Group Creates Wal-Mart Workers Association

[DBoon]

LA Times, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-briefs5.6nov05,1,7868896.story?coll=la-headlines-business

An advocacy group critical of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will start a workers association to help employees of the world's biggest retailer improve their working conditions.

Wake-Up Wal-Mart, funded in part by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, announced the creation of Wal-Mart Workers of America.

The workers association follows the union's previous unsuccessful attempts to organize workers at individual Wal-Mart stores in the United States.

[blue neen]

1. I keep wondering why the unions can't organize the Wal-Mart workers.

It's not like the company treats them well. :shrug:

My step-father works for a Wal-Mart in Florida, and he says that the workers don't seem to want to educate themselves about a union. It infuriates him.

[annabanana]

2. they fear for their jobs...

It has never been otherwise in a new union.

[blue neen]

3. Agreed.

It's such a shame. Today's Wal-Mart is to unions what the coal mines and steel mills were 100 years ago.

[tsuki]

4. My uncle joined the Teamsters in the '30's. It wasn't all that

easy, and their was a lot of worker resistance to the Teamsters. Fear for your job; fear of your employer.

WalMart is vicious.

[Fla Dem]

7. Not only don't want to educate themselves about unions, but they

get paid so little, probably can't afford the deduction for union dues. Also, didn't Wal-Mart recently close a store where the employees were unionizing?

[jmowreader]

9. Yeah. It was in Canada.

Guys, I hate to do this to you, but I've got an assignment: Go to Wal-Mart and look at the meat counter. You will notice that all the meat looks like it was wrapped up at a factory--and this is because it was. It's called case-ready meat, it comes in a box ready to go on the shelf like any other product, and it came into existence because the butchers at one of Wal-Mart's stores joined the Food and Commercial Workers Union. Wal-Mart retaliated by firing every butcher in the chain, closing the meat-wrapping rooms and converting to case-ready meat.

The ONLY way you're ever going to get a union into Wal-Mart is if you start by unionizing the pharmacists. It's got to be the pharmacists. Pharmacy is a major profit center, the pharmacists are the highest-paid non-management employees in the store (which means they have the money to afford union dues), and under the laws of every state in the nation a licensed pharmacist is required to dispense prescription drugs. Wal-Mart is NOT going to close their pharmacies. They can NOT can all the pharmacists and replace them with more compliant ones--they could try it, but there's no guarantee they wouldn't get another batch of pro-union pharmacists. They also can't OJT a new batch of pharmacists--pharmacy requires college training and state licensing. Unionize the pharmacies, and you can use that as a wedge to get unions into the rest of the store.

[blue neen]

12. The last time I was in Wal-Mart (about 2 years ago),

I did notice the packaging of the meat. It comes in huge slabs, and it doesn't even look appetizing.

I think you're right about unionizing the pharmacists. I never thought of it, but you are spot on.

[Sal Minella]

8. One of the interviews on the Greenwald movie site says managers

are encouraged to keep tabs on any employee who mentions anything to another employee about organizing, and the pro-organizer is transferred to job duties where he/she will fail and can then be terminated. Standard practice, according to one of the former employees interviewed who came to think of himself as a hitman for Wal-Mart.

Just one or two employees being treated like this, and word would pass through the ranks quickly.

[phusion]

11. hmm

I seem to remember employees at a Wal-Mart store unionizing and then it was subsequently shut down/workers laid off. Wal-Mart just opened another store down the road...

Could have been a rumor.

[blue neen]

13. I also heard that.

I believe it happened in Canada. Frankly, it stinks.

[mestup]

5. Great news

[joefree1]

6. Smart move, Unions everywhere need to follow this example

With more jobs become temporary or freelance Unions need to organize workers in associations. In these associations workers can get organized, educated, and seek help with their medical and other social needs. Then as soon as a majority of workers are organized and ready to fight, then they can unionize and industry.

Unions need to go hybrid.

[RedRocco]

10. yes

we need a union of part time and temporary workers. also there needs to be a law about what percentage of the contract a temp agency can take. I had a temp job once that paid me $6.00 per hour but the employers contract was for $15.00 per hour. why should the agency get paid %150 more than the worker?