Noon--informational picket at Whole Foods in Silver Spring. Download and
print copies of this flyer to pass out to interested shoppers:
http://www.progressiveneighborsmd.org/boycott-flyer.pdf
Mike Hersh wrote:
> Join our informational picket at the Whole Foods location:
> Rain or shine: TOMORROW and Every Sunday morning 10 a.m. to Noon
> Spread the word! Tell your friends to come support healthcare!
>
> We'll meet here: 833 Wayne Ave. Silver Spring 20910
> http://maps.google.com/maps?q=833+Wayne+Ave+Silver+Spring+MD+20910
>
> Why Boycott Whole Foods? Because:
> John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods dishonestly attacks health reform that
> would prevent 44,789 deaths each year.
> Mr. Mackey argues that Americans have no right to health care--or even
> food, shelter, or clothing for that matter.
> Whole Foods retaliates against employees who try to organize to secure
> better pay, benefits and working conditions.
> Whole Foods employees cannot protest, picket or organize for fear of
> losing their jobs--so we have to speak for them!
>
> JOIN THE BOYCOTT--SHOP SOMEWHERE ELSE: A local Co-op, a farmer's
> market, My Organic Market, or a union shop.
>
> MORE INFORMATION: http://www.progressiveneighborsmd.org/wholefoods.php
>
> JOIN US TOMORROW and Every Sunday morning 10 a.m. to Noon--and don't
> shop Whole Foods
>
> John Mackey uses the money he makes when we buy at Whole Foods to
> promote myths and propaganda created by the insurance industry and big
> drug companies to derail health care reform. If you support health
> care reform and honest discussion about the issues facing our nation,
> it is time to send John Mackey and his friends a message. Tell them
> that the voice of ordinary Americans will be heard.
>
> Most Americans Support a Public Option:
> "All the national polls show a wide majority of Americans support the
> public option." -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
> "Poll results tend to back up Reid's assertion that voters approve the
> public option." -- Christian Science Monitor (10/27/09)
>
> Most Doctors, the AMA, and AARP Support a Public Option:
> "A majority of physicians (62.9%) support public and private options.
> Only 27.3% support private only." -- New England Journal of Medicine
> (9/14/09)
>
> "I want to thank both organizations again for their support, and I
> urge Congress to listen to AARP, listen to the AMA and pass this
> reform for hundreds of millions of Americans who will benefit from
> it." -- President Obama
>
> "[T]he American Medical Association and AARP endorsed legislation
> drafted by top House Democrats. The AARP, the nation's largest
> organization of older Americans, is a nonpartisan group that advocates
> for people 50 and older. The AMA, historically an opponent of health
> care reform, is considered one the nation's most influential doctors'
> advocacy groups." -- CNN (11/05/09)
>
> John Mackey is not "speaking out against Obama." He is *lying* about
> the facts on healthcare, and thereby speaking out against everyone.
> He's entitled to his opinions. He is not entitled to his own "facts,"
> which really aren't facts at all. That said, Mackey is legally allowed
> to lie. We're at least as allowed to call him on his lies, and also
> deny him as best we can the megaphone he uses to push his lies.
>
> A few people have complained this boycott would inconvenience them,
> but that's a small price to pay when the alternative includes rapidly
> increasing insurance costs which are choking our economy, and killing
> 44,789 Americans each year. Research released "in the American Journal
> of Public Health estimates that 45,000 deaths per year in the United
> States are associated with the lack of health insurance. If a person
> is uninsured, 'it means you're at mortal risk,' said one of the
> authors, Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at
> Harvard Medical School. The researchers examined government health
> surveys from more than 9,000 people aged 17 to 64, taken from
> 1986-1994, and then followed up through 2000. They determined that the
> uninsured have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those with
> private health insurance as a result of being unable to obtain
> necessary medical care. The researchers then extrapolated the results
> to census data from 2005 and calculated there were 44,789 deaths
> associated with lack of health insurance." See:
> http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/18/deaths.health.insurance/index.html
>
> Some express concerns that a boycott would hurt Silver Spring
> economically. This fear is unfounded. Silver Spring is a thriving
> center with countless shops, restaurants, and even several
> alternatives for grocery shopping. Whole Foods is an overpriced, "big
> hype" outlet for products generally available elsewhere--at more
> reasonable prices. Shop co-ops, farmers' markets, or union-friendly
> grocery stores. Boycott Whole Foods without any concerns that you'll
> be hurting Silver Spring. Employees dislocated by the boycott can find
> jobs with real health benefits and better conditions elsewhere when
> the shift of consumers to other retailers create new jobs at better
> places. Keep in mind, Whole Foods--for all its high prices and
> hype--is not a good employer.
>
> The "free healthcare" Whole Foods used to provide was high deductible,
> high co-pay, illusory insurance. That means his employees thought they
> had real coverage, until they needed it. Then they found their
> out-of-pocket costs made this "free insurance" worth about what they
> paid for it. Then, Whole Foods began to charge them for that, and
> refused to let them have real health insurance. Bad deal for them, but
> what choice did they have? None. That's where this mendacious Op-Ed
> comes in. Mackey, not happy with preventing his own employees from
> have free choice to secure decent insurance for themselves and their
> family is now working to prevent everyone he can from having free
> choice to secure decent insurance.
>
> Who is John Mackey to deny us free choice, using lies and "fake
> facts," leveraging his prestige as CEO of a presumably moderate or
> even liberal chain of stores? Who is he to mock choice and attack
> competition? This is business as usual for Mackey who relies on
> anti-competition and deception. The FTC investigated Whole Foods
> intention to eliminate all other consumer choices in the high-end
> "healthy" food market nationally--all to give Whole Foods the monopoly
> power to jack up its prices.
>
> We support honest discussion. Mackey doesn't. He tries to trick people
> with false claims and propaganda. Mackey taking $1 in salary is a
> gimmick, another bit of deception. Mackey makes $millions in bonuses
> and still benefits from stock and/or options. To be clear: He can
> *say* whatever he wants (he can even keep lying about healthcare here
> and in other nations). We can *shop* wherever we want. We don't care
> what his compensation is, or even if he *pays* to work for Whole
> Foods. After he tipped his hand with his dishonest Op-Ed, he won't be
> getting any $1 dollars--or $100 per bag of groceries--from many
> moderates, liberals or progressives.
>
>
