Author of Wal-Mart book to speak Saturday in St. Paul

Liza Featherstone, author of the critically acclaimed book Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart,

will discuss her work Saturday, Feb. 19, at the St. Paul Labor Centre.

The program begins at 6 p.m. at the Labor Centre, 411 Mahoney (aka Main) St. in downtown St. Paul. Sponsors are the St. Paul Trades & Labor Assembly, the Service Employees International Union State Council and United Food & Commercial Workers Local 789.

In 2000, Betty Dukes, a 52-year-old black woman in Pittsburg, Calif., became the lead plaintiff in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, a class action representing 1.4 million women. In an investigation of this historic lawsuit, Featherstone found that Wal-Mart deprives women of the training they need to advance, relegates women to lower-paying jobs, demotes employees who object to discrimination and exploits Asian women in its Saipan sweatshops.

She also reveals the creative solutions Wal-Mart workers around the country have found ? like fighting for unions, living-wage ordinances, and child care options.