Gatineau, Que. Wal-Mart Expected To Close TLE Shop Over Union Agreement
Wal-Mart likes to say its “pro-associate, not anti-union.” But whenever its associates vote to become union members, Wal-Mart cuts them off at the knees.
In March of 2005, a union filed applications to certify workers at a Wal-mart Canada store in Gatineau, Quebec. The United Food and Commercial Workers Canada filed two certification applications with the Quebec Labor Relations Commission to represent workers in the main section of the Wal-Mart store in Gatineau, as well as for store’s Tire and Lube Express shop, or “garage” as it is called in Quebec.
In 2005, when the UFCW was certified as a union in another Wal-Mart store in Jonquiere, Quebec, Wal-Mart Canada shut the entire store down. Wal-Mart said the store was not making money. “We salute the courage and the determination of these workers who, despite Wal-Mart’s intimidation tactics, are asserting their right to unionize,” said Guy Chenier, president of UFCW Canada Local 486. Another contentious campaign was carried out in Windsor, Ontario, where Wal-Mart workers voted against forming a union. The UFCW and Wal-Mart management filed unfair labor practice charges in the Windsor case, each accusing the other side of intimidation.
The Montreal Gazette reports this week that UFCW leaders predict that Wal-Mart will shut down its Tire and Lube Express when the workers there are given their first collective agreement. The arbitrator’s decision will affect not only the 10 garage workers at Gatineau, but the Wal-Mart workers in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, who are also waiting for their first collective agreement, and workers all across Canada. Chénier told the Gazette that Wal-Mart has already hinted it will close the garage. TLE workers in Gatineau, which lies across the river from Ottawa, have been unionized for three years, and are now waiting for their first collective agreement following binding arbitration that ended in June. This would be the first collective bargaining agreement. “I have the impression that they will want to close the garage,” said Chénier. “But if they do this, we will help the workers find other places right away.”
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Topics: International | Workers Rights & Wages | Organizing | Canada
Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 | Permalink
WAL-MART LOOKING FOR FRIENDS IN HERNANDO, FL
Wal-Mart could find needed pal on Hernando County Commission [St. Petersburg Times (Fla.)]
When the County Commission denied Wal-Mart’s plans to build a supercenter off Barclay Avenue in May 2007, it was the fall of a Goliath.
Considering the open-armed, even gleeful, welcoming of previous Wal-Marts to Hernando County, such a stunning turnabout was hard to figure. You couldn’t help but wonder how the politics in the county had changed so quickly and drastically.
Wal-Mart fatigue no doubt played a part.
By last year, the retailer operated three supercenters in the county and a Sam’s Club wholesale outlet. More seemed likely as the company pursued a relentless (since abandoned) expansion policy called saturation marketing.
Also, the site on Barclay, though zoned for retail use, was less than ideal — too close to schools and subdivisions such as Pristine Place, the residents of which crammed the commission chambers on the day of the vote.
What else? Well, as I watched that meeting, it struck me that the company had no power base in Hernando County.
Its lawyers were from Tampa. Not a single member of the local business community spoke in favor of the store. The commissioner who may be most closely allied with that community, David Russell, took the unusual step of saying he planned to vote against the store even before the meeting.
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Posted by Tony Calero on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | Permalink
ECONOMIST DISCUSSES WAL-MART’S IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES IN SOLEDAD, CA
Speaker: Wal-Mart impact negative [The Californian]
Kenneth Stone, an economist who has done research on the impact of Wal-Mart in communities across the country for more than 20 years, warned an audience at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas Monday about the negative long-term impact the retail giant could have in Soledad.
Based on his studies conducted in California, Iowa and Mississippi, Stone told about 25 people in attendance that a new Wal-Mart may help a few businesses but there is no guarantee city sales-tax revenues will increase. In fact, he said, sometimes the sales taxes decrease.
“I’m trying to educate people on both sides of the equation,” he said. “A new Wal-Mart may help a few firms but it will probably hurt a lot more in the long run.”
Stone spoke in Salinas as part of a two-day visit which includes a presentation in Soledad at 7 p.m. today at the Soledad YMCA, and a stop at the Salinas City Council meeting at 4 p.m. He is addressing concerns of whether a 215,000-square-foot Super Wal-Mart should be built in Soledad.
Stone said Wal-Mart has established its super stores in bigger markets - cities of more than 50,000. But now the retailer is looking at smaller, rural markets such as Soledad with a population of 27,701.
Stone said studies in three states have shown that the total retail sales in the host town increased initially as Wal-Mart keeps more people at home to shop, and draws customers from the surrounding area.
But as time goes on these stores and other big- box retailers establish too many stores too close together, shrinking the “retail pie” for host communities.
In the first year, the percentage of total retail sales for the states studied increased by 5.5 percent but by the fifth year it was down to a negative 1.5 percent, Stone said.
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Topics: Community Impact | Economic/Small Business | Hiring an Expert |
Posted by Tony Calero on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | Permalink
WILDOMAR, FL BEGS FOR WAL-MART DESPITE ECONOMIC HAZARDS
WILDOMAR: “Fighting” for a Wal-Mart Supercenter [The Californian]
City officials and members of the business community are lobbying Wal-Mart to revive plans for building a supercenter near the Bundy Canyon Road/Interstate 15 interchange.
A supercenter features a full-service grocery store and all the products stocked at a regular Wal-Mart ---- clothing, tools, electronics, toiletries and more ---- under one roof.
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Wal-Mart owns about 25 acres of land near the southeastern corner of the interchange and the company was moving forward with the construction of a new supercenter there as recently as spring 2005.
Those plans were shelved, however, when the company decided in fall 2007 to scale back on building new stores, said Wal-Mart spokesman John Mendez.
Wildomar City Councilwoman Sheryl Ade said Monday that a new market-study matrix developed by Wal-Mart shows the area might not be able to support a supercenter. She said Wildomar missed the cutoff by a couple of percentage points.
The results of that new study haven’t stopped her, however, from pitching Wildomar directly to the company’s board of directors as a great spot for a new store.
Ade said she has sent a letter to the board, lobbying them to take into consideration how the new supercenter would affect financing for the city, which incorporated July 1 after voters approved it in February.
When county officials were looking at putting the question of incorporating on the ballot, a fiscal study was produced that approximated the budget for a then-hypothetical city of Wildomar.
Included in that study was $450,000 in sales tax revenue that was directly attributed to a new Wal-Mart.
City Councilwoman Bridgette Moore said the author of the fiscal study, Gary Thompson, produced an alternate version of the study that showed Wildomar’s budget would be OK without the $450,000.
“We don’t need Wal-Mart to succeed,” she said.
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Topics: Community Impact
Posted by Tony Calero on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | Permalink
WAL-MART COULD BE COMING TO SURF CITY, NC
Surf City could get new Wal-Mart [Jacksonville Daily News (N.C.)]
A commercial development company has met with the Surf City planning department several times regarding property for a Wal-Mart in the town.
Surf City Mayor Zander Guy confirmed that representatives from the real estate development firm Lauth, headquartered in Indianapolis, with a regional office in Charlotte, have been in “constant contact” with the town’s planning department during the last couple of months. The firm, which specializes in building office, industrial, health care and retail properties, is seeking about 150 acres of property for a Wal-Mart.
“Lauth representatives are still doing their due diligence - we don’t have anything concrete at this time,” Guy said. The firm, however, has checked on water and sewer availability and has made a sewer allocation request for 50,000 gallons a day.
“They have also presented the planning department with preliminary site plans,” Guy said.
Guy said though the developer has yet to make a formal commitment to build a store in Surf City, he believes the likely location will be on an undeveloped tract of land at the intersection of U.S. 17 and N.C. 210.
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Topics: Community Impact | Environment |
Posted by Tony Calero on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | Permalink
WAL-MART TO EXPAND IN LAKELAND, FL
Wal-Mart to Expand South Lakeland Store Into a Supercenter [The Ledger (Fla.)]
The South Lakeland Wal-Mart is getting a Supercenter upgrade.
The store, 3501 S. Florida Ave., will be expanded by 21,000 square feet and converted into a Supercenter with a full-scale supermarket, spokeswoman Quenta Vettel said.
The project also includes a new facade and is scheduled for completion in fall 2009. The revamped store, which first opened in 1985, will measure 148,000 square feet.
“It’s just going in remodeling, renovating, adding some square feet and bringing the grocery component,” Vettel said. “When at all possible and the market warrants it, we’re trying to take all of our Discount stores and upgrade them into Supercenters. It’s certainly something the company has been doing over the past few years to have all those services under one roof.”
Lakeland has just one existing Supercenter, at 5800 U.S. 98 N. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal Mart Stores operates a total seven Supercenters in Polk County, in addition to two Sam’s Club locations in Lakeland.
In addition to general merchandise, Supercenter locations typically feature fresh meats and produce, deli sections and other supermarket amenities.
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Posted by Tony Calero on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | Permalink
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update For Elected Officials
Check out this week’s issue of the Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials – a compilation of Wal-Mart news from across the country and beyond.
This week’s issue focuses on the big story of the week - Wal-Mart’s efforts to mobilize its managers across the country to warn of a Democratic win in November. The company has been holding mandatory meetings for its store managers and department supervisors (possibly in violation of state and federal election law), who are being warned that if Democrats win in November it could lead to potential store unionization. The meetings focus on a piece of proposed legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act, which could make it easier for stores to unionize if it’s the wish of a simple majority of store employees. Read all the major stories on Wal-Mart’s efforts, plus reaction from Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director David Nassar.
Beyond the possible election law violations, the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune report on new toy safety legislation making its way through Congress. In addition, more legal problems for Wal-Mart - the first Salmonella-related lawsuit has been filed, and Wal-Mart is the defendant. Also, a new story in the Arkansas Business Journal describes how Wal-Mart knew of the existence of labor violations prior to the filing of the recent wage/hour class actions.
And finally, check out our “Stateside” and “Wal-Mart International” sections to find out what’s going on with Wal-Mart around the country and across the globe.
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials
Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | Permalink
Surf City, NC. ‘Cool City’ Messes With Very ‘Hot’ Wal-Mart
The motto of the town of Surf City is “big enough to be competitive, small enough to be happy.” Mayor Zander Guy, Jr. says his town “possesses all of the aspects of a friendly, active community. We take great pride in our safe and family-friendly environment.” Surf City prides itself on being a “commercial hub…where you will find restaurants, gift shops, grocery stores, churches, a fishing pier, tackle shops, surf shops and kayaking shops. I invite you to visit any of our local merchants and find out why Surf City is such a wonderful community.” But Mayor Guy’s been keeping company with some merchants who are not local, and who eat local merchants for their lunch: Wal-Mart.
The Jacksonville Daily News revealed this week that a commercial developer from Indianapolis has met in private with the Surf City planning department several times regarding property for a Wal-Mart in Surf City. According to the Mayor, the developer has been in “constant contact” with the town’s planning department over the past “couple of months.” The developer is looking for 150 acres for a Wal-Mart, which is about five times bigger than a Wal-Mart parcel needs to be. “We don’t have anything concrete at this time,” the Mayor said, probably not aware of the pun. But the developer has very concrete plans, and has been inquiring about water and sewer requests, including a request for 50,000 gallons of sewage per day. The Mayor casually added, “They have also presented the planning department with preliminary site plans.” In other words, without the public knowing a thing about it, town staff have been spending hours of time with these developers. The Mayor would only say he “believes” the land Wal-Mart wants is currently undeveloped, and across from a Lowe’s Home Improvement store at the corner of Routes 17 and 210. Historically speaking, you often see a Wal-Mart by a Lowe’s or other large retail business,” he told the Daily News. He has biased himself already, and should step down when the matter comes before his board.
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Topics: Community Impact | Environment
Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | Permalink
