#WarOnPoor: NYC Union Protesters Demand Charities Reject Millions in Aid from Walmart
Friday, June 6th, 2014 by Victor Skinner
New York City labor leaders and their political beneficiaries made a spectacle of themselves this week in their mission to keep Wal-Mart and its everyday low prices out of the city.
The loony protestors, who pranced around City Hall Wednesday ripping up fake checks from Wal-Mart, contend that the retailer’s $3 million in donations to local charitable organizations over the past year should be returned because Wal-Mart is not welcome in New York City, the Epoch Times reports.
We wonder if the needy people who benefit from those donations want to see the money sent back. If the company is so terrible, why not take its money and do some good with it?
Of course, none of this really has anything to do with Wal-Mart’s charitable endeavors.
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest private employer, does not employ unionized workers, which is why NYC labor leaders have successfully prevented the superstore chain from doing business in the city.
“Twenty-seven council members, including Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, also signed on to an open letter condemning Wal-Mart’s philanthropic efforts,” according to the news site.
“It is tainted dangerous money. They didn’t care about you before. So question yourselves why are you suddenly giving me all this money now,” Bertha Lewis, former head of the disgraced ACORN outfit and founder of The Black Institute, said at the rally.
Lewis has a long-documented vendetta against Wal-Mart, as evidenced by this ridiculous video of her at The Church of Earthaluja in New York City in 2011. Her hatred for Wal-Mart – which she likens to the devil – apparently transcends into her faith.
Others at the rally were obviously more concerned about their own self interests and the grip of organized labor on the city’s lucrative labor market.
“Wal-Mart … they come in, tear down good jobs. No pensions, very little in the way of benefits, and my members aren’t going to stand for it,” said Anthony Speelman, an official with the city’s Grocery Workers’ Union.
A lot of New York City residents, however, shop at Wal-Marts all the time.
“In 2010, New York City residents spent nearly $200 million at Wal-Mart stores in the New York Metropolitan area. Among them, Queens residents spent $84 million, the most of all five boroughs,” The Epoch Times reports.
“Wal-Mart makes organic food affordable for the average household,” Manhattan electrician Edward Williams told the news site. “My family, there’s about eight of us, get in a van once a month and drive to Jersey to go to Wal-Mart. I think it would be great if they opened one in New York City.”
http://www.progressivestoday.com/union-radicals-hate-wal-mart-so-much-they-dont-want-the-company-to-contribute-to-new-york-city-charities/#more-2436
