Wal-Mart 1, Union 0
I’m not an avid fan of Wal-Mart, but I’m an even lesser fan of unions. They’ve outlived their usefulness and in current fashion largely use the threat of striking to extort corporations for above market benefits at the expense of higher consumer prices.
In this case, the moral of the story is ‘be willing to back up your threats’.
Way to put Jonquiere on the map.
3 Comments:
Whatever you may think of unions, Wal-Mart's anti-union tactics are the stuff of legend among the union-busting crowd. They are also, in almost every instance blatantly illegal and, to be honest, pretty disturbing--and I do managment-side labor work, albeit in an industry where everyone is already unionized). Basically, they fire anyone who even suggests unionization, which is a per se violation of the Act. But because of the administrative hurdles imposed by the labor laws and the backlog at the National Labor Relations Board, by the time the employees can get reinstated, the union threat is long gone--a small price to pay for a few years of back-pay.
This article provides a pretty interesting summary of Wal-Mart's shady employment practices (and apparent Bush approval of it):
http://www.nathannewman.org/laborblog/archive/002183.shtml
I think it would be dangerous to say that unions have outlived their usefulness and move to dissolve them. I think they are still a useful tool to help balance workers' interests with those of corporate America, especially as we move towards a market environment controlled by a few, large conglomerates. As companies consolidate and become huge, multi-national corporate entities (with a tremendous amount of influence and power), I think it's more important than ever to have organized labor unions to protect workers' rights and interests.
Post a Comment
<< Home