Film Screening - WalMart: The High Cost of Low Price - and otherevents next week

Dear Anti-Sweatshop Activists,

There are lots of exciting events happening in the Bay Area as part of Higher Expectations Week, the national week of action against WalMart, November 13-19. Check it out!

(1) Tuesday, Nov 15, 7:30pm: Join Global Exchange and partners at La Pena for a film screening of WalMart: The High Cost of Low Price.
(2) Saturday, Nov 19, 12 noon: Take action at WalMart in Oakland to demand that they respect workers rights!
(3) Tuesday, Nov 15, 12 noon: Help make UC Sweatfree – build the demand for the alternative to WalMart!
See below for details for all events.

Film Screening - WalMart: The High Cost of Low Price


Join us for the new documentary from Robert Greenwald, producer/director of Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, the explosive 2004 documentary seen by millions worldwide.

Unchecked corporate greed is destroying families, and Wal-Mart is leading the way. WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price takes the viewer on a deeply personal journey into the every day lives of families struggling to fight goliath. From a small business owner in the Midwest to a preacher in California, from workers in Florida to a poet in Mexico, dozens of film crews on three continents bring the intensely personal stories of an assault on families and American values.

Over 6000 screenings in 19 countries and all 50 states are already in the works for an unprecedented week of education on the issue of Wal-Mart, November 13th through 19th. Join us on Tuesday to watch the film, learn about the impacts of Wal-Mart locally, and examine the intersection of Jewish values and economic justice.

Tuesday November 15th
Screening at 7:30, Doors open at 7 pm
La Pena Cultural Center
3501 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley 94705 (at Prince Street, close to the Ashby BART station)

This free community screening is hosted by Progressive Jewish Alliance, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy and Global Exchange. Let us know you’ll be there! RSVP to bayarea [at] pjalliance.org or call (510) 893-1063.

email: bayarea [at] pjalliance.org
phone: 510-893-1063
web: http://www.pjalliance.org <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=sitdgqbab.0.0.b4lof6aab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhttp://www.pjalliance.org>
Don't forget to RSVP... email us at bayarea [at] pjalliance.org or call (510) 893-1063.

WalMart Action: Demand Workers Rights


Make your voice heard! Stand up for real and lasting reforms from Wal-Mart during the national Wal-Mart week of action!

Saturday, November 19, 12 Noon
Outside the Oakland Wal-Mart
8400 Edgewater Drive, Oakland (near the Oakland Airport)

Contact: Global Exchange 415-558-6938, sweatfree [at] globalexchange.org

On November 13-19, over 400 organizations from across the country are coming together to stand up to Wal-Mart. Please join us outside the Wal-Mart in Oakland to educate Wal-Mart shoppers and fight for:

*HEALTH CARE. Wal-Mart fails to provide health insurance to over half of their employees, and Wal-Mart workers are atop the Medicaid rolls in at least 16 states. We demand that Wal-Mart provide affordable healthcare for all of its employees.

*FAIR LABOR PRACTICES. Wal-Mart has a long track record of worker abuse, from forced overtime to illegal child labor to relentless union-busting. The company is also the subject of the largest class action sex discrimination lawsuit in history. We demand that Wal-Mart stop discriminating against its employees and come clean on workers' rights violations.

*LOCAL AND INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES. Wal-Mart plans to nearly double its retail outlets by 2010 and will stop at nothing to steamroll their way into every town. For every new Supercenter that Wal-Mart opens, at least two local supermarkets and countless small businesses will close. Let’s stop Wal-Mart’s predatory growth by preventing new Wal-Marts from opening in the SF Bay Area.

For more info, and to get involved, please contact Global Exchange at 415-558-6938 and sweatfree [at] globalexchange.org.

For more information about Wal-Mart actions, including Bay Area screenings of the new film “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price,” see http://walmartwatch.com/

Sweatfree UC Action: Take-over the ASUC Student Store


Let customers know that the Cal apparel they are buying was made in a sweatshop. Urge the UC
Berkeley administration to adopt the United Students Against Sweatshops new campaign proposal.

Tuesday, November 15th
12 noon
ASUC Student Store, UC Berkeley
(Located on Upper Sproul Plaza at Telegraph and Bancroft)

Overview of Designated Suppliers Program (http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org)

University logo apparel goods will be sourced from a set of designated supplier factories that have been determined by universities to have affirmatively demonstrated full and consistent respect for the rights of their employees. In addition to respect for the standards currently embodied in university codes of conduct, these factories will also be required to meet two additional standards: demonstrable respect for rights of association – as evidenced by the presence of a legitimate, representative union or other representative employee body – and the payment of a livable wage. University licensees will pay these factories prices for their products sufficient to allow factories to achieve these standards, prices which will represent modest increases over industry norms, and will be expected to maintain the kind of long-term relationships with these factories necessary to allow for a reasonable degree of financial stability and job security. These factories will produce primarily or exclusively for the university logo goods market. For the UC system, the uniforms purchased by the university will also be sourced from the designated suppliers.

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Global Exchange Sweatshop-Free Campaigns
sweatfree [at] globalexchange.org 415-558-6938
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/sweatshops
2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA 94110

Remember to shop for sweatshop-free and Fair Trade products! Visit Global Exchange's Fair Trade stores on-line and retail in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Portland http://www.globalexchangestore.org

Global Exchange is a non-profit research, education, and action center
working for political, economic, environmental, and social justice on a
global scale. We work to increase international awareness among the U.S.
public emphasizing struggles for peace, justice, and equality while building
meaningful international partnerships.