Unions file complaint against Wal-Mart
The AFL-CIO and other workers' rights groups filed a formal complaint today with the Federal Election Commission over what they call the intimidation of workers by Wal-Mart.
The Wall Street Journal reported recently that the mega retail chain held meetings with employees where they were told that there could be job cuts if a Barack Obama administration pushed through a law making it easier to unionize. Wal-Mart said while it told workers it opposes the proposal, it was not telling them how to vote.
"Wal-Mart has bullied its workers and managers for years. Now it wants to bully the political process, and the FEC should take Wal-Mart's threats very seriously," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a statement. "Wal-Mart has shown exactly why our nation needs the Employee Free Choice Act - - we must outlaw the kind of behavior for which Wal-Mart is famous and give workers a free and fair choice on whether to form a union."
The complaint says that "there is reason to believe that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has made prohibited corporate expenditures by expressly advocating against Senator Obama's election to employees.... We request that the Commission immediately open an investigation to determine whether a violation occurred and, if so, to take all appropriate steps to remedy that violation of federal election law."
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Libs don't like Wal-Mart so if Obama is elected you can look for Wal-Mart to join the other enemies of the left - Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Big Business to come under punishing taxes or, in the case of Wal-Mart, union control. That way, the the poor will have to pay higher prices so union boses can ride around in limos and attend big ticket Democrat galas. The low prices Wal-Mart provides to the poor is more generous than any current or future government program. Instead of praising the company for its good management and what it provides poor and middle class people, Wal-Mart has to be crushed because because it doesn't want to unionize.
It's the truth: Walmart store employees in China have unions and healthcare. The Employee Free Choice Act, if approved, would go a long way in reversing the decline of the American working-class.
When it comes to unionization, the secret ballot sounds like it protects worker choice, but it really doesn't. In order for a secret ballot to occur, employers must be made aware that their employees are considering unionization. There is then a waiting period during which employers, in the vast majority of cases, hire union-busters, meet with employees one-on-one in order to intimidate and dissuade them from voting for the union, and frequently attempt to bribe employees with raises and other favors in order to secure "no" votes. Finally, after all of this, a secret ballot is held wherein the union effort is often defeated. Pro-union employees regularly lose their jobs. Many states prohibit this type of employer retaliation but rarely enforce penalties in any meaningful way. If this offends your sense of freedom and liberty, it should.
Employees ought to be free to form unions without interference, and if the secret ballot were held off-site without employer meddling, the secret ballot would be great. But right now that's not how it works.
The Employee Free Choice Act allows worker’s unions to be formed without threats or intimidation from employers. With the Employee Free Choice Act, if a majority of workers sign union cards during a given year, then they are free to form a union which must be recognized by their employer. This is the way it should be because this is America.
Does anyone else find it interesting that conservatives, who consistently favor business interests, not working-class interests, are suddenly so concerned about a worker’s right to decide in private whether or not to form a union? The Employee Free Choice Act will give Americans real privacy when it comes to unionization. This is the sort of legislation that has been sorely missing from our political landscape over the last decade as New Deal programs have been dismantled and the everyman has fallen into destitution.
If you are reading this post, do the American workingman a favor, pick up a pen and write to your congressperson encouraging him or her to vote “yes” on the Employee Free Choice Act. GO UNION LABOR!
Full Disclosure - I'm anti-union.
Having said that, if what the E.F.C.A. advocates say is true, then we have rather a bad choice between [ current ] intimidation by Employers, and [ proposed ] intimidation by pro-union fellow workers.
To be frank, when one compares the fortunes of the heavily unionized US auto industry, burdened with the "jobs pool" and exorbitant benefits paid to UAW retirees, with Toyota, Honda, and Nissan plans in the Southern states it is not hard for conclude the cause of the problems. Any and every time that an employee's salary is increased due to longevity, rather than an increase in that employee's productivity, that employee has just increased the likelihood that the company for which they work will, ultimately, be forced out of business.
I will certainly state that unions WERE a necessity back in the thirties, when many employers would callously cast aside a loyal employee after many years of service. To the extent that unionization has stopped that, it has been superb. However, it seems that now the pendulum may well have swung too far in the opposite direction. If you need further convincing - look at Europe, particularly France, for how over-powerful unions cause an economy to stagnate.
I being a Canadian would like to voice my opinion on Your election. As a former Unionized employee I would like to state all Unions here in Canada - like your
Country pressure members or their so called brothers & sisters to vote for the Liberal (Democrat) NDP party as the party to vote for. There is no vote other than
their Party to vote for. You as a Unionb Member should vote for whom you are
told to vote for. To me this is a violation of my principals. I will vote for whom I want
not who someone else says I should vote for. No Democricy - forced opinion.
Wal - Mart employees should vote for whom they want, like everyone else. Unions
are only interested in their own well being - paying for their ivory towers. They do
not look after their members at all. Monety talks / Bullshit Walks.
Unions after your cash / not interested in members.
DOUG KAEBE - CANADIAN FORMER UNIONIST
I used to work at Walmart years ago, and the first training video they give you is how NOT to ever talk to a Union rep, and how they were so evil and only after your money........but isn't that the stance on Walmart? lol
I am an employee of Wal-Mart and a full time college student currently pursuing an MBA. I will never be a part of any union and can easily see why unions serve no useful purpose.
Wal-mart has never once attempted to intimidate me in any way, shape, or form, in any respect and especially where elections are concerned. Nor has this happened to any of my co-workers. Therefore, this is purely hyperbolic twaddle.
The truth is that Wal-mart has done better than every unionized business. Hmmm.
Why is that? We can look to the United Food and Commercial Worker's Union. They believe that banana scanners are worth $18.00 per hour and then some. Business owners know it is what the job is worth, not what a person thinks THEY are worth. Unions destroy the American dream by taking union dues and providing no real benefit for that confiscated money.
It is unfortunate that many who pay union dues are not intelligent enough to understand that this same money could easily be invested into an IRA or 401K to aid in their retirement.
i have worked for wal-mart and i can tell you, you mention strike and they fire you and everybody around you no reasons just supicious behavior, your even given training on it and how not to speak to union leaders and such its all bullshit in my opinion
I know for a fact that no Walmart store has ever fired an associate for talking about unions. They have a clear position on unions, its no secret, however they appreciate their associates and offer them more of a voice than any union could. No union could give them better benefits that they already recieve.