In an article not long ago they discussed the Jacksonville, Texas "Walmart" and how majority butchers taht voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. It got ugly after the vote to organize was passed and Walmart was faced with having a unionized shop in their midst.
Walmart didn't handle it well. See, union organizing is based within the US Constitution as a right to assemble, freedom of speech, contract law, etc., etc., etc. So, if anyone states unionization is unconstitutional they are ignorant. The rights of unions are strongly based within constitutional law and it is safe to venture a statement that destroying unions is a direct assault on the US Constitution.
If there was ever a example of why we need the Employee Free Choice Act, its the saga of Wal-Mart workers in Jacksonville, Texas.
In February 2000, workers at a Wal-Mart meat department in Jacksonville, TX voted to form a union by 7-3 margin. Instead of honoring the vote and opening negotiations with UFCW, Wal-Mart took the standard company option: it closed all in-store butcher departments in favor of pre-packaged meats. If Wal-Mart’s union-busting reputation was ever in question, this case erased any doubt years ago....
Walmart is vicious regarding union organizing. They are not only vicious in the American Southland, they are vicious globally. As a matter of fact, Walmart with its global reach and obvious ability to degrade local economies is nearly 'an instrument' of Wall Street is a very big way.
Examples: South Africa in 2011. Walmart purchased a 51% share of a retail store chain called "Massmart." South Africa is very, very union centered. The diamond mines alone are enough to give any self-respecting South African pause to realize the extreme working conditions employees undergo to simply earn a paycheck.
Walmart Executive Vice President and board member opening called union members, "blood sucking parasites." The contract with Massmart exists for another three years and Walmart is determined to destroy the union when negotitations open. What has that done to their 'Wall Street' name and brand? It provides a 'model' for success in union busting to Wall Street. If a company has enough liquid capital and wants to destroy unions, which also means destroying their own market base, they can venture into those waters and attempt to destroy them along with a vital Middle Class.
It isn't just South Africa either. In 2004, in Jonquiere, Quebec, the workers voted to join the UFCW (click here) a union focused on supporting labor in Canada and the USA. After voting to join the union, the store was simply closed for business. That is pure stupidity. It provides a very bad public comment to the local economy. When the store opens again, the unions will be there anyway.
The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union is responsible for the union organizing at the controversy surrounding a "Target" store in New York. It is the first store to even consider unionizing within Target and it is being scrutinized by Wall Street.
..."Will the store close if the union gets in?" (click here)
The company answer: "There are no guarantees."
The Valley Stream store performs in the middle of the pack companywide, making its closure unlikely. But it stands alone among the 1,754 Targets: On Friday, its 260 workers will decide whether to join the largest retail union in the country.
The outcome could have ramifications not just for the company but for the industry, organized labor and potentially consumers nationwide, giving organized labor a rare beachhead into big-box retail.
If the union wins, "that's big news," said Chris Tilly, the director of UCLA's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. "It shows [unions] have potential that people thought wasn't there."
The tenor of the company's flier was noteworthy to John Budd, a labor relations professor at the University of Minnesota. "It suggests Target is quite nervous," he said.
The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union says it intends to organize other Target stores in the New York area, and the company and the union are already accusing each other of resorting to unfair and illegal tactics...
If Target closes this store in retaliation of a passing vote to bring the union into its employees, the UFCW will be in a strong position to move against the company in court. The tactics of Walmart in Canada can be presented as 'Wall Street Precedent' in violating the 'free will' of people when they want to protect themselves from poor wages and exploitive management practices.
In of all places, Bangledesh, labor supporters for employees of Walmart, Babul Akhter, Kalpona Akter, and Aminul Islam were imprisoned and tortured. They could face the execution for destroying property where are false charges. Walmart Corporation could easily stop this hideous attrocity in a place where the struggle for human rights has gone on for decades. But. Walmart isn't making an effort because it acts as oppression to the "blood sucking parasites" that are employees to the company.
The list goes on and on with a definate global 'attitude' by Wall Street to 'keep the peasants down' at any cost, even their lives. Reading about this very much reminds me of the beginnings of unions in the USA. It was very dangerous and people died to protect others and build the foundation of the modern union movement. One of the big topics for unions in the beginning wasn't even wages, so much as working conditions. Working conditions is a huge insult to workers globally and the reason alone for outsourcing.
Walmart didn't handle it well. See, union organizing is based within the US Constitution as a right to assemble, freedom of speech, contract law, etc., etc., etc. So, if anyone states unionization is unconstitutional they are ignorant. The rights of unions are strongly based within constitutional law and it is safe to venture a statement that destroying unions is a direct assault on the US Constitution.
Jacksonville, Texas: Why We Need Employee Free Choice (click here)
Posted on March 23, 2009 by webteam
If there was ever a example of why we need the Employee Free Choice Act, its the saga of Wal-Mart workers in Jacksonville, Texas.
In February 2000, workers at a Wal-Mart meat department in Jacksonville, TX voted to form a union by 7-3 margin. Instead of honoring the vote and opening negotiations with UFCW, Wal-Mart took the standard company option: it closed all in-store butcher departments in favor of pre-packaged meats. If Wal-Mart’s union-busting reputation was ever in question, this case erased any doubt years ago....
Walmart is vicious regarding union organizing. They are not only vicious in the American Southland, they are vicious globally. As a matter of fact, Walmart with its global reach and obvious ability to degrade local economies is nearly 'an instrument' of Wall Street is a very big way.
Examples: South Africa in 2011. Walmart purchased a 51% share of a retail store chain called "Massmart." South Africa is very, very union centered. The diamond mines alone are enough to give any self-respecting South African pause to realize the extreme working conditions employees undergo to simply earn a paycheck.
Walmart Executive Vice President and board member opening called union members, "blood sucking parasites." The contract with Massmart exists for another three years and Walmart is determined to destroy the union when negotitations open. What has that done to their 'Wall Street' name and brand? It provides a 'model' for success in union busting to Wall Street. If a company has enough liquid capital and wants to destroy unions, which also means destroying their own market base, they can venture into those waters and attempt to destroy them along with a vital Middle Class.
It isn't just South Africa either. In 2004, in Jonquiere, Quebec, the workers voted to join the UFCW (click here) a union focused on supporting labor in Canada and the USA. After voting to join the union, the store was simply closed for business. That is pure stupidity. It provides a very bad public comment to the local economy. When the store opens again, the unions will be there anyway.
The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union is responsible for the union organizing at the controversy surrounding a "Target" store in New York. It is the first store to even consider unionizing within Target and it is being scrutinized by Wall Street.
..."Will the store close if the union gets in?" (click here)
The company answer: "There are no guarantees."
The Valley Stream store performs in the middle of the pack companywide, making its closure unlikely. But it stands alone among the 1,754 Targets: On Friday, its 260 workers will decide whether to join the largest retail union in the country.
The outcome could have ramifications not just for the company but for the industry, organized labor and potentially consumers nationwide, giving organized labor a rare beachhead into big-box retail.
If the union wins, "that's big news," said Chris Tilly, the director of UCLA's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. "It shows [unions] have potential that people thought wasn't there."
The tenor of the company's flier was noteworthy to John Budd, a labor relations professor at the University of Minnesota. "It suggests Target is quite nervous," he said.
The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union says it intends to organize other Target stores in the New York area, and the company and the union are already accusing each other of resorting to unfair and illegal tactics...
If Target closes this store in retaliation of a passing vote to bring the union into its employees, the UFCW will be in a strong position to move against the company in court. The tactics of Walmart in Canada can be presented as 'Wall Street Precedent' in violating the 'free will' of people when they want to protect themselves from poor wages and exploitive management practices.
In of all places, Bangledesh, labor supporters for employees of Walmart, Babul Akhter, Kalpona Akter, and Aminul Islam were imprisoned and tortured. They could face the execution for destroying property where are false charges. Walmart Corporation could easily stop this hideous attrocity in a place where the struggle for human rights has gone on for decades. But. Walmart isn't making an effort because it acts as oppression to the "blood sucking parasites" that are employees to the company.
The list goes on and on with a definate global 'attitude' by Wall Street to 'keep the peasants down' at any cost, even their lives. Reading about this very much reminds me of the beginnings of unions in the USA. It was very dangerous and people died to protect others and build the foundation of the modern union movement. One of the big topics for unions in the beginning wasn't even wages, so much as working conditions. Working conditions is a huge insult to workers globally and the reason alone for outsourcing.
