Wal Mart Stampede: Where's Woody Guthrie?

Wal-Mart has successfully resisted unionization of its employees. New York State’s largest grocery union, Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, called the death of Mr. Damour “avoidable” and demanded investigations.

“Where were the safety barriers?” said Bruce Both, the union president. “Where was security? How did store management not see dangerous numbers of customers barreling down on the store in such an unsafe manner? This is not just tragic; it rises to a level of blatant irresponsibility by Wal-Mart.”

The New York Times also points out another fact that indicts Wal Mart, who set the scene, over the people who specifically trampled Mr. Damour. "Four other people, including a 28-year-old woman who was described as eight months pregnant, were treated at the hospital for minor injuries."

Woody Guthrie knew who the outlaws were. He was always writing about the hypocrisy of men who were called robbers for stealing bread or money because they were poor, versus men who stole money "with a fountain pen." Wal Mart wrote the advertisements that lured shoppers to the store. Wal Mart architects designed a store where there was not easy entrance and exit, because that is better for them to watch their wares come and go. Wal Mart works in public relations, lawsuits, and even lobbying, to make sure that they don't have to unionize.

Wal Mart's guilt resonates in the words of a Woody Guthrie song put to music by Billy Bragg on the album "Mermaid Avenue." In the song "The Unwelcome Guest", an outlaw reflects: "I've never took food from the widow and orphans, And never a hard working man I oppressed..." At Wal-Mart on Black Friday 2008, a worker died, and four other people, including a pregnant woman, were trampled. And, none of those victims were going to save anything close to the amount of money that the Wal-Mart CEO's were going to make, if sales were high on Black Friday.

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By Kimberly Wilder

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