall Street Journal reported that thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads had been called to mandatory meetings and told that if Democrats won in November they would likely pass a law to make it easier to unionize companies. According to The Journal, Wal-Mart executives warned that could force the company to cut jobs, while workers would be forced to pay union dues and might have to go on strike.

American Rights at Work, the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, and WakeUpWalmart.com filed a formal complaint with the FEC, because in holding these meetings, Wal-Mart may have broken election law. As the Times pointed out:

Telling workers who are paid by the hour — Wal-Mart department supervisors are hourly workers — how to vote is prohibited under the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Noting our complaint, the Times agreed, saying: