White collar, but unionized, with politicized and active unions.
I was at Wal-Mart just after Xmas -- about the third time in my life I'd been to one. Had to drive my best friend there ... one of those union members ... so she could spend her Xmas gift card money.
The place was crawling with people, of course, and I knew very well that a huge proportion of them belonged to unions that had just been engaged in a round of bargaining and strikes to get what they wanted. Which would be an annual wage of at least double, and in many cases considerably more, what any Wal-Mart worker makes, not to mention all the nice benefits they also get. Mental health days; imagine a Wal-Mart worker taking one of them.
Makes ya kinda puke, eh?
Nothing here
http://www.psac.com/home-e.shtml... or here
http://www.cupe.ca/... or here
http://www.cupw.ca/pages/index-e.phpAha! (I was just randomly clicking around to major public sector unions whose members do pretty well for themselves.)
http://www.nupge.ca/news_2005/n10fe05d.htmhttp://www.nupge.ca/news_2005/n10fe05b.htmNational Union’s support of UFCW Canada organizing campaign of Wal-Mart Workers
WHEREAS it is the desire of the National Union of Public and General Employees and United Food and Commercial Workers Canada to have a stronger working relationship and increased co-operation in organizing the unorganized;
WHEREAS the National Union and UFCW Canada are dedicated to protecting and promoting the economic and social well-being and the general welfare of their members as workers and citizens;
WHEREAS the National Union and UFCW Canada believe that organizing the unorganized is really the life-blood of the labour movement and in order for a union to be strong and dynamic, it must be growing in terms of membership;
WHEREAS Wal-Mart is the largest and almost exclusively non-union corporation and private sector employer in the world, employing 1.4 million workers worldwide and over 60,000 in Canada;
WHEREAS Wal-Mart is world renowned for its anti-union strategies and its continuous assault on the rights, wages and livelihoods of workers across Canada and around the world; and
WHEREAS the National Union and UFCW Canada recognize that organizing workers employed by Wal-Mart here in Canada and around the world is critical to the future health and growth of the labour movement and to increasing the economic well-being of workers, their families and their communities.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Union recognizes UFCW Canada as the leading union on the globe for its organizing efforts of Wal-Mart stores and applauds UFCW Canada for its commitment, determination and success at being the only union in North America to be certified to represent Wal-Mart workers;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Union supports UFCW Canada’s continuing efforts to achieve representation rights and other worker rights for workers employed at Wal-Mart and will promote a greater awareness amongst its members of the notorious anti-union strategies that Wal-Mart engages in; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the National Union and its Components will encourage its members to participate in community support and advocacy groups in those communities where UFCW Canada is actively organizing Wal-Mart workers.
Today's date ... but I'm not actually seeing the word "boycott" in there.