No Age to Headline Event Benefiting Anti-Walmart Effort in Los Angeles’ Chinatown district on June 29th

Bands, DJs partner with local labor movement and Unionosity, Ooga Booga and Human Resources to draw attention to Walmart’s unfair labor practices and expansive agenda for the LA Region

Plus – Largest anti-Walmart demonstration ever to be held at Los Angeles State Historic Park on June 30th Los Angeles bands No Age, Tearist and LA Fog will join the coalition to stop Walmart from invading Chinatown with a benefit event at the Human Resources Gallery on June 29th. The popular bands will be joined by DJs from Chinatown-based K-Chung radio, including Nick Malkin of LA Vampires, DJ Jim Smith (co-founder of Downtown LA DIY stronghold The Smell and union organizer by day) and speakers from the Los Angeles labor and activism community. The June 29th event will lead up to the largest anti-Walmart demonstration ever, which is scheduled for Los Angeles State Historic Park on June 30th.

The June 29th event, organized by the nonprofit media organization Unionosity (www.unionosity.com), Chinatown-based retail space Ooga Booga and Human Resources gallery, will join vigorous opposition to Walmart’s agenda for Los Angeles. The proposed Chinatown store comes on the heels of an alleged bribery scandal in Mexico, a report on abuses at Walmart’s distribution centers, and recent cloak-and-dagger PR techniques, as well as a long history of failure to pay their employees a living wage, provide adequate benefits or recognize associates’ right to organize.
When: June 29th, 2012 – 7:00 PM – 11:30 PM
Where: Human Resources
410 Cottage Home St. in Chinatown, 90012
Cost: $5.00 suggested donation with proceeds to benefit nonprofit
organizations driving the anti-Walmart effort

Walmart obtained permits for the Chinatown store just one day before Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance banning chain stores from the neighborhood. The permits for Walmart’s store (called a “Community Market”), to be located at Cesar Chavez and Grand, are being appealed by the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance; the appeals process is ongoing. The June 29th event aims to draw attention to Walmart’s unfair labor practices and their plans for the region, to support the small business institutions that dignify the neighborhood and to demonstrate solidarity with the vibrant music and art scene long housed in Chinatown. Proceeds will benefit the anti-Walmart effort.

Making Change at Walmart estimates that for Walmart to reach its national market share in L.A. County, Walmart would need to build 212 stores. These 212 stores would result in a net loss of 8,744 retail jobs, the loss of more than $621 million in wages per year for the retailer workers who still have jobs in L.A. County and an increase of 9,400 workers to the already-stretched state Medi-Cal health care.

On the participants:
No Age emerged in 2005 and catalyzed the energy of the LA art-punk scene based around downtown DIY venue the Smell – the band has toured the world many times over, appeared on the David Letterman Show and is currently preparing to record their third album for Sub Pop Records. Tearist is a Los Angeles duo merging the experimental electronics of Will Menchaca with visceral performances from frontwoman Yasmine Kittles. A recent LA Weekly cover story proclaimed: “Tearist could very well be the most crucial musical project to come out of Los Angeles in recent years.” LA Fog is an experimental quartet made-up of Human Resources Board Member and civil rights attorney Kathleen Kim (violin), Kelly Coats (flute), Giles Miller (baritone sax) and Devin McNulty (bass clarinet).

Unionosity is a nonprofit organization that works across media platforms and through public appearances to make a positive contribution to the discourse surrounding workplace-related quality of life issues. Ooga Booga is a retail art space opened by Wendy Yao in 2004 – the store showcases emerging artists, authors, musicians and designers through their unique events and selection of clothes, books, records, accessories and ‘zines. Human Resources is a Chinatown art/performance space run by a team of creative individuals, that seeks to broaden engagement with contemporary and conceptual art with an emphasis on performative and underexposed modes of expression.

Link to 6/30/12 LA Union No Walmart Action –
http://launionaflcio.org/2012/7455/no-walmart-in-chinatown.html

Links to participating organizations/bands –
www.unionosity.com
http://humanresourcesla.com/
http://www.oogaboogastore.com/
http://www.subpop.com/artists/no_age
http://tearist.bandcamp.com/