Lenny
08-04-2004, 12:08 PM
canada news
Tuesday, Aug 03, 2004
Wal-Mart 'very disappointed' by union certification in Quebec
MONTREAL (CP) - Wal-Mart Canada says it's surprised and disappointed by a Quebec Labour Relations Board decision to certify a union at one of its stores, which now could become the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America.
Company spokesman Andrew Pelletier said Tuesday the world's largest retailer has not decided if it will appeal the labour board ruling. The board announced its decision Monday after the United Food and Commercial Workers presented signed cards from more than half of the 145 eligible workers at the store in the Jonquiere district of Saguenay, 220 kilometres north of Quebec City.
"This automatic certification brought down yesterday comes just four months after the employees in the Jonquiere store voted against this union in a democratic secret-ballot vote," Pelletier said from Toronto.
"We're very disappointed that Wal-Mart employees in Jonquiere were not given the opportunity (this time) to express their views on the issue of unionization in a secret ballot."
A professor of labour relations believes the store, in an area of scarce jobs, could well become the first of the retail giant's outlets in North America to become a union shop.
Paul-Andre Lapointe of Laval University said Quebec's labour laws and courts are much more pro-union than those in the United States, where he said employers can use threats of closures or promises of wage hikes to thwart a union drive.
In Quebec, "the state and the courts have a favourable bias for unionism; the right of workers to participate in their working conditions is seen as a dimension of industrial democracy," Lapointe said.
"That's the goal of the labour code; it doesn't mean it campaigns for unions, but it gives equal rights to employees during a union drive, to balance things out."
Lapointe said Quebec's labour code also allows either party to demand binding arbitration if a first labour contract is not reached within a year.
There are no unionized Wal-Mart stores in North America. A handful of meat workers at a Wal-Mart Super center in Texas who joined the United Food And Commercial Workers were subsequently laid off when the company began to buy prepackaged meat.
In Saskatchewan, after the provincial labour board ruled to certify a Wal- Mart store local in Weyburn, Wal-Mart claimed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives it the right to disseminate information to employees during a union drive. That case resumes Aug. 21.
"Wal-Mart will use this argument across Canada," predicted Lapointe. "It's a tactic that makes unionization difficult."
The Bentonville, Ark.-based company operates 231 department stores and five Sam's Clubs in Canada, employing more than 62,000 people.
The Quebec Labour Board will hold a meeting Aug. 20 to rule on the job descriptions of those who can be covered by a bargaining unit at the Jonquiere store.
Tuesday, Aug 03, 2004
Wal-Mart 'very disappointed' by union certification in Quebec
MONTREAL (CP) - Wal-Mart Canada says it's surprised and disappointed by a Quebec Labour Relations Board decision to certify a union at one of its stores, which now could become the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America.
Company spokesman Andrew Pelletier said Tuesday the world's largest retailer has not decided if it will appeal the labour board ruling. The board announced its decision Monday after the United Food and Commercial Workers presented signed cards from more than half of the 145 eligible workers at the store in the Jonquiere district of Saguenay, 220 kilometres north of Quebec City.
"This automatic certification brought down yesterday comes just four months after the employees in the Jonquiere store voted against this union in a democratic secret-ballot vote," Pelletier said from Toronto.
"We're very disappointed that Wal-Mart employees in Jonquiere were not given the opportunity (this time) to express their views on the issue of unionization in a secret ballot."
A professor of labour relations believes the store, in an area of scarce jobs, could well become the first of the retail giant's outlets in North America to become a union shop.
Paul-Andre Lapointe of Laval University said Quebec's labour laws and courts are much more pro-union than those in the United States, where he said employers can use threats of closures or promises of wage hikes to thwart a union drive.
In Quebec, "the state and the courts have a favourable bias for unionism; the right of workers to participate in their working conditions is seen as a dimension of industrial democracy," Lapointe said.
"That's the goal of the labour code; it doesn't mean it campaigns for unions, but it gives equal rights to employees during a union drive, to balance things out."
Lapointe said Quebec's labour code also allows either party to demand binding arbitration if a first labour contract is not reached within a year.
There are no unionized Wal-Mart stores in North America. A handful of meat workers at a Wal-Mart Super center in Texas who joined the United Food And Commercial Workers were subsequently laid off when the company began to buy prepackaged meat.
In Saskatchewan, after the provincial labour board ruled to certify a Wal- Mart store local in Weyburn, Wal-Mart claimed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives it the right to disseminate information to employees during a union drive. That case resumes Aug. 21.
"Wal-Mart will use this argument across Canada," predicted Lapointe. "It's a tactic that makes unionization difficult."
The Bentonville, Ark.-based company operates 231 department stores and five Sam's Clubs in Canada, employing more than 62,000 people.
The Quebec Labour Board will hold a meeting Aug. 20 to rule on the job descriptions of those who can be covered by a bargaining unit at the Jonquiere store.