This is kind of sad in a way. They’d rather close stores than deal with a union. At least you know what can drive them out of Canada right? 

The closure of a unionized Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express in Gatineau, Quebec “is another attack on its workers, on the community, and one more example of its blatant disregard for Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” says Wayne Hanley, the National President of UFCW Canada.

I came across this site called JobVent.

JobVent is the web site for anyone who has ever said ‘I hate my job’, or ‘I love my job’. JobVent is the web site for people who are about to start a new job, and want to see what other people think of working there.

The top ten most hated places to work on their site are:

Imagine that! Wal-Mart made the list.

I was actually amazed to read this.

In a historic breakthrough, nine employees at a store in Gatineau, Quebec, became the only Wal-Mart workers in North America with a union contract, after an arbitrator imposed a collective agreement on August 15. Effective immediately, the three-year contract provides average raises of about 25%, to $11.54/hour from the current $9.25, and improved vacation provisions. Wages are scheduled to rise again to $15.94 in 2010.

Does this mean that Wal-Mart will try to close up shop to avoid honoring the contract?

I happened to come across this article that Wal-Mart is going to sign collective contracts at all it’s stores in China. I bet the evil US Chamber of Commerce is shivering over this one.

The announcement in the Workers’ Daily on 31 July came just two weeks after Wal-Mart signed its first collective wage agreement in Shenyang, which mandated an eight percent pay increase for all workers this year, with another eight percent next year.

This was soon followed by the signing of similar collective contracts in the Quanzhou store, which formed the first Wal-Mart union in China in August 2006, and close to 20 other outlets, including those in Shenzhen.

All the agreements reportedly covered remuneration, working hours and paid vacations, labour insurance and welfare benefits, and stipulated that workers should be paid more than the local minimum wage.

Technorati : china, wal-mart

Why is Wal-Mart so scared?

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.

According to about a dozen Wal-Mart employees who attended such meetings in seven states, Wal-Mart executives claim that employees at unionized stores would have to pay hefty union dues while getting nothing in return, and may have to go on strike without compensation. Also, unionization could mean fewer jobs as labor costs rise.

They’re worried that if the Democrats gain power this fall they will pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Hey, all you happy people over there in Bentonville! We’re knocking at your door and soon we’re going to kick it down and storm the castle. You should be a little worried. Even after all the nasty and evil things you’ve done to your employees—even after all the money you’ve spent hiring PR firms and anti-union law firms and consultants—there’s still a movement that’s organizing to come after you.

Technorati : wal-mart

The gang over at Wal-Mart Watch have put together this very scary map of all the Wal-Mart stores and distribution centers in the country.

With more than 4,000 units (stores and distribution centers) in the United States alone, Wal-Mart controls an enormous amount of real estate. The map below includes profiles for most current and planned U.S. Wal-Mart stores and distribution centers.

These profiles include: data regarding store size, proximity to nearest distribution center, type of development property and other information. We will continue to add data to the map on an ongoing basis and encourage you to submit information about your local Wal-Mart store, current or planned. We will review all information submitted and add your appropriate data to the map. Working together, we can build the most accurate and up-to-date information possible.

You can also add data to the map as well. Just look at that blanket of blue dots! They haven’t saturated the entire country yet, but they are close to doing so.

Technorati : wal-mart, wal-mart watch

Wal-Mart is filing an out of the court brief as to why an injured police officer should not receive disability benefits. The officer isn’t even an employee of Wal-Mart from what I hear. I’m telling you, these guys are more “preemptive” than neoconservatives and Wilsonian dreams of spreading democracy through war.

Technorati : wal-mart

I don’t think Jason Furman deserves to be anywhere near the Obama campaign, but that’s just my opinion.

“It’s surprising because this guy seems to feel that Wal-Mart’s low-wage, low-benefit business model is good for America. That’s just flat-out wrong,” the executive director of Wal-Mart Watch, David Nassar, said. “This guy helped to lend credibility to the Wal-Mart business model. That was disappointing then and it’s disappointing now given this position,” said Mr. Nassar, whose group is backed by a board that includes the president of the Service Employees International Union, Andrew Stern. Mr. Nassar quickly added that he was “not critiquing the Obama campaign.”

It is really baffling to say the least. Wal-Mart is a disgusting plague on the world. It has abused employees and hurt communities. My only guess for the reason a Wal-Mart lackey like Furman would be appointed to be Obama’s policy director is because of his history with the Clinton White House.