Is Walmart Good for America? Conference
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On June 4, 2005, over five hundred people attended a conference entitled, "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" on the UCLA campus, organized by the Labor Center. The conference was the culmination of a six-month Community Scholars class during which a dozen labor and community leaders worked with UCLA graduate students on a research project to determine the impact of Wal-Mart on the national and international economy.
Speakers from China, Canada, and Mexico all spoke on the global impact of Wal-Mart on their countries. Senator Gloria Romero discussed a recent campaign to prevent Wal-Mart from opening a store in Rosemead, and Assemblymember Jerome Horton reported on the successful campaign to stop the opening of a Wal-Mart store in Inglewood. Senator Richard Alarcón discussed the Wal-Martization of the economy and the growing problems of poverty in California.
During the noontime session, there was a lively debate on the topic, "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?," featuring both pro-Wal-Mart and anti-Wal-Mart speakers. The panelists included Professor Nelson Lichtenstein from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Jonathan Tasini from the Economic Futures Group. KNX Reporter Luis Torres moderated the panel.
The event also featured informational workshops that provided participants with many different avenues to learn more about Wal-Mart and how they could get involved with organizing campaigns. The morning session included a series of workshops on issues of race and gender relating to Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart's history with labor issues, its relationship with the ports and the trucking industry, and its impact on the global economy.
The afternoon workshops gave participants the opportunity to participate in an analysis of Wal-Mart to identify its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Participants took part in a strategic workshop on analyzing and discussing the different campaigns in Southern California against Wal-Mart, and the session ended with a workshop on building an organizing campaign strategy against Wal-Mart.
The conference concluded with a dynamic and energetic panel on shifting the political terrain and building a long-term coalition to focus on Wal-Mart. The speakers included David Sickler, longtime labor leader and organizer of the Coors boycott campaign; Kate O'Hara from Greenbelt Alliance; Dolores Huerta from the United Farm Workers; and other labor and community leaders.
The Community Scholars also prepared a special poster on the national and international impact of Wal-Mart, which was distributed to all of the participants.