A Union at Wal-Mart? If not now, when?

[Omaha Steve]

http://unionmaine.blogspot.com/2009/05/union-at-wal-mart-if-not-now-when.html

Saturday, May 2, 2009
A Union at Wal-Mart? If not now, when?


Miami Wal-Mart maybe Unionized?

From the Miami Herald:

Workers at a North Miami Beach Wal-Mart Supercenter are hoping to make their store one of the first Wal-Marts in the United States to unionize.

So far, workers say they have gathered signed pro-union cards from 150 of the store’s 476 employees. Under federal labor law, that’s just about enough for union supporters to demand a vote on unionization by all rank-and-file workers at the store.

Of course, this is Walmart we’re talking about here so the battle is not won yet:

But workers at the North Miami Beach store may have a long road ahead of them. They almost certainly will need to collect signed cards from a lot more than the 30 percent minimum required by law. That’s because Wal-Mart could ask federal labor officials to throw out some of the cards for various reasons.

Even if the National Labor Relations Board orders an election, companies typically try to delay as long as possible. Meanwhile, the company can order workers to attend anti-union meetings and watch anti-union videos on company time, while the unions may only drum up support among workers during breaks and off hours.

Pro-union workers say the company is harassing them, demanding to know the views of individual employees, and pressuring them to identify union supporters. Wal-Mart says it doesn’t engage in such practices, which would violate federal labor law.

FULL story at link.