Wal-Mart workers unionized at third store in Quebec

Employees in Gatineau follow lead of those in Jonquiere and Ste-Hyacinthe.

Ottawa (22 Dec. 2008) - Less than two months after closing a tire and lube shop in Gatineau to get rid of a union, Wal-Mart is now faced with a certification order for 150 employees in the adjacent retail store − located across the Ottawa River from Canada's capital.

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) has been certified bargaining agent for the employees and wants to begin negotiating a first contract immediately. Predictably, Wal-Mart is appealing the order to the Quebec Superior Court.

Employees at the store signed union cards 3 1/2 years ago when the tire and lube shop was unionized. However, certification was delayed while Wal-Mart, using its bottomless financial and legal resources, exhausted all means available to avoid a union.

Wal-Mart now says only 63 of the original 194 employees from 2005 remain on staff in the store and it is asking the Quebec labour board to order a secret ballot before the union is recognized.

The ultimate card - shutting down

When it had no option left but to deal with a union at the tire and lube shop, Wal-Mart played its ultimate card in October and shut the shop down, claiming it could not remain profitable if forced to pay wage rates decreed in a contract imposed by the labour board.

The union, and critics across Canada and beyond, said the company was merely behaving as it always does − doing whatever it takes to kill any union, no matter how small, wherever it appears in any Wal-Mart operation.

In 2005, Wal-Mart shut down a full-fledged retail store in Jonquiere, Que., just as an arbitrator was set to impose a union contract. The company is also facing arbitration at a second store in Ste-Hyacinthe, Que.

Meanwhile, workers have also been certified at a Wal-Mart store in Weyburn, Sask., where Wal-Mart is also resorting to all legal tactics available to delay and kill the union drive.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has signed a protocol with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) to support and cooperate in the UFCW's campaign to organize workers at Wal-Mart stores across Canada. NUPGE