Walmart files restraining order against protesting labor groups
Source: MSNBC
Ned Resnikoff
This week, labor activists from around the country are converging on Bentonville, Ark. in an attempt to disrupt Walmart’s annual shareholder meeting and draw attention to the plight of striking Walmart employees.
But if those protesters decide to enter any Walmarts in Arkansas, they’d better be planning on buying something; thanks to a ruling by the state’s Benton County Circuit Court, members of the labor group OUR Walmart and the labor union UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) are forbidden from doing anything on Walmart property other than shopping.
Striking Walmart employees will still be allowed to picket under the terms of the restraining order [PDF] approved by Judge John Scott on Monday. But OUR Walmart, UFCW, and “all other persons or entities who act in concert with them” are prohibited from joining the workers. While the order doesn’t get more specific than that, such a broad classification could include national coalition partners such as American Rights At Work (ARAW), local grassroots organizations, laid-off Walmart employees, and employees of Walmart contractors.
“It’s very disconcerting that they’re tacking this tack,” said ARAW research director Erin Johansson. “We’ve covered a lot of companies who have tried to silence their employees when standing up, and I’ve never seen them go after community leaders this way.”
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Read more: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/06/05/walmart-files-restraining-order-against-protesting-labor-groups/
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(Several striking Walmart employee and their supporters hold a rally before they board a bus on May 30, 2013 in Pico Rivera, California. Striking Walmart employees and their supporters boarded a bus to start a 1,500-mile bus journey titled “Ride for Respect,”‘ ending at the company’s annual meeting at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images))
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