By Tim Saunders on
Steve Earle has slammed the plans for a new Walmart store that will be opening in LA’s Chinatown, saying “I’ve never known Walmart to be a good neighbor in any town it has ever moved in to.”
The singer/songwriter gave his support to a march last week that saw Tom Morello and Ben Harper join thousands of protesters as they marched to the construction site of the planned building from Los Angeles State Historic Park. Activists claim Walmart – the world’s largest private company – abuses the rights of its employees, pays low wages and provides substandard health benefits.
“We all know the devastating effects this could wreak on family-owned, independent businesses in the area,” protest organizers told KTLA TV. “Wal-Mart is notorious for cutting employee hours, thereby denying them access to shoddy health insurance plans, or, famously assisting new hires in filling out forms to receive government benefits such as Medicaid and food stamps.”
Steve Earle was unable to attend, but gave his support through a video in which he played a few lines of a new anti-Walmart song.
Copyright © 2012 Look to the Stars
