Groundbreaking: Walmart employees seek union representation

[Hoping4Change]

**************LABOUR BREAKTHROUGH*********************************


TERRACE, B.C. (CP) - Wal-Mart store employees in Terrace are seeking union representation in what would be a labour breakthrough at the world's largest retailer.

A majority of the employees recently signed membership cards and have applied to the Labour Relations Board of British Columbia for union representation with the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, the union said in a release.


http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/business/story.html?id=226c4227-6113-4a73-a96f-a56d394b344a

:bounce:

[7th_Sephiroth]

1. in other news

walmart is shutting down all stores in canada, quoted the walton family"because unions mean we have to pay them decent wages"

[Bonhomme Richard]

2. Hah! Good news out of..................

Canada. Now why can't some people get a little courage and do that here?

[annagull]

3. Yes!! Bust open those Walmart doors!!

Good luck to all our Canadian friends!

[louis c]

4. I surely hope so.

Wal-Mart has been the greatest scourge on American Unions in the retail industry.

[fishnfla]

5. tomorrows headline: Wal-Mart to close Terrace, BC store

maybe not tomorrow, but soon

[BadGimp]

6. this is actually pretty amazing

Walmart will soon become a pariah in the eyes of the very consumers it leaches money from daily.

woo hoo

[Union Thug]

7. Fight on, brothers and sisters...

Let's hope this is just the first in a row of dominoes

[Joanne98]

8. OMG GO CANADA

God Bless you. Don't forget to defeat Harper too. HE'S A FUNDIE..............

[TrustingDog]

21. The only reason...

I would shop at WalMart is to get deal on their poison darts and shoot Harper up his smelly crack.
eh?

[HuckleB]

9. Awesome!

This is the only way to turn the tide on companies like Wal-Mart.

[LostInAnomie]

10. I remember when I worked at walmart...

... your first day they show you a anti-union movie that portrays union reps as shady characters looking to steal your money. The phrase "unions can't help you" came up frequently during the film. The walmart I worked at made it very clear that is you were seen talking to a union rep, or trying to form a union would jeopardize your career.

I wish the "associates" all over the US would get some balls and unionize. It would break the Evil Retail Empire.

[jdj]

12. Yes, and in a right to work state, they say they'll fire you.

I worked at Sams, and I have seen this film. They portray unions like the mafia asking for protection money.

All the factories I've worked at do the same thing, though, say unions make a killing off dues and then mention this is a right to work state and you can be fired at any time.

Too bad this had to happen in Canada. People who work at Walmart are desperate with a capital D, so they want to keep their jobs. It'll have to happen in a non-right to work state first.

Where the hell did Norma Rae go anyway. My family is union on both sides (telephone co. and railroads) and the union is the only reason any of them made a decent living, without the unions, they'd all be working at Walmart, too. Sad to think only 8% of the labor force is unionized.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. What's the 2nd day's film?

"How to stretch $240 a week."







ed: sp

[DBoon]

19. "How to Apply for Food Stamps"

Followed by "The County Emergency Room: Your Source for Friendly, Fast Medical Care"

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

27. Is day 5 a brochure on

"Trailer Park Livin'?"

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Scairp]

22. We were shown the biography on "Mr. Sam"

It had been produced by A&E. The part about how he once locked out employees who had tried to unionize at, I think one store only, was addressed. They said it just wasn't true. Of course, all of the positive things said about Walton were true, but that one negative thing wasn't. Go figure.

[whistle]

11. This could mean the end of the labor movement in Canada...

...neo-cons rule in that part of our neighbors to the north.

[markses]

13. They will shut that WalMart down

You better fucking believe it. They will shut it down before they pay one worker union wages anywhere. They're despicable greed hogs.

[Hoping4Change]

16. Union Pres is "quite confident about the outcome of this process"

Also

"Employees at a Wal-Mart in Thompson, Manitoba conducted a vote last week on joining UFCW Canada. The results of that vote have not yet been released pending Labour Relations Board rulings in Manitoba. Wal-Mart employees in Weyburn and North Battleford, Saskatchewan are also currently in the process of joining UFCW Canada."

http://www.ufcw.ca/cgi-bin/full_story.cgi?story_id=1242&from_page=6

[markses]

20. That's what the union pres. is paid to say

Mark it: They'll shut the store down before that shop is certified.

[Hoping4Change]

23. You have a point but one can hope.

[DainBramaged]

14. Wal_Mart, the Abu Ghraib of American retailers.

http://www.alternet.org/stories/18926/

[pinto]

17. but, but....what will China say?

[Solly Mack]

18. damn..it is the end of times....

(or not)

[doc03]

24. I recall this happening a few years ago in Canada, I don't know

what happened, but there ain't no union at WalMart yet. I don't think
there will ever be one, they will just close that store and move on.

[schultzee]

25. Go for it. Pull those greed pigs down, make them pay decent wages.

[Lisa]

26. under BC labour laws ...

... if Wal-Mart messes with the workers at this store, they AUTOMATICALLY will become a union -- leapfrogging over the legal hoops. (You can see why this measure was put in place -- the province has a long history of workers organizing under difficult conditions!)

If they succeed, I would actually shop there! Though I don't get to Terrace often -- hope one of the Vancouver Island stores follows suit.

[DBoon]

28. Can we do anything to support this?

Does the union accept donations?

[BiggJawn]

29. Kiss that Wally-World good-bye.

The Walton family would burn the fucker to the ground with the help still inside before they'd recognize a Union.

That's OK, they'll just sweet-talk some local city council in somr poverty-stricken "Right-to-Work (fire)" State to cough up 15 years of tax abatments so they can open TWO superstores and hire a coupla hundred people for $5.50 an hour, and "Blame Canada".

[Hoping4Change]

30. nt

[lucky777]

31. Hooray for this; let's hope that China's Wal-Marts do the same,

after all, they are a communist country!

It is a cruel joke to call workers "associates" when they are treated so poorly.

Everything wrong with the world today can be seen in Wal-Mart: terrible jobs, predatory capitalism, mistreatment of workers, lack of health care, even ugly architecture.