Collective agreement imposed at Gatineau Wal-Mart garage

Eight Wal-Mart employees become the first in North America with a union contract

Ottawa (18 August 2008) - Eight workers at a Tire and Lube Express outlet in Gatineau, across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill, became the first Wal-Mart employees in North America with a legal union contract Aug. 15 when a collective agreement was imposed on the hostile retail giant by a Quebec arbitrator.

The garage is part of a regular Wal-Mart outlet with a non-union staff of more than 200 workers. The company made no immediate comment but there was widespread speculation it would shut the garage down rather than accept a unionized workplace.

In 2005, the company closed a store in Jonquiere, north of Quebec City, after workers voted to unionize and were certified by Quebec's labour board. The Supreme Court of Canada agreed on Aug. 7 to hear a challenge from former employees at the Jonquiere store.

"There has been a decision. There is a first collective agreement for Gatineau, for the garage," said Guy Chenier, president of the Gatineau local of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada).

The National Union of Public and General Employees has signed a formal protocol with UFCW Canada supporting its attempts to organize Wal-Mart workers in Canada.

For a brief period in the 1990s, a Windsor, Ont., Wal-Mart store had a collective agreement. However, the outlet is no longer unionized. NUPGE