Workers win again at Wal-Mart - new organising victory for UFCW

Workers win again at Wal-Mart:
New organising victory for UFCW

Workers keep on winning in their fight to have a voice at Wal-Mart. Meat and seafood department employees at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Palestine, Texas will have a choice for a voice as the result of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision ordering a union representation election.

Employees of the meat and seafood department in the Ocala Wal-Mart Supercenter filed a petition this week for a union representation election, with UFCW. Also in Normal, Illinois and Abilene, Texas, petitions have been filed.

Wal-Mart's union-busting lawyers went bust with their legal maneuvering before the Labor Board. The Board rejected the union buster's claim that meat department employees should not be able to vote because Wal-Mart was planning to change responsibilities for meat workers at all Wal-Mart Supercenters. The announcement of Wal-Mart's supposed plan to shift to case-ready meat came after meat workers at the Jacksonville, Texas Supercenter voted for UFCW-representation on February 17, 2000.

Wal-Mart consistently uses the legal process to delay and try to subvert the exercise of employee rights. In Jacksonville, Wal-Mart claimed that meat workers were not a distinct and separate group of employees, so they should not be able to vote for union representation. In Palestine, they claimed that the meat department workers may have different responsibilities at some future date; therefore, employees should not be able vote on the union.

The Board nor the workers are being fooled. In yesterday's decision to order an election at the Palestine store, the Board said, "...the mere speculation as to the uncertainty of future operations is not sufficient to dismiss a petition or decline to hold an election."

The Board raised serious concerns about the veracity of Wal-Mart's claim that it will eliminate all fresh cut meat products in its Supercenters. Wal-Mart asserts that it will use all case-ready meat products in some of its stores beginning in May or June, 2000. The Board noted that there are still "critical details to work out" and that are "no specific dates" indicated in an agreement with the company's primary meat supplier.

National and state union leaders vowed to make Wal-Mart's anti-worker activity a priority issue with the 13.5 million members of the AFL-CIO.

"We won't stand by and let Wal-Mart take our money at the cash registers as consumers, then stab us in the back as workers," said John Sweeney, President of the national trade union AFL-CIO.

Meat department workers in the Ocala, Florida Wal-Mart Supercenter have also filed a petition for a union representation election. Wal-Mart is expected to again oppose the right of these workers to have an election. An NLRB hearing is scheduled for March 27, 2000. The Board will set a date for the Palestine election in the next few days.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is the largest organization of retail workers in North America, with 1.4 million members. UFCW represents workers at retail food industry leaders such as Kroger and Safeway.

Wal-Mart cited a pilot program as evidence of its intent to move to case-ready meat. The Board noted that "the pilot program is ongoing and that there are meat processors at these pilot program stores who are still cutting and processing."

Workers dismissed Wal-Mart's claims as just another attempt to silence their voices and to deny them their rights under the law. Wal-Mart workers from Palestine and Jacksonville stood united and determined at a March 13, 2000 celebration rally in Tyler, Texas. Workers declared, "We won't back down. We want a union at Wal-Mart."

Florida Wal-Mart Meat Workers Petition

Wal-Mart workers in Ocala, Florida are joining workers across the country who are getting together to say: we want a voice! Employees of the meat and seafood department in the Ocala Wal-Mart Supercenter filed a petition Monday with the Labor Board for a union representation election with United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1625.

Their petition comes just after meat and seafood department employees at the Wal- Mart Supercenter in Palestine, Texas won their battle to have a choice for a voice as the result of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision ordering a union representation election.

Wal-Mart's union-busting lawyers have gone bust with a series of schemes to deny workers a chance to vote in union elections. In Jacksonville, Texas where employees won the first union election in a U.S. Wal-Mart last month. The company failed to deny workers a voice with its claim that meat workers were not a distinct and separate group of employees. In Palestine, Texas, Wal-Mart claimed that the meat department workers may have different responsibilities at some future date; therefore, employees should not be able vote on the union.

The UFCW demanded that Wal-Mart immediately bargain with union-represented employees at the Jacksonville store. Wal-Mart has threatened to change the duties and assignments of meat department employees across the country. Under federal labor law, employers are required to negotiate with the workers over any changes in the work conditions if the workers have selected union representation.

The UFCW has also filed federal labor board charges for suppressing the rights of workers to vote for a voice. The union is asking for a federal injunction to stop Wal-Mart from implementing a scheme to reassign and change the duties of meat department employees.

Wal-Mart meat department workers are not backing down in their fight to have a voice over changes and conditions in their workplaces. Workers at the Normal, Illinois Wal- Mart Supercenter filed a petition for a union representation election today. Wal- Mart is expected to again oppose the right of the Ocala workers to have an election. A NLRB hearing is scheduled for March 27, 2000. No date has been set for a hearing on the Normal, Illinois petition.

The Board will set a date for the Palestine election in the next few days.

Wal-Mart workers across the country who are abused and fed-up are standing up and sticking together in a powerful cyber-network to make a change in their workplaces through a union. At http://www.UFCW.org, http://www.walmartyrs.com and a number of independent Wal-Mart worker websites, workers are sharing their experiences of unfair treatment at Wal-Mart and learning how to make Wal-Mart a better place to work.