Labor advocacy groups blast Wal-Mart

Attention, shoppers: A coalition of labor unions, healthcare advocates, and workplace safety watchdogs wants you to boycott Wal-Mart as you stock up on school supplies.

Standing in front of the Boston School Department yesterday, about two dozen labor activists, teachers, and politicians blasted the retail giant as blocking workers from unionizing, breaking child labor laws, and underpaying employees. The afternoon gathering was part of a coordinated effort in 34 cities nationwide to urge parents to shop elsewhere as they load up on backpacks and other supplies this month.

''Shame on Wal-Mart," said Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers Union. ''They want us to bring our kids to shop there, and they continue to exploit our children."

A spokeswoman for the company, based in Bentonville, Ark., derided the boycott as a ''shameful" stunt bankrolled by the country's two major teacher unions: the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

''We don't think it's fair to have teachers dragged into politics," said Melissa O'Brien, spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, which has 3,600 stores nationwide. ''We know the sacrifices teachers and working families make, and that's why we are committed to low prices."

Yesterday's boycott was the latest protest against Wal-Mart since April by a group of at least 50 labor unions, environmentalists, and grass-roots community groups. The company, which has 48 stores in Massachusetts, faces a class-action lawsuit by female employees who accuse it of discrimination. The firm has also paid thousands in fines for violating child labor laws, including a $135,540 settlement with the US Department of Labor in February. Violations included allowing teenage workers to use equipment and machinery they were not supposed to operate because they were younger than 18.

During yesterday's press conference, two union members held up a giant report card that gave the company F's for breaking child labor laws, paying low wages, and discriminating against women.

''We're not asking for much," said US Representative Michael E. Capuano, a Somerville Democrat. ''We're simply asking that human beings be treated as human beings and that Americans be treated as Americans."

HollyAnna DePina, a senior at Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester, who spoke at the press conference, said she plans to tell friends not to shop at Wal-Mart.

''A company known as a family corporation should not be abusing these families by violating child labor laws and hurting these children," DePina said.

Consumers who did not take part in the press conference had varying responses to the allegations that the company is violating child labor laws. Some parents said they would think twice about shopping at Wal-Mart.

''There are some of us who would boycott it," said Lauren Murphy of Stoneham, a parent of three who shops at Wal-Mart about once a month. ''Until they realize that this isn't something people will put up with, absolutely, I won't patronize them."

But Lisa Lutts, a teacher at the Bates Elementary School in Salem who won a teaching award from Wal-Mart, said she wants more information before boycotting the store.

The company can be a good corporate citizen, Lutts said. The retailer gave $1,000 awards to teachers across the state in the last school year. When Wal-Mart officials visited her school to give her the money, they donated another $1,000 to buy books, Lutts said.

''I do know that they have been good to me and my school," Lutts said. ''Teachers don't get recognized very much."

In Massachusetts, Wal-Mart employs almost 11,800 workers. The state's most recent report on employers shows that 2,914 Wal-Mart employees in the Bay State, or 25 percent, use state-subsidized healthcare because they do not qualify for benefits at Wal-Mart or cannot afford them.

Speakers at the press conference contended that other large Massachusetts employers cover a bigger share of their workers.

Wal-Mart states that it provides insurance for 948,000 of its 1.2 million employees in the United States, or 79 percent. The company does not cover many employees, including students or retirees, because they get health benefits through their families or Medicare, said O'Brien, the company spokeswoman.

Anand Vaishnav can be reached at vaishnav@globe.com.