Wal-Mart foes fight development nationwide

Wal-Mart officials paint many of the battles as representing niche groups with specific agendas, such as those fighting to unionize Wal-Mart workers or get the company to pay its workers more and offer better benefits.

Some community organizers have accepted money from union labor groups and other anti-Wal-Mart interests, such as grocers who stand to lose business from Wal-Mart competition. Still, many communities also say they received substantial backing from individual members of their communities, and note that individual citizens have devoted hours of volunteer time to the cause.

In Littleton, for example, Brinkman said the group received money from a local food workers union but also did plenty of independent fund-raising.

“There’s not one of us that hasn’t written a substantial amount of personal checks to cover the cost of this fight,” she said.

She insists the community group is concerned about local impact, not someone else's national agenda.

Gramm, who helped oppose Wal-Mart in Concord, Calif., said many volunteers stayed up late into the night for a city council meeting, only to get up early the next morning to commute to their jobs.

"People thought that we were paid people who do this, and we’re not," she said.

However, there are some larger organizations that have had a hand in many Wal-Mart disputes. Those include ACORN, which represents low- and middle-income families and was involved in a failed Chicago effort. The Florida-based activist group WARN, which is a coalition of labor unions, environmentalists and others, said it is or has been involved in 26 Wal-Mart disputes.

In many towns, anti-Wal-Mart groups hasten to point out that they aren’t necessarily against development, or even other chain stores. Some Wal-Mart opponents say they regularly shop at its main competitor, Target. Others favor wholesale club operator Costco, which is known for paying above-average retail wages. Both cater to a higher-end clientele.

“Costco has been an example for us of what we would like Wal-Mart to do,” said Funke, of Bend.

Regardless of the ideology behind the fight, the actual dispute often comes down to whether the project will create untenable traffic concerns, increase police expenses or cause environmental harm — areas where experts say they often see the best practical chance of fighting Wal-Mart development.

“Wherever it’s a problem getting them to be accountable around corporate citizenship in the community, we’ll look for whatever handles are available,” said Wade Rathke, chief organizer for ACORN, which says its primary goal is to work for things like higher wages.

Funke, a longtime labor organizer who helped lead the charge in Bend, said he personally opposes Wal-Mart for ideological reasons but insists he wouldn’t have taken on the retailer’s development effort if he hadn’t seen a groundswell of community support. When 150 people showed up for a meeting, he felt he could fight for what he believes in and also respect the town’s wishes.

Still, Funke said he quickly dropped efforts in neighboring Redmond, Ore., after sensing there was little broad opposition to a planned Wal-Mart there. A Wal-Mart Supercenter is currently under construction.

Other organizers have started tweaking their approach based on community response.

WARN, which stands for WalMart Alliance for Reform Now, counts victories including a Wal-Mart site in St. Petersburg, Fla., in which the company eventually withdrew its plans.

But at another site in Sarasota, Fla., Rick Smith, Florida director for WARN, said his group is working with community members who want the bargains a Wal-Mart will bring. In that case, Smith said the group is pushing for Wal-Mart to provide things like better wages.

Eric Brewer, director of public affairs for Wal-Mart’s southeast operations, says the company withdrew from the St. Petersburg site because it couldn’t resolve traffic concerns.

“WARN’s involvement, while eye-catching, wasn’t the basis for our withdrawal of that application,” he said.

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