Would-be union organizer targets Lowe's - Kmarc - Brief Article

Home Channel News, July 16, 2001 by Andrew Carlo

Web-based effort draws mixed response

WILKESBORO N.C.--A socialist who extols Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and the virtues of Communism is also the leading voice behind a quixotic effort to unionize Lowe's, the industry's second largest dealer.

Kmarc, as he is known on his Internet message board, has urged Lowe's employees to rise up and unionize. Through a series of manifestos delivered on the board, Kmarc has conveyed to Lowe's employees that they are being abused by the retail giant.

Anti big-box sites have become commonplace on the Internet. Home Depot and Wal-Mart in particular get flamed regularly by sites that serve as open forums for all forms of disgruntlement, but also sometimes provide remarkably fresh insider information that those companies would prefer to keep under wraps.

It could not be determined if Kmarc is or ever has been a Lowe's associate. But according to various postings that he's left on the Web, he is also known as Kristopher Marc or Kristopher Marc Long, a 26-year-old Marxist working toward a doctorate in sociology. Kmarc is one of the forces behind newyouth.com, a Web site created by the Youth for International Socialism. That site publishes essays focusing on the benefits of communism and socialism while criticizing the leaders of capitalistic nations, including U.S. President George W. Bush.

Unionize Lowe's, whose crude URL is Lowesblows.com, features daily updates on global labor news, as well as stories about Lowe's employees who, through injuries or illness, have allegedly fallen on hard times due to their non-union status. It regularly agitates for Lowe's employees to unionize now. The site even offers some practical advice, such as, "How to negotiate a raise at Lowe's."

The Unionize Lowe's site, which Kmarc created, includes dual message boards, and each receives a heavy volume of postings from former and current Lowe's employees and managers.

The newer board is a forum for more off-the-wall postings such as supposed messages from Lowe's president and CEO Robert Tillman and its chief operating officer Larry Stone. The older board carries predictable complaints about 60-hour work weeks, lack of benefits and all else that might be wrong with the chain. Interspersed among those gripes, though, is a fair amount of pro-Lowe's postings. Store managers and employees who own stock in the company, in fact, typically defend Lowe's and call the bluff of any movement trying to organize a union at Lowe's.

Some site watchers have expressed skepticism about how many visitors Unionize Lowe's actually gets. "I think an important point about messages on this board is that it is impossible to evaluate how many individuals are posting messages," wrote a user whose screen name is Bart. "The ability to change names every time a message is posted creates an environment where you can't trust anything you read. Most of this babble conceivably could be one or two guys from the AFL-CIO trying to stir up some emotions."

Unions are not likely to penetrate Lowe's stores or distribution centers in the foreseeable future. And at least one board visitor -- known as F.E.E., a former employee of Eagle Hardware & Garden, which was bought by Lowe's in late 1998 -- has challenged Kmarc to emerge from the rhetorical shadows and get down to the business of organizing a union himself.

If the Unionize Lowe's site isn't enough for disgruntled employees, there is also a Yahoo! club -- Lowes Workers Unionize. This site has also been created by Kristopher Marc.

Attempts to contact Kmarc through his various e-mail addresses, including an address to the University of Clemson in South Carolina, were unsuccessful. Lowe's officials said that they were aware of the Unionize Lowe's site, but not aware of the message board and refused any further comment.