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Wal-Mart violated the law when it put Jonquière workers on the street Wal-Mart violated Canadian law when it closed its shop in de Jonquière and dismissed the workers rather than accepting a union and collective agreement. The Québec Labour Relations Board came to this conclusion last Friday, when it found the company guilty of illegal dismissal. In April, Wal-Mart management closed the Jonquière store, letting go more than one hundred workers who had succeeded, after a long struggle, in securing union certification. Wal-Mart announced the store closing while negotiation of an initial collective agreement was still underway. Following Wal-Mart's decision, 79 complaints for illegal dismissal were filed against the corporation. After hearing four representative cases, the Board concluded that Wal-Mart had acted illegally and had dismissed workers for engaging in union activity. UFCW local 503 is pleased with the Labour Relations Board's decision. The President of the Québec Council of UFCW, Yvon Bellemare said: "Wal-Mart clearly closed this store because the workers succeeded in unionizing. The Labour Relations Board's decision once again exposes the multinational's anti-union attitude. The momentum is picking up. Wal-Mart employees now realize that if they want a union in their store, Wal-Mart may attempt to but can't stop them." Also Quebec Federation of Labor President Henri Massé hails the victory: "We are now calling on Wal-Mart to abide by the Board's decision and not to start legal guerrilla tactics by appealing it." After its brutal decision, which hit hard also on the Canadian town and its inhabitants, Wal-Mart tried in vain to make believe that the store was closed because it was losing money. This was not taken seriously, and the bullying by the Bentonville retail giant was condemned across the board. This may well have contributed to the poor credibility showing of Wal-Mart in recent US consumer polls. |
