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Walmart warns workers not to use app helping them understand company's labor rules
RT | November 15, 2016
OUR Walmart, a worker-led activist group, has devised a new app, now available for Android smartphones, that uses artificial intelligence to help workers understand company policies and legal rights. Walmart has told workers to not download the app.
The app, WorkIt, was released Monday to offer advice to Walmart workers on a host of issues, according to OUR Walmart.
OUR Walmart is a labor group, but not a union, as Walmart does not offer collective bargaining rights, which has thousands of paying members and has organized Black Friday protests at Walmart locations nationwide.
The OUR Walmart organization teamed up with software development company Quadrant 2 to develop WorkIt. The app uses IBM's Watson artificial intelligence bot to answer concerns or questions of employee, who are only identified on the app by their username and store position. Watson accesses a database built by Walmart workers to address user questions. When Watson cannot answer one of about 200 queries, "there is a peer network of experts that will interact with the users," Jason Van Anden, founder of Quadrant 2, told the Wall Street Journal. Watson then has the ability to learn how to answer certain questions from the peer experts.
For its part, Walmart has already addressed store managers about the app, warning that OUR Walmart is "increasingly trying to get our associates to turn over personal information to the union by using deceptive and slick looking social media and mobile apps," according to a document reported by the WSJ.
"We just wanted to give you a heads up that if someone tries to get you to download an OUR Walmart work-related app on your mobile device, you may unknowingly be giving away valuable personal information like your location and personal contact information that the union can use however it wants," Walmart wrote to store managers, according to Bloomberg.
"There is no way to know if the details this group is pushing are correct," Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg said in a statement. "Our people are smart and see this for what it is; an attempt by an outside group to collect as much personal and private information as possible."
The app does not track location or ask users to submit their location, according to Cat Huang, a technologist who worked on the app.
"We're not going to sell the data, ever," OUR Walmart co-director Andrea Dehlendorf told Bloomberg. "We will share it with researchers and use it to inform conversations with Walmart. But it's not part of the revenue model."
The app's utility emerged in the days when Walmart employees had limited time to access information on the company's extensive human resources policy guide held on the Walmart intranet known as Wire. (The company says it has offered more access to its policies since early 2016, Bloomberg reported.) In addition, queries to OUR Walmart's Facebook page became to much for the group to handle.
OUR Walmart directors raised money from various groups, like the Workers Lab, and hired a technologist, Huang, and a developer, Van Anden, to help create the app.
The app will also assist OUR Walmart by gathering data on specific issues that impact employees, allowing the group to address the company with hard proof of the employee experience.
"It will give us real evidence to talk to the company about what's broken," Dehlendorf told Bloomberg. "We have to be in a place where we can say, 'This is the truth. We have massive data.'"
The app does not access Walmart's policy guide directly, but offers "interpretations of the policies," Huang told Bloomberg.
OUR Walmart said it expects about 14,000 employees, or around 1 percent of Walmart workers, to download the app by the end of 2017.
Hillary Clinton's Strong Proclivity toward the Use of Force
By Edward S. Herman | Dissident Voice | November 5, 2015
Diana Johnstone has written an extremely valuable book on Hillary Clinton, which not only examines in detail Mrs. Clinton's political history and record, but places them in their evolving political context, which enlightens readers on the domestic and international political environment within which she works and into which she adapts and serves. Mrs. Clinton played an important role in the termination of Honduran democracy in 2009 and in the war on Libya in 2011, during her term as Secretary of State, and she had a lesser role but staked out definite positions in the 1999 war on Yugoslavia and the escalating hostilities against Russia in more recent years. Johnstone has excellent analyses of these cases: in her introductory chapter (a section on "A Taste of Hillary in Action: Hypocrisy on Honduras") and in separate chapters on Yugoslavia ("Yugoslavia: the Clinton War Cycle"), Libya ("A War of Her Own") and Russia ("Not Understanding Russia").
As Johnstone indicates Mrs.Clinton quickly and clearly displayed her regressive, intellectually lightweight and hypocritical policy agenda in connection with the June 28, 2009, military coup in Honduras. She attended an OAS meeting in Honduras just a few weeks earlier, where she saw as her first order task how to prevent the lifting of the 47-year-old ban excluding Cuba, which a large majority of the OAS now considered "an outdated artifact of the Cold War". Johnstone notes that Hillary and staff solved the problem by pouring the old wine into a new bottle. "No more Cold War, no more 'communist threat'. 'Given what President Obama had said about moving past the stale debates of the Cold War,' Hillary wrote in her memoir Hard Choices, 'it would be hypocritical of us to continue insisting that Cuba be kept out of the OAS for the reasons it was first suspended in 1962, ostensibly its adherence to 'Marxism-Leninism' and alignment 'with the communist bloc.' It would be more credible and accurate to focus on Cuba's present-day human rights violations, which were incompatible with the OAS charter.'"
As Johnstone points out, Hillary sees nothing hypocritical in inventing a transparent device to keep Cuba out while pretending to let Cuba in: "What if we agreed to lift the suspension, but with the condition that Cuba be reseated as a member only if it made enough democratic reforms to bring it in line with the charter? And, to expose the Castro brothers' contempt for the OAS itself, why not require Cuba to formally request readmittance?" Indeed, this proved just hypocritical enough to persuade the fence-hangers, Brazil and Chile, to go along. Thus Hillary began her diplomatic career in Latin America by rebranding hostility to any independent socio-economic policy from "anti-communism" to defense of "human rights", by transparent hypocrisy enforced by arm-twisting, and by enforcing the Monroe Doctrine in both domestic and international affairs.
During and after the Honduran coup that followed, the Clinton State Department refused to call it a coup, and engaged in steady apologetics and protection of the coup leaders and their terroristic and corrupt new order. As Johnstone concludes, following a useful account of the negative outcome: "When a white hat appears on the horizon of a wretched place like Honduras proclaiming his intention to try to improve conditions [here the ousted president Manuel Zelaya], couldn't the rich and powerful United States react otherwise than stigmatizing him as a potential 'dictator'? Instead of giving an advocate of change the opportunity to try, Hillary's State Department connived to help bundle him out of power. All is back to normal; however below normal that particular normal happens to be…. As we will see throughout this book, the foreign policy of Hillary Clinton amounts to the application of an enlarged Monroe Doctrine to the entire world."
Mrs. Clinton has portrayed herself as an employer of "soft power," but in reality Johnstone shows that she has had a strong proclivity toward the use of force. She hasn't been bothered by its extensive use in post-coup Honduras, she pushed for it in Yugoslavia in 1999, she supported the invasion of Iraq, and it was central in her own war in Libya in 2011. She has been extremely hostile to Putin and seems to be anxious to fight with him in Ukraine and possibly elsewhere..She was a strong supporter of the war-mongering Madeleine Albright during Bill Clinton's tenure, and her own appointments have included a string of militant women –Victoria Nuland, Susan Rice, and Samantha Power. Johnstone observes that: "A salient trait of the new school of women diplomats is that they are strikingly undiplomatic. Indeed, Madeleine Albright's greatest diplomatic success [in the Yugoslavia war], was to obstruct diplomacy." Secretary of State Clinton also appointed the notorious neocon husband of Victoria Nuland, Robert Kagan, as an adviser.
One of her soft power triumphs was the intense politician-media-human rights organizations' campaign on the trials and tribulations of the Pussy Riot group in Russia. This group achieved notoriety by arrests following their occupation and interruption of the service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, which offended worshipers on the spot with anti-Christian obscenities, not by any "political messages." They had their escapade videotaped, with a post-occupation addition of an attack on Putin. This was made in the West into a telling proof of a free speech crackdown, and by Putin, although the police had been called in by Church officials. And this group had been carrying out similar antics for some years without arrest or trial. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch made this into major campaigns in defense of Russian freedom, although these same organizations put up no defense at all for Chelsea Manning, Thomas Drake or Edward Snowden. A similar group Semen, specializing in female bare breast exhibition, had similar success in France. Hillary Clinton was proud to be photographed with the Pussy Riot heroines, and her former State Department associate Susan Nossel, pushed the Pussy Riot-anti-Putin campaign aggressively from her position as head of Amnesty International (a low point in AI history). Johnstone has a valuable analysis of this episode and campaign.
Johnstone places Mrs. Clinton in the context of the triumph of the military-industrial complex and the derived forward actions of the warfare state. The gradual triumph of the MIC and rising inequality have made domestic reform out of bounds for political leaders in this country. But aggressive actions abroad are actually required to demonstrate belief in the "exceptional" nation called upon to "shape" the world in accord with U.S. free market ideology, and to feed the demands of the MIC. Johnstone argues that "The United States no longer even makes war in order to win, but rather to make sure that the other side loses." Thus the fact that Mrs. Clinton's wars were not won in any meaningful sense has not dented her popularity where it counts. She has kept the MIC busy and dealt blows to proper targets.
The American people swallow this nonsense because the wars are kept at a distance, no U.S. homes are blown up, and "for most Americans, U.S. wars are simply a branch of the entertainment industry, something to hear about on television but rarely seen." Popular illusions are maintained by the "political branch of the entertainment industry: politicians, mass media news coverage, defense intellectuals, commentators." These are sponsored by members of the underlying power structure, and Johnstone suggests that we can learn about these sponsors by examining the list of Clinton Foundation donors who have contributed millions of dollars, supposedly for charity:
"Eight digit donors [10 million or more] include: Saudi Arabia, the pro-Israel Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk, and the Saban family."… Seven digit sponsors include: Kuwait, Exxon Mobil, 'Friends of Saudi Arabia,' James Murdoch, Qatar, Boeing, Dow, Goldman Sachs, Walmart, and the United Arab Emirates," Earlier in her book Johnstone notes that billionaire Haim Saban was especially taken with Mrs. Clinton, declaring in a Bloomberg interview in July 2014 that he would contribute "as much as needed" to elect her to the presidency; also mentioning that "I'm a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel."
Johnstone asks "What is it about the Clintons that makes them so popular, particularly with Saudi Arabia?" She answers: "With friends like that, you need enemies. And Hillary knows where to find them – in countries these friendly donors don't like. In her driving ambition to be the First Woman President of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton has made herself a figment of the collective imagination by fitting herself into the role of top salesperson for the ruling oligarchy:
• She has shifted her interest from children's rights, a field with no big money backers, to promotion of military power (also known as 'the only language they understand').
• She has spread the message that U.S. interference in other countries is motivated by the generous impulse to spread 'our ideals' to the dark corners of elsewhere.
• She readily treats foreign heads of state with dehumanizing contempt, declaring that they have 'no soul', or 'no conscience', and dismissing them as lowly creatures that 'must go'.
• She 'misspeaks', but sees nothing wrong with that. In politics, who doesn't 'misspeak'? She is not there to tell the truth, but to tell her story.
• She can still pose as a woman whose only aspiration is to 'break the glass ceiling' for the benefit of all women, who will now be able to fill all the top jobs in the country… thanks to Hillary!"
"In short, she has used all the stereotypical clichés of the 'exceptional America' narrative as rungs in her ladder to the top. Hillary Clinton's performance as Secretary of State was a great success in one respect: it has made her the favorite candidate of the War Party. This appears to have been her primary objective. But Hillary Clinton is far from being the whole problem. The fundamental problem is the War Party and its tight grip on U.S. policy."
Diana Johnstone has written an exceptional book that enlightens on Hillary Clinton's history, role and threat and the war system context in which she thrives.
• First Published at Z Magazine. November 2015
Human resources: Walmart hired Lockheed Martin to keep tabs on employees
RT | November 25, 2015
Walmart hired global security giant Lockheed Martin a few years ago to monitor activism in its massive workforce, according to new documents. The defense contractor tracked employees' social media and reported protest participation to the retail giant.
Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor, provided Walmart, the world's largest retailer, with intelligence-gathering and surveillance services in 2012, according to a lengthy report by Bloomberg Businessweek. The news has emerged just before Black Friday protests by a union-funded group called OUR Walmart, the report claims. Participants demand higher wages and reliable scheduling for Walmart employees.
While Walmart publicly dismissed the demonstrations as "just another union publicity stunt," their subsequent actions indicate that they took it seriously. In addition to hiring Lockheed Martin to keep tabs on employees' social media feeds, the companies ranked stores by labor activity and monitored employees who were known to be involved in labor activism, according to Bloomberg.
The defense contractor offers a product called LM Wisdom, which is marketed as a tool for fighting drug and human trafficking, but which Walmart used to track employees in 2012 and 2013. Lockheed Martin analysts would follow the Twitter and Facebook feeds of workers and then report information about labor activism back to the company's corporate headquarters. The defense contractor also put together a map of likely routes for five "Ride for Respect" bus caravans that were sent to HQ to demonstrate.
In one of the documents obtained, when asked about the company's relationship with Lockheed Martin, Walmart Senior Vice President of Labor Relations Karen Ann Cassey said that the company was even "partnering with the FBI/the Joint Terrorism Task Force" to monitor protesters that planned to go to the company's headquarters, saying that similar protests have become violent.
Walmart didn't comment on the specific allegations in the Bloomberg story, but sent a statement via email arguing that the measures had been taken to protect their shoppers, employees and business.
"Unfortunately, there are occasions when outside groups attempt to deliberately disrupt our business and on behalf of our customers and associates we take action accordingly," the statement reads.
Bloomberg retrieved the information on Lockheed Martin's labor-monitoring services by acquiring documents ahead of a National Labor Relations Board hearing. The case concerns Walmart's alleged history retaliation against employees who protested against the retailer.
Earlier this year, Walmart announced that its company-wide minimum wage would go from $9 in 2015 and [to] $10. While OUR Walmart touts this wage increase as a victory, they remain steadfast in their demand for a minimum of $15 an hour. The group will be protesting this Black Friday for the fourth year in a row.
READ MORE: Walmart accused of dodging US taxes by storing $76 billion in assets abroad
Monsanto and the Subjugation of India
By COLIN TODHUNTER | CounterPunch | June 12, 2015
After a study of GMOs over a four-year plus period, India's multi-party Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture recommended a ban on GM food crops stating they had no role in a country of small farmers. The Supreme Court appointed a technical expert committee (TEC), which recommended an indefinite moratorium on the field trials of GM crops until the government devised a proper regulatory and safety mechanism. As yet, no such mechanism exists, but open field trials are being given the go ahead. GMO crops approved for field trials include rice, maize, chickpea, sugarcane, and brinjal.
The only commercially grown genetically modified (GM) crop gown in India at this time is Bt cotton. It is hardly the resounding success story the pro-GMO lobby would like us to believe.
Pushpa M Bhargava is founder director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, India. Writing in the Hindustan Times, he states that
* Bt cotton is far from having been an unqualified success in India. It has worked only in irrigated areas and not in rain-fed regions that represent two-thirds of the area under cotton cultivation in the country.
* Out of over 270,000 farmers' suicides, Bt cotton farmers constitute a substantial number.
* In Andhra Pradesh, there have been deaths of thousands of cattle that grazed on the remnants of Bt cotton plants after harvesting of cotton.
* Resistance to pests in Bt cotton has developed over the years. There has also been a marked increase in the number of secondary pests such as mealy bug.
* The soil where Bt cotton has been grown over a prolonged period has become incapable of sustaining any other crop.
* Some 90 percent of the member countries of the United Nations, including almost all countries of Europe, haven't permitted GM crops or unlabelled GM food.
* There are over 500 research publications by scientists of indisputable integrity, who have no conflict of interest, that establish the harmful effects of GM crops on human, animal and plant health, and on the environment and biodiversity.
* On the other hand, virtually every paper supporting GM crops is by scientists who have a declared conflict of interest or whose credibility and integrity can be doubted.
* The argument that we need GM technology to feed the increasing population of India is fallacious. Even with low productivity, which can be increased, India even now produces sufficient grain in the country to take care of its requirements.
* India can double its food production by using non-GM technologies, such as molecular breeding.
* Few chronic toxicity tests have been done anywhere on GM food crops. Whenever these tests have been done, GM food has been shown to lead to cancer.
Back in 2003, after examining all aspects of GM crops, eminent scientists from various countries who formed the Independent Science Panel concluded:
"GM crops have failed to deliver the promised benefits and are posing escalating problems on the farm. Transgenic contamination is now widely acknowledged to be unavoidable, and hence there can be no co-existence of GM and non-GM agriculture. Most important of all, GM crops have not been proven safe. On the contrary, sufficient evidence has emerged to raise serious safety concerns that if ignored could result in irreversible damage to health and the environment. GM crops should be firmly rejected now."
On a similar note, writing in The Statesman Bharat Dogra quotes Professor Susan Bardocz as saying:
"GM is the first irreversible technology in human history. When a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) is released it is out of our control; we have no means to call it back…."
Dogra also notes that 17 distinguished scientists from Europe, USA, Canada and New Zealand wrote to the former Indian Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh warning against "the unique risks (of GM crops) to food security, farming systems and bio-safety impacts which are ultimately irreversible." This letter adds:
"The GM transformation process is highly mutagenic leading to disruptions to host plant genetic structure and function, which in turn leads to disturbances in the biochemistry of the plant. This can lead to novel toxin and allergen production as well as reduced/altered nutrition quality."
Writing in The Hindu, Aruna Rodrigues states that the consensus on the negative impacts of GMOs in various official reports in India is remarkable.
Yet India seems to be pressing ahead with a pro-GMO agenda regardless. Little surprise then that Bhargava argues that the Central Government departments in India act as peddlers of GM technology, probably in collusion with the transnational corporations which market GM seeds.
There is no 'probably' about it and the collusion goes beyond GMOs.
The World Bank/IMF/WTO's goals on behalf of Big Agritech and the opening up of India to it are well documented. With the help of compliant politicians, transnational companies want farmers' lands and unmitigated access to Indian markets. This would entail the wholesale 'restructuring' of Indian society under the bogus banner of 'free trade', which will lead (is leading) to the destruction of the livelihoods of hundreds of millions [see this, this and this].
Moreover, Monsanto, Walmart and other giant US corporations had a seat at the top table when the Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture was agreed with the US. Monsanto also dominates the cotton industry in India and is increasingly shaping agri-policy and the knowledge paradigm by funding agricultural research in public universities and institutes: it is the "contemporary East India Company."
If further evidence were needed in terms of just who is setting the agenda, Vandana Shiva highlights the arm twisting that has gone on in an attempt to force through GMOs into India, with various politicians having been pushed aside until the dotted line for GMO open field testing approval was signed on.
And those like Shiva and Rodrigues who legitimately protest, resist or offer constructive alternatives are demonized by an Intelligence Bureau report whose authors might appear to some as having been sponsored by the very transnational corporations that are seeking to recast India in their own images.
Bhargava states that 64 percent of India's population derives its sustenance from agriculture-related activities. Therefore, whosoever controls Indian agriculture would control the country. And here lies the crux of the matter. To control Indian agriculture, the bedrock of the country, one needs to control only seeds and agro-chemicals. Monsanto and its backers in the US State Department are well aware of this fact. And to control Indian politicians is to control India.
US foreign policy has almost always rested on the control of agriculture:
"American foreign policy has almost always been based on agricultural exports, not on industrial exports as people might think. It's by agriculture and control of the food supply that American diplomacy has been able to control most of the Third World. The World Bank's geopolitical lending strategy has been to turn countries into food deficit areas by convincing them to grow cash crops – plantation export crops – not to feed themselves with their own food crops." – Professor Michael Hudson
US foreign policy is about power and control: the power to control food, states and entire populations.
Politicians in India and elsewhere continue to ignore the evidence pertaining to the dangers of GMOs. They are handmaidens of US corporate-geopolitical interests. The US relies on compliant politicians in foreign countries. These figures are just as important for furthering US goals in India as much as they are elsewhere.
Stop Corporate Welfare Kings
By Ralph Nader | CounterPunch | April 17, 2015
"Tax day" comes and goes each year, but unfortunately, the systemic issues that plague American taxpayers linger on without resolution well past the mid-April deadline.
The U.S. tax code has long been manipulated by corporate lobbyists and their corporate tax attorneys. (President Jimmy Carter once called the loophole-ridden tax laws "a disgrace to the human race.") A primary purpose of these perforations is to arrange the law and regulations so that certain categories of profit-rich companies can avoid paying their fair share to Uncle Sam.
In many states, it is a literal race to the bottom for elected officials to offer corporations sweeter tax deals to keep jobs in their locality — see the 2013 Boeing controversy in the state of Washington, in which the aerospace industry, much of which is made up of Boeing, was awarded $8.7 billion in tax breaks over 16 years to produce the 777X jetliner in-state. Notably, Boeing paid zero in federal income tax that year — along with many other major U.S. corporations such as GE and Verizon. Some of these Fortune 500 companies even get a rebate check!
According to Citizens for Tax Justice, "American Fortune 500 corporations are avoiding up to $600 billion in U.S. federal income taxes by holding more than $2.1 trillion" of retained profits offshore, which they designate as "permanently reinvested" to avoid a tax liability.
And of course, millionaires and billionaires often pay less in taxes than middle-class Americans do, taking full advantage of tax loopholes, deductions, deferrals and other forms of creative accounting. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives now intends to pass legislation to repeal the estate tax, which would see that "vast amounts of money that has never been taxed will be passed tax-free to the heirs of today's billionaires," according to Scott Klinger of the Center for Effective Government.
The end result is that, through a myriad of tax avoidance schemes, the wealthy 1 percent continue to profit using public resources, subsidies and infrastructure while the 99 percent disproportionately pay the bills for it — all while struggling to pay their own bills, mortgages, student loans, and more. And when Wall Street runs amok, it's the taxpayers who have paid the bills for the catastrophic damage as a result of regulatory surrender. Millions of these taxpayers also lost their jobs and pensions in the 2008-2009 Wall Street collapse of our economy.
This brings us to the Internal Revenue Service — which has been made into a dirty word to many Americans. Those Americans might be surprised to learn, however, that the current IRS enforcement budget is $10.9 billion, after a cut of $346 million from the previous year. To put that in perspective, Apple Inc. spent $14 billion just to buy back its own stock last year, a move that only serves to provide a meager benefit, if that, to its shareholders, while nourishing executive compensation packages.
The IRS loses an estimated $300 billion a year due to tax evasion. A budget proposal by the Obama administration claimed that the IRS could bring in an additional $6 for every dollar it adds to the enforcement budget. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said that he pushes this very convincing point in Congress to little reception or reaction. "I say that and everybody shrugs and goes on about their business," he told the AP in 2014. "I have not figured out either philosophically or psychologically why nobody seems to care whether we collect the revenue or not."
The effects of these budgetary cuts are already being seen. Current staffing levels at the IRS are at 87,000 — the lowest since the early 1980s. The agency lost 13,000 employees from 2010 to 2014 and expects to lose another 3,000 this year. In the final stretch towards April 15, many taxpayers have experienced excruciatingly long waits on hold and long lines at local IRS offices as a result. Congress doesn't care. (National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, who operates independently within the IRS, detailed this degradation of service in her annual report to Congress. (See taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov.)
Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has gone so far as to publicly state his intention to abolish the IRS entirely, calling that radical course of action the "simplest and best tax reform." It's not clear how Senator Cruz intends the federal government to collect revenue to pay for his presidential salary, the White House budget and expanding his giant military budget if he should be elected and not recover his senses.
It is clear, however, that significant rational tax reform is necessary. What remains unclear is who will benefit the most from such reform. Americans must seriously ask why individual U.S. taxpayers are fronting the money for hugely profitable corporations. These are funds that could potentially be used to repair critical public infrastructure, create decently paying jobs, or simply reduce the tax burden on middle-income individuals.
One solution to ensure that the interests of small taxpayers are accounted for and protected is to establish taxpayer watchdog associations across the country. These organizations would work full-time in each state to make sure that individual taxpayers get the best deal possible. After all, big corporations can afford to support an army of tax accountants and attorneys to continually update the playbook of tactics to avoid having to pay their fair share. Most taxpayers don't have this luxury. What they do have, however, is sheer force of numbers. Organization of such watchdog organizations could be facilitated by including a notice on the 1040 tax return inviting people to pay a small due and join these advocacy and educational nonprofit groups. These associations would be supported by membership dues and would receive no tax money. The members would elect a board of directors that could hire researchers, organizers, accountants and lawyers.
Such pressure from united citizen bodies would provide the organizational mechanism to enhance the influence of individuals in the tax-collection and policy-making process — something that is much-needed in our current American plutocracy.
A simple motto to consider when asking what we choose to tax is: "Tax what they burn, not what we earn." Before we place the largest burdens of taxation on workers, we should tax areas that have the greatest potential negative or damaging influence on our economy and our society. Tax the polluters, the Wall Street speculators, the junk-food peddlers, and the corporate criminals. Consider that just a fraction of a 1-percent sales tax on speculation in derivatives and trading in stocks could bring in $300 billion a year! (See robinhoodtax.org.)
If taxpayers really want to protect their interests, they must organize and fight for them. The corporations certainly have the money — but they can't match the manpower or votes of an organized citizenry.
In the meantime, big corporations on welfare like Walmart, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Pfizer, General Electric, Weyerhaeuser, and ExxonMobile should declare April 15 to be Taxpayer Appreciation Day. The corporate welfare kings should have the decency to, at least, thank smaller taxpayers who pay for all the freeloading that the corporatists have rammed through Congress. (See goodjobsfirst.org for much more on this issue.)
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Can Right and Left Rally Against Walmart?
By Ralph Nader | November 28, 2013
One of the most profitable corporations in America is having a holiday food drive. Sounds good — it's the least Corporate America can do for those struggling to make ends meet while big companies rake in record profits and give so little back. But wait… there's a catch. The food drive is for the company's own underpaid, poverty-stricken workers. You really can't make this stuff up.
Last week, it was reported that a Walmart store in Canton, Ohio is asking for food donations for its own employees. Photos of the food donation bins circulated online showing signs that read: "Please donate food items here so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner." (That's if they even have a chance to — Walmart stores are open on Thanksgiving and are beginning their "Black Friday" deals at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to get a jump on the holiday shopping madness.)
Walmart is America's largest employer with a workforce consisting of 1.3 million "associates." The company made nearly $17 billion in profit last year. So why can't Walmart afford to pay its own store workers enough for them to enjoy a holiday meal with their families? The answer is Walmart doesn't really care about its workers.
If the Walmart food donation drive doesn't get you properly steamed, then consider that Walmart CEO, Mike Duke, makes approximately $11,000 an hour — he took home about $20.7 million last year, plus ample benefits. Still not mad? It has also recently been reported that Duke has a retirement package worth more than $113 million! That is 6,200 times larger than the average 401k savings of a non-executive level Walmart employee! (Check out this recent report which charts other massive CEO pensions in relation to those of average workers)
One final fact to really get your dander up — The Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune, have accumulated more financial wealth than the entire bottom 40 percent of the population of the United States or 313 million Americans. That's six Waltons worth a combined $102.7 billion!
No matter what one's political leanings may be, the problem of massive income inequality and insatiable corporate greed is worsening year-by-year as CEO salaries rise, overall corporate profits soar and worker salaries stagnate. Liberal or conservative–all Americans should be outraged by this trend.
I recently wrote to conservative anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist to bring both sides of the political spectrum together on this troubling issue. In the past, Mr. Norquist and I have backed popular, reasonable policies, such as putting the full text of government contracts online, rolling back corporate welfare and opposing the civil liberties restrictive Patriot Act. As someone who claims to care about taxpayer protection, the issue of poverty-level wages and their major effect on taxpayers should be an important issue for Mr. Norquist.
Here's why — low wages at the 10 largest fast food chains cost taxpayers $3.8 billion per year. Fifty-two percent of families of fast food workers have to rely on government assistance. McDonald's' "McResource" help line goes so far as to advise workers who cannot make ends meet from their poverty-level wages to sign up for government food stamps and home heating assistance. Is it fair that taxpayers have to shell out $1.2 billion a year to subsidize McDonald's paying its workers while the fast food giant rakes in $5.5 billion in profit?
Walmart is even worse — according to a study from the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce study, a single Walmart Supercenter store in Wisconsin can cost taxpayers upwards of $1.75 million in public assistance programs. If taxpayers have to cover over $1 million for just one 300-employee superstore, consider how much Walmart is costing taxpayers each year at their 4,135 stores in the United States. According to the 2012 "Walmart Associate Benefits Book", which is distributed to employees, the company also advises its workers about getting on public assistance. Is this a fair or reasonable burden on taxpayers as Walmart reports $17 billion in profits?
Over the past five years, Walmart has had enough excess funds to buy back billions in its own stock. Walmart reportedly spent $7.6 billion last year buying back its shares. These funds are enough to raise the salaries of the lowest paid workers by $5.83 an hour. Catherine Ruetschlin, policy analyst at Demos, stated in a recent release: "These share repurchases benefit an increasingly narrow group of people, including the six Walton family heirs. But buybacks do not improve the fundamentals of the firm. If the funds were used to raise the pay of Walmart's 825,000 low paid workers, it would not harm the retailer's competitive ability and would add no cost to the consumer."
(See the recent report from Demos titled: "A Higher Wage is Possible")
The quickest way to lessen reliance on food stamp, EITC and Medicaid outlays is to raise the federal minimum wage. Raising the wage has the backing of 80 percent of Americans, 69 percent of Republicans, and even writers from The National Review and The American Conservative magazines. So why isn't there more rage from the other end of the political spectrum? Even Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney supported raising the minimum wage to keep up with inflation — at least until Mitt Romney flip-flopped on the issue during the 2012 election.
The support of Grover Norquist and the Congressional followers of his no-tax pledge would be a significant boost for 30 million struggling workers who make less today than workers made in 1968, inflation adjusted. With a doubling in both worker productivity and the cost of living, there is no excuse for such a decline in their livelihoods.
Mr. Norquist, join this fight to protect taxpayers. Underpaid workers (who are also taxpayers) and their families need your support.
Open Letter to Mark Duke, CEO of Walmart
Mike Duke, CEO
Walmart Corporation
Bentonville, Arkansas
Dear Mr. Duke,
Walmart, your gigantic company, is increasingly being challenged by your workers, government prosecutors, civil lawsuits, communities (that do not want a Walmart), taxpayers learning about your drain on government services and corporate welfare, and small businesses and groups working with unions such as SEIU and UFCW. Thus far, Walmart is successfully playing rope-a-dope, conceding little while expecting to wear down its opposition.
But you and your Board of Directors know what most shoppers and other people do not know – namely that these pressures are only going to increase. There is one policy announcement by your company that can "roll back" many of these pressures and relieve adverse public relations.
Walmart has about one million workers, give or take, in the U.S. who are making less per hour, adjusted for inflation, than workers made in 1968. This is remarkable for another reason – today's Walmart worker, due to automation and other efficiencies, does the work of two Walmart workers from 40 years ago. A federal minimum wage, inflation-adjusted from 1968, would be $10.50 today. The present federal minimum wage is $7.25 – the lowest in major Western countries. In Western Europe and Ontario, where you have operations, you must currently adhere to minimum wages of $10.50 or more.
If you were to announce that Walmart is raising the wages of your one million laborers to $10.50, you would have a decisive impact on the momentum that is building this year for Congress to lift 30 million American workers to the level of workers in 1968, inflation adjusted. Imagine 30 million workers trying to pay their bills with wages below those of 1968, inflation adjusted, when, back then, overall worker productivity was half what it is today.
Raising your workers' wages to a $10.50 minimum would cost your company less than $2 billion (deductible) on U.S. sales of more than $313 billion. Fewer Walmart workers would have to go on varieties of government relief. Some of that $2 billion would go to social security, and Medicare with more going back into purchases at Walmart. Employee turnover would diminish. If Walmart joins with many civic, charitable groups and unions to press Congress for legislation to catch up with 1968 for 30 million American workers, good things will happen. You and your fellow executives will feel better. Your public relations will improve. So will our economy.
Members of Congress, economists, workers and reporters know you can do this. After all, Walmart has to meet numerous safety nets in countries of Western Europe beyond a higher minimum wage, such as weeks of paid vacation and paid sick leave. Also, your top executives in Europe are paid far less than your $11,000 an hour plus benefits and perks.
Walmart watchers know that Walmart officials are worried about damaging disclosures, about Walmart problems such as foreign bribery in Mexico, which may become more numerous. Last year, during the Black Friday demonstrations, some of your workers and their supporters, raised the civil rights issue of Walmart's retaliation for workers publically complaining about workplace harassment – pay, fair schedules and affordable health care. Such protests are only going to intensify in the future.
At a productive meeting with your government relations people in Washington, D.C. last year, I told them that Walmart was one billionaire away from a serious unionization drive, and I referred them to my political fiction book "Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!" for a detailed step-by-step strategy that only awaits funding from one or two very rich, people.
You need to do something authentic that people can relate to – seventy percent of the people in polls support an inflation-adjusted minimum wage. So did Rick Santorum and even Mitt Romney, until he waffled during the primaries.
Your announcements this week about hiring 100,000 veterans in the next five years is less than what meets the eye. Twenty-thousand veterans hired each year is a tiny fraction of your workforce and if you are not doing that already, given your huge number of employees (1.4 million) and large annual turnovers, you should be ashamed.
Veterans would have to take a 50 percent or more pay cut from their military salaries – housing and food allowances, health care and other benefits – to work for Walmart. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that the average active-duty service member receives Army benefits and compensation worth $99,000, which is much more than the prospect of a Walmart job paying less than $20,000 coupled with very limited health insurance.
Should you wish to discuss Walmart taking the lead in raising the minimum wage for its workers to catch up with 1968, please call me. It is better to anticipate than have to react to the looming dark clouds on Walmart's horizon. Thank you for your considered response.
Sincerely yours,


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Wilson River Traverse Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Elk Creek Trailhead
- End point: Keenig Creek Trailhead
- Hike Type: Traverse (car shuttle)
- Distance: 22.6 miles one way
- Elevation gain: 3950 feet
- High Point: 1835 feet
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes, in short sections
- Backpackable: Yes
- Crowded: No
Hike Description
The Wilson River Trail gives hikers a sense of a major river corridor in the Coast Range, running as it does from Elk Creek to Keenig Creek, where ends the last section officially completed. The trail as it exists arose from an amalgam of user tracks, fishermen's trails and abandoned logging roads, as well as freshly carved passages across steep hillsides by dedicated trail building crews, and there are plans to extend the trail both north and south of its current course. Where the Wilson River runs on public land, the trail keeps fairly close to it, but there are two major deviations from the river, both with significant elevation gain, to avoid parcels of private property: the first is above Lees Camp, which, since November 6th 2006, has held the Oregon record for the most rainfall in 24 hours (14.3 inches); the second is on the last section of the trail in the large bowl of Ryan Creek.
The area is wet, but all sections of the trail provide opportunities for hiking at any season although there could be closures of damaged segments. Another restriction may be Highway 6 itself, which seems to get closed at least once a winter because of flooding, trees down, slides, or all the above. Forest cover comprises dominant stands of red alder and big-leaf maple in the river and creek valleys, with Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western red-cedar and the odd Pacific yew being the only conifers. The understory is most commonly sword fern, with Oregon grape, salal, and vine maple as significant companions. The entire woodland had been logged in parts before being devastated by the Tillamook Burns of 1933 - 1951. You will note only a handful of trees over 60 years old. Elk are often seen and their sign is everywhere. Blacktail deer, coyote, and bobcat also ply the trail; their spoor is most often discerned after a winter snowfall. Mergansers fish the river, beavers chip away at the alders, and dippers bob and dunk for insects in the spate. The Wilson River is an Oregon angler's mecca for steelhead as well as fall and spring Chinook. You will probably see more fishermen than hikers along the trail.
The trail is well-signposted and easy to follow. Pay attention to closure signs: in the volatile Coast Range, where subduction stress from the Juan de Fuca Plate tilts the mountains gradually eastward, hillsides slip away with regularity and parts of the trail could be closed in any fall or winter to await a summer repair. The two brochures offered by the Oregon Department of Forestry are sufficient to follow the trail (see the links under Maps below).
The entire trail is eminently doable as a car shuttle for fit hikers and a hike and bike is also an option if you drop off a bike at the Elk Creek Trailhead and begin the hike at the Keenig Creek Trailhead or any point between; however, most people will want to attack it in sections. The descriptions below split the trail into five parts, beginning with the one closest to Portland. Elevation gain is for all "up" sections, in and out, and the mileage given is for the round trip.
1. Dog Creek section
- Start point: Elk Creek Trailhead
- End point: Kings Mountain Trailhead
- Distance: 7.6 miles in and out
- Elevation gain: 1105 feet
- High Point: 1040 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Family Friendly: Yes
Directions: From the trailhead, head up the trail and shortly come to the Wilson River-Elk Mountain Trail Junction. Go left here, rise, and then drop below a rock face and steep wildflower meadow. The trail levels on an old road bed, crosses a small creek, and eventually rises again to a view of the Wilson River valley. The trail crosses another creek and then makes a gently descending traverse through a sunny opening. Make two switchbacks down and cross Big Creek. Keep rising in an understory of maidenhair fern, sword fern, salmonberry, oxalis, and thimbleberry. A new section of the trail (2013) heads in and above a small bog and rejoins the old tread to cross a footbridge over Dog Creek. A shortcut trails peels off to the left, but soon you will reach the signposted Kings Mountain Trail at the Wilson River-Kings Mountain Trail Junction. It's 0.1 miles down an eroded forest track to the Kings Mountain Trailhead.
2. Lester Creek section
- Start point: Kings Mountain Trailhead
- End point: Diamond Mill Trailhead
- Distance: 11.2 miles in and out
- Elevation gain: 2485 feet
- High Point: 1835 feet
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Family Friendly: No
Directions: From the trailhead, go up the rather eroded trail into red alder, big-leaf maple and Douglas-fir woods with a carpet of sword fern. Pass a tie trail leading to the right and come to the four-way Wilson River-Kings Mountain Trail Junction, where you go left. Cross a creek in an eroded gulley and come to a junction with a mossy jeep track. This is the former Kings Mountain Junior route. Keep straight here and traverse upward through Douglas-fir woods. The trail heads up a gully, crosses a wooden footbridge, and then negotiates another gully. The path loops upward across an oxalis/sword fern carpet and then makes a switchback. Heading up along the east side of a ridge, there are glimpses of the Elk and Kings Mountain summits through the trees. The trail switches over to the west side: hike along it to reach a ridge crest. Pass a mossy spring and keep ascending through Douglas-fir, Oregon grape, and alder forest to an old road bed. Here, go left and reach the nose of a ridge in an alder glade, the unsigned Wilson River-Kings Mountain Junior Trail Junction.
The trail keeps to the alder-shaded road bed and heads around the face of the Lester Creek bowl. Drop to the end of the road bed. Traverse on the level, drop, and join another former forest road. (Many of these roads were created for the sole purpose of replanting in the 1950s.) Cross Lester Creek and begin a traverse, crossing another creek with small waterfalls. Looking down, you will see more small falls in the gully below. Everywhere, there are burn snags from the great fires. Pass a rock pinnacle, and, looking back across the valley, you will see its twin (these are sometimes called the Lester Creek Pinnacles). The trail rounds a point with an open view and heads into another steep-sided valley. Cross a creek, round a rocky point with views back to Kings Mountain, and descend, crossing a road bed. The trail switchbacks down in a Douglas-fir plantation with a carpet of Oregon grape and sword fern. Switchback again, pass a huge stump, and head across a grassy opening at an old road junction. Wind through woods and then make a loop around a wetland sprouting skunk-cabbage and mossy alders. The trail enters alder woods and reaches a creek. Traverse a slope, crossing small brooks. At this point, you may become familiar with the sounds and smells of the Diamond Mill ORV Area. The trail switchbacks to a 110-foot suspension bridge over the North Fork Wilson River. There's a picnic table here for your dining pleasure.
Before you return, walk along the west bank of the North Fork past the end of the ORV parking area to get a view of Lester Creek Falls, a three-tiered beauty tumbling on private land. From here, head back the way you came.
3. North Fork Wilson River section
- Start point: Diamond Mill Trailhead
- End point: Jones Creek Trailhead
- Distance: 3.8 miles in and out
- Elevation gain: 620 feet
- High Point: 920 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Family Friendly: Yes
Directions: This is the shortest but least prepossessing of sections on the Wilson River Trail, paralleling as it does for most of its course the North Fork Road, which sees a lot of ORV traffic. The highlights are right at the beginning. Walk from the Diamond Mill Trailhead to the impressive suspension bridge over the North Fork and scan the clear waters for languishing steelhead. Then take the trail down the west bank of the river to get a view of Lester Creek Falls. From the south end of the ORV staging area, the trail crosses a creek and makes several short switchbacks up to cross the North Fork Road north of its one mile marker. There are great views of Kings Mountain from here. Head up to cross and ORV trail and traverse the hillside before reaching the ridge crest to switchback down. Traverse to the road again under Douglas-firs and alders. Cross the road at the 0.5 mile marker, then drop down and double back along a sword fern-cloaked slope. Cross a stream on a plank and head up the gully to drop down an old road bed. Reach Cedar Creek Road at a pair of wooden handrails; from here, go left and then right into the Jones Creek Trailhead parking area. You can access a picnic area on the Wilson River by walking down some steps.
4. Cedar Creek section
- Start point: Jones Creek Trailhead or
- Start point: Tillamook Forest Center Trailhead
- End point: Footbridge Trailhead
- Distance: 7.2 miles in and out
- Elevation gain: 600 feet
- High Point: 745 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Family Friendly: Yes
Directions: From the Jones Creek Trailhead, walk past the information board down steps to a picnic area near the river. Head along a wide gravel trail to reach a gravel road and pass the outhouse at the group camping area for the Jones Creek Campground. Cross Jones Creek on a footbridge, cross a smaller creek at the Jones Creek Meadow, and then reach the Wilson River-Tillamook Forest Center Trail Junction. You can go left here to cross the massive footbridge over the Wilson River to the Forest Center (open March 1st to late November), where you can get information, see exhibits, and pick up trail brochures. The Tillamook Forest Center Trailhead is also an optional beginning for this section of the trail. (Note, however, that the bridge cannot be accessed from the Center when the latter is closed.)
Continue on the Wilson River Trail under red alder, big-leaf maple, and western red-cedar and begin rising. You will see Cedar Creek Road above the trail. Reach the road and walk along it for about 100 yards before dropping to resume the path. Almost any time of year, you will notice fresh elk tracks and droppings in this area. Hike in mossy woods above the river and then head in to Cedar Creek Road again to cross wide, alder-shaded Cedar Creek on the vehicle bridge. The trail heads off the road and you get a view of Luebke Creek entering the Wilson on the opposite bank. Then make two switchbacks up. You'll see a few huge, fire-charred stumps in this area. High above the river, the trail crosses the small creek at the base of Wilson Falls. Keep rising to a ridge and then switchback down. Ascend and then drop again to a log footbridge. The trail now takes advantage of an old road bed in mixed forest of Douglas-fir and red alder with a carpet of sword fern. Reach another footbridge and head uphill, drop, hike on the level for a stretch, and then rise again to the Wilson River-Footbridge Trail Junction.
To see the footbridge and Bridge Creek Falls, go left here and switchback down to a rocky overflow channel. Go left to a scenic bend in the river and note the huge log pile on the rock outcrop above. Take the trail past the log pile up the salal-covered knoll and cross the footbridge over a narrow gorge. See Lower Bridge Creek Falls spilling out of a culvert just upriver. Walk up stone steps to the highway. To reach the Footbridge Trailhead, which has restrooms, continue up the highway and take a tie trail down to the parking area.
For Bridge Creek Falls, cross the highway at the end of the crash barrier and walk a few yards down the road to the stone staircase leading up Bridge Creek. Pipes from a small cistern at the base of the falls conveyed fresh water to highway travelers in times past.
5. Ryan Creek section
- Start point: Footbridge Trailhead
- End point: Keenig Creek Trailhead
- Distance: 12.2 miles in and out
- Elevation gain: 1070 feet
- High Point: 1090 feet
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Family Friendly: No
Directions: Head off up a gravel pathway from the Footbridge Trailhead parking area to Highway 6. Walk along the highway, keeping to the right of a low stone wall and glimpsing a view across the highway of Bridge Creek Falls, which is worth a visit on the way back. Stone steps lead down to the footbridge. From here, get a view of Lower Bridge Creek Falls and the Wilson River Gorge. Descend the flank of a rocky knoll to cross an overflow channel at a bend in the river. There's a huge pile of log debris here. The trail resumes at the other end of the channel. Heading into an alder grove, come to the Wilson River-Footbridge Trail Junction.
Go left here and cross a creek with a small waterfall. Rise gently and cross a footbridge in sword fern and alder woods with some large stumps - all that remains of the magnificent old growth. Descend and then traverse up above the Wilson to cross a creek. The trail rises under Douglas-firs and big-leaf maples. Make a high traverse above the river, crossing a rocky face. Then take two switchbacks down and join gravel Wolf Creek Road. Bear right up the road for 200 yards, noting elk tracks and droppings, with Wolf Creek rushing down to the left. The trail drops down into lush woods and crosses two footbridges, over Wolf Creek and a tributary, then switchbacks up, gradually rising in alder, Douglas-fir and hemlock forest. Hike north along a ridge and then traverse a slope. Undulate a little, and then make a level traverse, crossing several small creeks. You have now entered the drainage bowl of Ryan Creek. Two streams slide down over bedrock. Make two switchbacks up and make another level traverse, passing in front of a small waterfall. Begin to descend and cross a creek, then another creek below a 25-foot waterfall partially hidden by young alders. Head in and out of shallow gullies. Another creek slides down rocks to the trail. Cross two more creeks and round a ridge nose. Make a traverse to cross another creek. Eventually, the trail joins an old road bed under cedar, Douglas-fir and hemlock. This road bed joins the Cedar Butte Road.
The trail resumes 40 yards down the road. Pass large stumps and a lone Sitka spruce out of its element as you begin a traverse in a clearcut. There are also scattered Douglas-firs and hemlocks. Cross a motorcycle trail. Highway 6 is far below along the river as you begin switchbacking down. At the fourth switchback, pass a thicket of young alders. The trail is grassy and open and not heavily used here, except by elk. Make nine more shorter switchbacks. Groundcover includes evergreen and trailing blackberry, foxglove, and sword fern. Make a longer traverse past huge stumps, switchback, and traverse again. Switchback above a gully with a view of a small waterfall and make three very short switchbacks to cross a creek in an open landslide area. Traverse west and switchback over a small stream to descend past a trail sign and reach Muesial Creek Road above the Keenig Creek Trailhead and campground. There are a couple of outhouses here.
Further explorations: The original plan for the Wilson River Trail envisioned a 30-mile corridor. Sections have been worked on below Keenig Creek, and there is a completed section from Elk Creek to Idiot Creek Loop Road.
To hike the section below Keenig Creek (about a mile), go right up the road about 120 yards to cross over Keenig Creek and then head down a campground access road blocked by a chain. The track leads down to a campsite rimmed by alders. Head straight toward the river and pick up the trail, which is marked by red flagging. The trail heads west above the river on steep slopes. It drops to only a few feet above the river at a bend. You can see a beaver-gnawed tree across the river. Walk under powerlines and pass a campsite on the right and then come to Muesial Creek where it enters the Wilson. The path heads up to the right and hits the Muesial Creek Road. Cross the bridge over the creek. There's a waterfall pouring down above the bridge. A few yards up the road, the trail drops down and follows a grassy path under the powerlines. Reach an access point from Muesial Creek Road to the powerline corridor. This would be a good place to turn around.
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Wilson River Trail: Elk Creek - Jones Creek Trailhead (Oregon Department of Forestry)
- Wilson River Trail: Jones Creek - Keenig Creek Trailhead (Oregon Department of Forestry)
- Oregon Department of Forestry: Tillamook State Forest Map & Guide (Dog Creek and Cedar Creek sections only)
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Share trail with mountain bikers
- Check ahead for trail and highway closures in fall/winter
- Camping at Elk Creek, Jones Creek, Diamond Mill and Keenig Creek (The last three see a lot of OHV users); there are walk-in tent sites at Jones Creek
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Wilson River Trail
- Lester Creek to North Fork Wilson Overnight 3/12/19
- Wilson River Traverse (partial) 5/27 - 5/28/2017
- Jones Creek to Wolf Creek (Wilson River Trail) 2-12-17
- Turkey sub - 35 miles in the Tillamook State Forest: 11-21
- New Beginnings! Wilson River mini-loony hike, 08/11/12
- Wilson River Trail - Footbridge to Jones Creek
- Wilson River Trail through hike 3-17-12
- Wilson River Trail, 2/11/2012
- Wilson River Trail to Lester Creek Pinnacles 2/20/2011
- Wilson River Trail , Elk Creek to Jones Creek 10/19
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Wilson River Trail
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- 25 Hikes on Oregon's Tillamook Coast by Adam Sawyer (all sections)
- Afoot & Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain (Sections 1, 2, 4)
- 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Oregon Coast and Coast Range by William L. Sullivan (Section 4)
- Best Hikes Near Portland by Fred Barstad (Sections 1, 2, 3, 4)
- 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Portland by Paul Gerald (all sections)
- Take a Hike: Portland by Barbara I. Bond (most of Section 5)
- Oregon & Washington: 50 Hikes With Kids by Wendy Gorton (Section 4)
- 50 Hikes in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests by the Sierra Club, Oregon Chapter
- 50 Hikes in the Tillamook State Forest by the Tillamook State Forest Committee, Columbia Group Sierra Club (Sections 1 & 4 only)
- Best Trail Runs: Portland, Oregon by Adam W. Chase, Nancy Hobbs, and Yassine Dibboun (Sections 3 & 4)
More Links
- Wilson River Trail: Elk Creek - Jones Creek Trailhead (Oregon Department of Forestry)
- Wilson River Trail: Jones Creek - Keenig Creek Trailhead (Oregon Department of Forestry)
- Wilson River Trail (Portland Monthly)
- Along the Wilson River (Linda's Lens)
- Hike the Wilson River Trail (The Outbound Collective)
- "Wilson River Trail reveals Coast Range delights" (Oregon Live)
- Wilson River Trail (I Heart Pacific Northwest)
- The Ride: Mountain biking on the Wilson River Trail (Bike Portland)
- Tillamook Burn (Oregon Encyclopedia)
- bobcat (creator)


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With the advent of 2019, it's time to embrace Pantone's new colour for the year: Living Coral. The vibrant hue is a lively orange with golden undertones, which according to Pantone reflects the warmth, nourishment and shelter of coral reefs to sea life.
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Pateros Chamber addresses steelhead petition, many upcoming city events
PATEROS – Methow businessman, Randy Moore, addressed the Pateros Chamber of Commerce at its regular meeting April 6, to introduce a petition he is circulating among area businesses to gain support for closure of a popular fishing spot on the Methow River.
Moore, owner of the Lightning Pine RV Park in Methow, wants the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to close that portion of the lower Methow River called the Miller hole to allow more steelhead to pass upstream and offer more fishing opportunities, attract more anglers and bring in more dollars from visiting fishermen to area businesses.
Also on the agenda, the Chamber reminded all that the city's Arbor Day observance is Friday, April 28, from 2:30-5:30 p.m.
The Kids' Fishing Derby will be on Father's Day, Sunday, June 18, for kids up to 15 years of age.
The Pateros venue of The Junk Stops Here Vintage Faire will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, in Memorial Park. Vendor spaces are available for $50 each. Interested vendors can contact chamber president, Libby Harrison at (509) 679-8452 or apply online at https://junklove509.wordpress.com. Applications must be returned by June 10.
The city-wide yard sales, salmon bake, and Pateros River Run Bike Rally with live music by The Feral Folk are also on that same fourth weekend of June.
The Pateros Chamber and Alta Lake Golf Tournament will be June 30. Hole sponsorships this year will be $125. Other details are still under development and volunteers will be needed again this year. Those interested can contact Harrison or Leigh Anne Barth at (509) 670-3245 or email email@example.com.
The Save The Date Celebration to thank those involved with the city's new water system will be held on July 14 and will be open to the public.
The Chamber agreed to be a $1,000 sponsor for Brandon Kushing's hydroplane during this season's racing circuit and, in turn, Kushing's racer will be named the "Miss Pateros".
Check out the Chamber's new website www.pateroschamber.org
NCW Media Newspapers
- The Leavenworth Echo | Leavenworth, WA
- Cashmere Valley Record | Cashmere WA
- Lake Chelan Mirror | Chelan, Manson, Entiat, WA
- Quad City Herald | Brewster, Pateros, Bridgeport, Mansfield, WA
- Wenatchee Business Journal | Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan Counties, WA


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Press Release House Passage of Key Legislation Poises Senate for Approving the Most Significant National Park System Expansion in Decades National Parks Conservation Association, with Local Communities and Businesses, Spent Years Advocating for Park Sites, Expansions and Studies
Press Release Bipartisan Compromise House Bill Proposes Dedicated Funding for National Park Repairs The Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act includes robust investment in national parks' $11.6 billion repairs backlog.
Blog Post 4 Ways President Obama Can Create a Lasting National Park Legacy Last month, President Obama took the podium at Everglades National Park to publicly address the seriousness of climate change. That he chose the world-famous River of Grass as the setting for his Earth Day speech was no accident: Rising ocean levels and other effects of climate change threaten the very existence of this landmark park.
Press Release House Advances Landmark bill to Protect More than 2 Million Acres of National Parks and Public Lands Today marks a great day in history for our national parks and public lands.
Press Release House Takes Stand to Protect National Parks and Coastal Communities from Offshore Drilling Today, members of the U.S. House of Representatives showed their commitment to defending America's public lands and waters.
Press Release President's Budget Calls for Historic Investment in National Parks in Advance of 2016 Centennial President's Budget Calls for Historic Investment in National Parks in Advance of 2016 Centennial
Press Release President Proposes Large Funding Boost for National Parks President's budget for fiscal year 2017 calls for significant increase in funding for the National Park Service as the agency celebrates its centennial year
Press Release President's Budget Proposal Damaging to National Parks as They Continue to Recover from Government Shutdown If enacted, the President's budget would jeopardize the protection, maintenance and operation of our more than 400 national parks across the country.
Press Release Elevating White Sands National Monument to National Park Benefits Local Economy The re-designation would create New Mexico's second National Park, and could bring in millions of tourism revenue to local communities, according to new study.
Blog Post VIDEO: New Park Service Series Explores White-Nose Syndrome and the Threat to Bats Educational campaign aims to enlist more humans in efforts to prevent widespread bat mortality.
Press Release Parks Group Joins Conservation Community, Files Lawsuit after President Trump Illegally Axed Bears Ears National Monument President's abuse of authority strips protections from a priceless cultural and natural heritage that belongs to all Americans.
Press Release President Trump's Proposed Budget Cuts Target National Parks This budget is yet another example of the lack of understanding and respect this administration has for the significance of our parks.
Press Release House Methane Move Hurts Parks Reversal of waste rule will worsen climate change at taxpayer's expense.
Press Release House Appropriations Bill a Threat to National Parks Proposes cuts to Park Service funding, undermines protections for air, water, wildlife.
Press Release National Parks Group Applauds President Obama for Designating the Cesar Chavez National Monument National Park Site the First to Honor a Latino American
Park Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial The memorial honoring freedom fighter and engineer Thaddeus (aka Tadeusz) Kościuszko is the smallest national park site in the country, yet it preserves epic tales of war and struggle. Polish-born Kościuszko helped American colonists win their independence from the British in the Revolutionary War by meticulously designing and fortifying military defenses.
Park Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the United States. The national park features the graceful peaks of the Sierra Crest as well as the majestic General Grant Grove of giant sequoias with some of the tallest trees on Earth. The park is managed jointly with Sequoia National Park, which lies just south of Kings Canyon.
Park Kenai Fjords National Park Kenai Fjords National Park offers hiking, kayaking, and the opportunity to see a glacier up close.
Park Gettysburg National Military Park The 1863 battle in this small farming community resulted in more than 50,000 casualties over three days, making it the deadliest engagement of the American Civil War. This battle is now referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy" — the last meaningful offensive the South would conduct against northern forces. The visitor center at Gettysburg features one of the largest collections of Civil War artifacts in the country.
Regional Events Park Talks Join our NPCA community for virtual "Park Talks" to learn about our work and ways you can get involved.
Report Dark Horizons: 10 National Parks Most Threatened by New Coal Fired Power Plants NPCA's report highlights the 10 national parks most threatened by new coal-fired power plants, and calls on the Administration to abandon its effort to permit more harmful air pollution near national parks.
Land Based Trip Crown of the Continent: Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks Grab your favorite hiking boots and come with us on this active journey to this staggeringly beautiful wilderness straddling the U.S.-Canada border in Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks.
Page National Parks Legal Defense Fund The laws and policies that protect America's national parks are challenged as never before.
Report Making Connections: Building a Healthy Future for Shenandoah National Park And Its Gateway Communities Drawing on economic data compiled by state and federal agencies, interviews with local residents and leaders, and a variety of research reports and assessments, this report outlines three findings:
google maps Affected Park Sites See the national parks that were affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Map Christopher Park See the irregular streets that helped participants in the Stonewall uprising fight back against police in 1969.
myparkstory.org Your Park Stories Read park stories or submit your own!
Map Learn More About Seeing Clearly in America's National Parks How dirty air harms parks and what you can do to help.
StoryMap Protecting Sensitive Resources near Mesa Verde National Park NPCA and our partners at FracTracker invite you to explore this interactive map documenting some of the wildlife habitat, scenic views, recreational opportunities, and cultural sites that deserve protection under the Master Leasing Plan.
Land Based Trip Acadia & Bay of Fundy Experience the reach maritime culture of Maine and New Brunswick, with time at Acadia National Park and the Roosevelt Campobello International Park, which preserves the house and grounds of FDR and his family's summer retreat.
Advocacy in Action New Monument in Maine's Spectacular North Woods Is Under Threat In August 2016, President Barack Obama designated more than 87,500 acres of land along the East Branch of the Penobscot River in Maine as the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. But the Trump administration could attempt to alter or rescind the national park site's federal protections following an April 2017 executive order mandating a federal review of national monuments created since 1996.
Advocacy in Action Two National Monuments Under Threat in the California Desert Last year, President Obama protected some of our country's most spectacular and unique desert lands by designating three national new national monuments. Now, the Department of the Interior could attempt to alter or revoke federal protections for two of these important places.
Craig Fontenot Craig Fontenot is a horticultural geek, a water enthusiast and a marketing executive, in that order.
Advocacy in Action Protect Mojave from the Soda Mountain Solar Project Developers have proposed building the Soda Mountain Solar Project, an industrial-scale renewable energy facility, less than one mile from the boundary of Mojave National Preserve. It would be the closest renewable energy project to a national park site in the entire southwestern United States, in the middle of a critical pathway for desert bighorn sheep.
Land Based Trip Big Secret, Big Bend Tucked like a secret into a sweeping bend of the Rio Grande is Big Bend National Park, a hiker's paradise, birder's mecca, stargazer's heaven, and explorer's jackpot.
Small Ship Cruise Wild California Escape: Channel Islands This 5-day Wildness + Wellness adventure with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic takes you to the remote and remarkable Channel Islands. Board the National Geographic Venture, your floating base camp, in Los Angeles, and head for three of the five wildlife-rich islands which make up Channel Islands National Park, plus Catalina Island. Here, you'll actively explore unmarred landscapes, revel in pure nature, and rejuvenate mind, body, and soul with exhale's award-winning well-being programs.
Report Turning Point Through individual stories from parks around the country, this report describes how air pollution harms our national treasures. The report also recommends ten specific steps that our government representatives and all of us can take to clean up harmful air pollution and protect our national parks for future generations.
Page Our Values The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is committed to fostering a workplace of excellence to achieve our mission to protect and enhance national parks. Our Core Values of Commitment, Inclusion, Integrity and Respect promote a diverse, ethical and innovative culture and make NPCA an effective organization and a great place to work.
Page Regional Offices With a network of 27 programmatic locations in 11 regions across the country, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is uniquely positioned to protect our nation's most cherished places. By living and working in and around the parks and communities they serve, NPCA's regional and field staff forge lasting and effective partnerships with advocates, organizations and governments to bridge local advocacy and national policy.
Advocacy in Action Don't Put Endangered Wildlife at Risk to Drill Big Cypress A private energy development company wants to conduct seismic testing on 70,000 acres within Big Cypress National Preserve for oil and gas development — paving the way for drilling to begin on an unprecedented scale on national park land.
climate ride 2020 Climate Ride Events Join the movement and bike, hike or run for our national parks at one of this year's Climate Ride events.
Staff Tracy Coppola Tracy Coppola is based in Denver and serves as the Colorado Program Manager for the Southwest Regional Office. She is proud to have the opportunity to celebrate her state's incredible parks and advocates.
Page Privacy Policy National Parks Conservation Association (collectively "NPCA," "we," "our," or "us") recognizes the trust you have placed in us by providing your personal information through our website located at www.npca.org. Therefore, we have established this privacy policy to inform you of how we collect, use, and share that information.
Page Terms of Service Thank you for your interest in sharing your park story. Together, our shared stories will remind our leaders that these priceless places -- and our priceless memories -- must be properly funded and protected.
Page Our Accountability The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is committed to using every dollar you donate efficiently and effectively. Our careful stewardship of your financial support is why we receive such high ratings from charity watchdog organizations, including meeting all of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance Standards for Charity Accountability.
Page Careers With a career at NPCA, you will help ensure that our beautiful national parks continue to thrive and inspire for generations to come.
Page More Ways to Give There are many ways you can give to help support NPCA's critical park protection and advocacy work.
Page Renew Renew your membership today. As a member you've seen us win many important battles on behalf of our national parks. Your continued support will make us even stronger.
Page Give A Gift Membership Share your passion for the parks by giving someone special an NPCA membership.
Page Join Your tax-deductible gift of $25 or more entitles you to all the exclusive benefits of membership — and helps us protect our beloved national parks from the threats of lack of funding, pollution, overuse . . . and much more.
Page Memorial & Tribute Giving Honor the memory of a loved, commemorate a milestone or celebrate a special occasion while providing a lasting legacy for America's national parks.
Staff Kelsie Dougherty Kelsie manages the Yellowstone Pronghorn Antelope connectivity program from the Yellowstone Field Office, protecting and restoring habitat and migration corridors through community engagement and on the ground fence modifications to facilitate pronghorn migration beyond park boundaries.
Staff Carrie Madigan As Associate Director of Design, Carrie oversees brand development and design needs across channels. She brings design experience from a range of specialties, including branding, magazine design, and advertising, and she has a deep love for our country's national parks.
Park Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument Few experiences compare to snorkeling through tranquil turquoise waters, gliding effortlessly among colorful fish, sea turtles and spectacular coral formations, or walking along a warm white sand beach at sunset with swaying palms whispering in the evening breeze. This monument protects more than 12,000 underwater acres where spectacular coral reefs and unique tropical ecosystems are submerged off the shore of the Caribbean island of St. John.
Letter Great Waters Coalition Opposes Continuing Resolution On behalf of the America's Great Waters Coalition, we urge you to reject extreme provisions in the House-passed Continuing Resolution that threaten to undermine the restoration and protection of our Great Waters and the millions of jobs and other economic opportunities that depend on them.
Report Gateways To Yellowstone Gateways to Yellowstone: Protecting the Wild Heart of Our Region's Thriving Economy
Land Based Trip Grand Canyon Winter and New Year Trips Put time in perspective by ringing in the New Year on the Grand Canyon's South Rim—millions of years in the making. Spend a couple days in the red-rock wonderland of Sedona, with a jeep tour and a spectacular night of stargazing.
Mary Purvis Mary Purvis is NPCA's Volunteer Coordinator supporting the Board of Trustees and the National Council.
Advocacy in Action National Heritage Areas Preserve America's Landscapes and History From the Motor City to the Arabia Mountains, we should invest in the cost-effective partnerships that share America's stories and create jobs around the country


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Heidler & Heeps
Tape Collection (2017)
Heidler & Heeps
C-type print on archival photographic paper; 30 x 40 cm; edition of 25
Courtesy of the artists
Vinyl Collection (2018)
Heidler & Heeps
C-type print on archival photographic paper; 130 x 130 cm; each image an edition of 250; £1,200
Courtesy of the artists
As a former singer and rhythm guitarist in an '80s band, tape cassettes and 7-inch coloured vinyl hold fond memories for British photographer Richard Heeps. He recalls the joy of being able to record John Peel's show and his own band's performances onto blank cassettes and fondly remembers buying the same record multiple times simply to own it in different colours. He understands the revived interest in coloured vinyl but tape cassettes, as a contemporary music source, is a mystery: "They were always going wrong, the jamming up and there was a whole skill in salvaging your tape". But the appearance and design of a cassette he fully appreciates: "They're a piece of art and a piece of precision engineering - especially the transparent ones where you can see the mechanics at work."
Heeps' interest in music led him to celebrate these objects in his photographic work. He projects light through the pieces to capture their colours in reverse: revealing and magnifying colours that weren't previously apparent and producing deeply saturated, intensely contrasted and richly detailed images.
Heeps' body of work also includes interiors, landscapes and still lives; his latest series is cityscapes and timeless interiors of Milan.
For more information richardheeps.co.uk
Hedge issue 53, pp52-27, March 2019


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Family friendly rights
This section looks at key aspects of your rights with regards to your family, such as maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave.
Working parents have the right to take the following types of leave, and receive pay whilst taking leave:
- Statutory Maternity Leave
- Statutory Adoption Leave
- Statutory Paternity Leave
- Shared Parental Leave
Watch our short video giving and overview of these four areas, as well as reading on for more information:
Statutory Maternity Leave, Pay and Pregnancy
Pregnant workers are protected from unfair treatment, discrimination and dismissal due to their pregnancy. Your co-operative must take steps to remove any health and safety risks within the workplace or features of the role which may harm your worker or her baby.
During the pregnancy, you must allow your employee paid time off to attend antenatal appointments. Partners are entitled to attend 2 appointments unpaid.
Maternity Leave
Employees can take up to 52 weeks Statutory Maternity Leave. It is compulsory for employees to take 2 weeks of maternity leave (4 weeks if they work in a factory) immediately after their baby is born.
The earliest that maternity leave can start is 11 weeks before the expected week of birth. Maternity leave will start automatically:
- where the baby is early (starting the day following the birth)
- where the employee is off sick with a pregnancy related illness, in the 4 weeks before the week of the baby's expected birth.
At least 15 weeks before the baby is due your employee must confirm their due date and their maternity leave start date.
Maternity Pay
Statutory Maternity Pay ('SMP') is paid for up to 39 weeks to eligible employees read more on the www.gov.uk website.
Eligible employees must be paid by their employer:
- 90% of average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first 6 weeks
- £139.58* or 90% of average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks.
Tax and national insurance should be deducted, and wages paid on their normal payroll date.
Statutory Adoption Leave and Pay
Where a child is adopted, an adoptive parent can take up to 52 weeks Statutory Adoption Leave. Statutory Adoption Pay ('SAP') is set at the same level as Statutory Maternity Pay.
The main adopter will be entitled to take paid time off for up to 5 adoption appointments. The secondary adopter will be entitled to take unpaid time off for up to 2 appointments.
Within 7 days of being matched, your employee must give your co-operative details about the adoption, and the date when they wish to start adoption leave. 28 days' notice should be given prior to receipt of adoption pay.
If your employee is adopting with their partner, only one of them may take statutory adoption leave even if their partner works for another organisation. The partner not taking adoption leave may be entitled to statutory paternity leave and pay (see below).
Again, eligibility requirements apply, find out more on the www.gov.uk website.
Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay
Employees are entitled to take Statutory Paternity Leave of up to 2 weeks where their partner is having a baby or adopting a child. Paternity leave must be taken within 56 days of birth.
Statutory Paternity Pay is set at £139.58* or 90% of average weekly earnings. Eligibility requirements apply on the www.gov.uk website.
Shared Parental Leave and Pay
In 2015, a new type of leave was introduced for parents wanting to share the care of their child during maternity or adoption leave called Shared Parental Leave.
Parents must meet the eligibility requirements found on the www.gov.uk website.
If an employee is eligible, and their partner ends maternity or adoption leave and pay early, they can opt to share the remaining 52 weeks leave and remaining 39 weeks of pay. Unlike maternity or adoption leave, parents can choose to take consecutive periods of leave, take leave at the same time as their partner, or take up to 3 separate blocks of leave.
Shared Parental Leave must be taken between the date of birth or adoption, and the child's first birthday (or within 1 year of adoption). Employees must give their employer 8 week's notice of their intention to start their leave. Where an employee wishes to take separate blocks of leave, an employer has the right to suggest an alternative pattern.
Shared Parental Leave Pay is set at the rate of £139.58* or 90% of average earnings (which ever is lower) for up to 39 weeks.
During Leave
During leave, an employee's employment rights are protected. Holiday will continue to accrue throughout leave.
Returning to Work after Leave
Where maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave has lasted for less than 26 weeks, an employee has the right to return to their existing job.
After 26 weeks, employees have the right to return to their existing job, or a job on the same or better terms.
*Rates change each year – check www.gov.uk for the current rate of statutory payments.
Unpaid parental leave
Parents have the right to take up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave up until their child's 18th birthday (maximum 4 weeks per year) provided that the purpose of the leave is to look after their child's welfare. See www.gov.uk for more information.
In this section
Recruitmant and resourcing • Dealing with sickness absence • Grievances and ending employment • Performance management
Co-operatives UK HR Package: Delivering HR expertise for your co‑operative
Because people are at the heart of a successful co-operative business, Co-operatives UK offers a specialist HR service designed specifically for co-operatives. To find out more about the Co-operatives UK HR Package, please visit www.uk.coop/hrpackage
Updated: 26/03/2019
HR training
Co-operatives UK offers one-day training, including an essential HR course – find out more.


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Gorbel Monorail Cranes
Safetech have released a new range of Gorbel Monorail cranes that provide all of the well recognised features and benefits of the Gorbel workstation cranes in a monorail.
Monorails are the perfect solution when you are looking for true linear movement. Our systems can be readily adapted for more sophisticated applications with the addition of extra tracks, curves, switches, and interlocks that can be easily integrated into a total system. The pre-engineered modular designs offer the ultimate in flexibility, in layout, and in design for your manufacturing facility. Capacities are available from 75 - 2000 kgs.
- Capacities up to 2000 kgs. with multiple track profiles and spanning capabilities
- Pre-engineered modular kit designs for easy expansion and relocation
- Enclosed track design helps keep out contaminants and dust
- Cold rolled steel with high strength, low weight per foot ratio for smooth rolling surface for reduced rolling resistance
- Versatile, and can perform a wide variety of material handling functions
- Economical enough to be devoted to individual work stations
- Ease of installation for reduced installation time & costs
- Can increase worker satisfaction
- Encourages safe work practices
- Rapid return on investment through increased productivity
- Designed for applications with lighter loads (less than 2000 KGs.)
- Parts Assembly
- Machining
- Palletising loads
- Injection Moulding
- Warehouse loading docks
- Process Equipment Maintenance
- Truck Service Centers
Industry's Best Warranty - 5 years on Manual and Motorized Cranes!
Ease of Installation - We build and assemble all components with jigs and fixtures to ensure easy installation
Ease of Operation - This helps reduce operator injuries and increase your company's productivity
Versatility - Modular design allows for easy relocation and incorporation into other Gorbel crane systems
Safety - All cranes are pre-engineered for powered hoist operation - with a factor of 15% of the jib capacity for the combined weight of the hoist and trolley and an additional factor of 25% of the jib capacity for the impact of powered hoists.


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Ambassador Worldwide Protection Agency, a full service protective services provider, is looking for 25 highly motivated, driven, confident Off Duty Police Officers to join our growing team.
Full-Time/Part-Time shifts available from 5:00 pm until 9:30 pm, 7 days a week.
Immediate start date.
*Must have current Armed Guard License, or Post Certification*
Applicants must be in good physical condition and good moral character.
Applicants must be professional and career oriented, aggressive, well experienced, with a clean criminal history, and pass a drug test.
Law enforcement/former law enforcement, military/former military, and females are encouraged to apply.
We are an equal opportunity employer.
Job Type: Full-time/Part-time
Salary: Starting at $20.00 per hour, paid weekly.
Applications will be accepted at our office between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm Monday thru Friday at 8111 Walnut Run Road, Suite 101, Cordova, TN 38018. Please call our office to schedule an appointment if you need to meet at another time at (901) 309-2522.
Please bring your work documents which include:
Photo ID (example: Driver's license or ID)
Employment authorization (example: social security card or birth certificate)
Security License (example: post cert)