Sam, ezra and myself in Grand Falls, Nfld.Procrastinating on my thesis this month has been aided by my involvement in the Wal-Town tour, a project of ¸berculture. For the past couple of weeks, myself and five other activists have been on a tour of Eastern Canada sharing information about the destructive business practices of Wal-Mart. Weíve been followed by a photojournalist and a film crew, the latter of which is producing a film on the issue for the NFB.
The tour has focused on what we call the Three Pillars of Wal-Martís Success. The first is the exploitation of labour in developing countries, where the majority of Wal-Martís products are manufactured in shameful conditions. Secondly, we highlight Wal-Martís poor labour practices in North America, where low wages and union busting is the norm. Third, Wal-Martís predatory business practices put local shops out of business, while money is drained out of the community and into Wal-Martís profit margin each and every day.
We are currently in St. Johnís, Newfoundland, where we have a presentation planned for Wednesday at Memorial University as well as a theatrical creative action at the Wal-Mart itself on Thursday. During the tour I and other tour members have been blogging at our website, www.wal-town.com, which is also where you can find information about the tour and about our target de jour, Wal-Mart. I should be back blogging as usual at projectcommunis.org once the tour is over next week, and I return to the mainland. Until then, stay informed, and shop local!