Wal-Mart and the Union

(Montreal, Quebec) According to CBC News, the Labor Relations Board in Quebec ruled that Wal-Mart was harassing and intimidating employees at a Sainte-Foy store outside Quebec City and ordered the company to stop. The complaint, filed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), contended that one Wal-Mart cashier was asked by a manager to reveal the names of union sympathizers. The order from the Labor Relations Board also requires Wal-Mart to display the ruling in the store's lunchroom for 30 days. A Wal-Mart spokesman, Andrew Pelletier, indicated the company will comply with the ruling but denied that employees were intimidated.

Meanwhile, in Loveland, Colorado, a secret ballot election within the Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express Department resulted in the overwhelming rejection of the UFCW. In responding to the defeat by the voters, the UFCW spewed allegations of harassment and intimidation of workers and irregularities in voting (read: ballot stuffing by newly added employees). Unfortunately for the union, the accusations may not be viewed as all that credible since the election was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. One thing is sure though, the defeat in Loveland will add to the sting of a similar defeat at a Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express in New Castle, Pennsylvania, two weeks earlier.

By observing the ongoing crusade of the UFCW to insert itself into the retail business of Wal-Mart, some features are noticeable:

<> There doesn't seem to be a cohesive, well-expressed and understood argument for why Wal-Mart workers need to organize.

<> In virtually all attempts to organize, the union will make anecdotal and vague claims that Wal-Mart workers have been harassed and intimidated. Interestingly, for some odd reason, union organizers seem to be immune from allegations of intimidation and harassment even though they seem to be experts.

<> Despite the circumstances, labor disputes in Canada will generally result in rulings favoring the union.

<> There should be no doubt that Wal-Mart will unfailingly resist attempts to unionize and will opt to shut down a store rather than cater to unreasonable union contract demands.

<> As long as there are hundreds of thousands of non-union workers waiting to be tapped for $10 or $20 a paycheck for the coffers of the UFCW, the union will be there, probably drooling.

In summary, the Wal-Mart battle with the unions is a big business soap opera which will continue as the workers of the world are freed from the oppressive bonds of capitalism and unite for social justice.