Wal-Mart: Save Money, Bust Unions

Today’s story in the Montreal Gazette reported Wal-Mart is likely to close a Tire and Lube Shop in Canada which is on the verge of unionizing. Wal-Mart has pulled this same move twice before: once with the meat-cutters department at a Texas store and in another instance, at a store in Jonquière, Quebec. As is evidenced by these three cases, Wal-Mart would rather close an entire store than see it unionized.

Friday’s story in the Wall Street Journal further exposes Wal-Mart’s fear of unions in North America. The company’s attempt to intimidate employees with threats of lost jobs and less power show how critical low wages are to Wal-Mart’s business model, and how far the company will go to prevent unions at its stores.

Yet despite the company’s vehement opposition to unions in North America, Wal-Mart is currently signing collective bargaining agreements with employees at its retail stores in China. This additional chapter to Wal-Mart’s long, contentious history with labor activists and union members adds a new facet to the Wal-Mart unionization debate. Read more about these instances and more in our new fact sheet:

Click here to download “Wal-Mart: Save Money, Bust Unions” (PDF)

Posted by Research Team on Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Click Here for a Printer-Friendly Version

COMMENTS

IF THERE WAS A UNION PRESENT, THEN I WOULD BE COLLECTING MY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.

j in PSL,FL
Thursday, August 07 at 05:54 AM

So all is well.

So simple question;

1 simple question.

What poor unoperated trutfull soul;

seen on American tv.

And there you have your’ riches ;

Mr. Gates.

There is no poor;

facially unoperated;

unvain;

personage;

On American tv.

Will you give me your’ horse.

Sir?

Anonymous in usa.com
Thursday, August 07 at 07:14 PM

I’ll show you my scars;

I hide them;

I’ve earned them;

Sir;

Will you give me a horse;

Least.

Anonymous in usa.com
Thursday, August 07 at 07:15 PM

I wasn’t there;

surely this story happened.

“Damn - mother fucker.”.

He walked away.

It was the blonde reporter.

He spit blood; peppered with salt.

“Who was he.”.

?

“He was my friend.”.

He walked up to her;

up to the lights.

“Back in a moment.”.

He was young and old;

both at once.

“Ma’am;

he’s dead now;

on this fucking street;

............

He was my friend.”.

He walked away;

She looked at the lights;

continuing her words;

as if nothing happened.

Surely nothing did.

Anonymous in usa.com
Thursday, August 07 at 07:21 PM

Corporate America Prepares for Battle Against Worker Campaign to Roll Back Assault on the Middle Class

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted August 8, 2008.

Big business has prepared a war chest of at least $150 million to stop progressive economic legislation that would seriously tax the rich.

Millions of American families are scraping by on below-market wages, and if that weren’t the case, there wouldn’t be such a large group of American families among the “working poor.” The cost of providing basic necessities—nutritious food, safe housing and decent medical care, these are out of reach for the almost 3 million American families who work full-time and live beneath the poverty level. According to the Working Poor Families Project, half of the working poor have no health insurance.

It’s important to understand that unionization doesn’t just boost the incomes of union members. When an industry has a certain threshold of unionization, ALL workers, whether unionized or nonunionized, end up with a fairer share of the pie. Mishel and Matthew point out that a high school graduate who doesn’t belong to a union but who works in an industry that has a rate of union membership of 25 percent or higher brings home 5 percent more in wages than a similar worker in a less unionized industry.

ddrb in
Saturday, August 09 at 03:52 PM

There’s a substantial body of research that shows a clear correlation between falling unionization rates, stagnating wages and increases in inequality and poverty. That’s true in all countries; data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)—the “rich countries’ club”—shows that “countries with high levels of union density or collective bargaining coverage are much more equal than countries with low union density, but perform no worse in terms of creating jobs.”

High union density also narrows pay gaps between women and men, and between younger and older workers. By narrowing pay gaps, unions counter poverty and make family incomes much more equal than would otherwise be the case.
The United States has seen a precipitous decline in the labor movement over the past three decades or so, and that decline has correlated with painful economic stagnation for all but the top of the economic food chain. 

As economists Lawrence Mishel and Ross Eisenbrey wrote, “Wage inequality began to grow at the same time” that the decline in unionization gathered steam in the late 1970s.

Economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty showed that when you lop off those in the top 10 percent of the economic food chain, inflation-adjusted earnings for the overwhelming majority of Americans increased by less than $1,000 dollars over the 28-year period between 1977 and 2005—$35 in growth per year—despite slow but steady economic expansion overall (Excel file).

During this period, the distribution of America’s total income has become highly concentrated at the top. In 1977, the top 1 percent of Americans grabbed just under 8 percent of the nation’s earnings. By 2005 that number had more than doubled, to almost 18 percent of the pie. These numbers don’t include investment income—just income from working. The top 10 percent grabbed about a third of the nation’s income in 1977, and almost 45 percent by 2005.~~~~~~~~Alternet

ddrb in
Saturday, August 09 at 03:54 PM

Dear Abby,

I am a crack dealer in Beaumont , Texas , who has recently been diagnosed as a carrier of HIV virus. My parents live in Fort Worth . One of my sisters lives in Pflugerville and is married to a transvestite. My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana. They are financially dependent on my other two sisters, who are prostitutes in Dallas . I have two brothers: one is currently serving a life sentence at Huntsville for the murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My other brother is currently in jail awaiting charges of sexual misconduct with his three children. I have recently become engaged to marry a former prostitute who lives in Longview . She is a part time ‘working girl’.

All things considered, my problem is this. I love my fiancee and look forward to bringing her into the family. I certainly want to be totally open and honest with her. Should I tell her about my cousin who supports Barack Obama for President?

Signed,
Worried About My Reputation

Anonymous in usa.com in
Monday, August 11 at 07:54 AM

Anonymous: You mean your cousin that works at WalMart ,and plans to vote for Obama,anyay?

ddrb in
Monday, August 11 at 09:39 AM

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Dona Roach in Erich Mitchell
Tuesday, August 19 at 02:45 AM

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