It would seem that I spoke too soon last week when I (very reluctantly) gave Walmart credit for turning over a new leaf on the environmental front. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Walmart continues to slot themselves into the ‘Evil Corporate Giant' category.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) is claiming that Walmart shut down a store in Jonquière, Quebec because of workers attempts to unionize. The store closed the same day the workers rejected a contract during labour negotiations in February 2005.
Under Canadian constitutional law, workers have a right to ‘bargain collectively’ which means unionize, strike, demand fair working conditions, etc. Walmart is claiming that they shut down the store because it was unprofitable for it to remain open, which is why the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Walmart on Friday. Wayne Hanley, the National President of UFCW Canada, said in their press release, “the workers at the Jonquiere store know in their hearts why Walmart shut their store. So do most Canadians. So does Walmart.”
We can only hope that Walmart’s labour relations department will take a page from their sustainability projects and shape the hell up. To anyone who was feeling confused about having to rethink all of their anti-Walmart values: No worries, unfortunately, it looks like we've got years of anti-Walmart sentiment ahead of us. It's basically like a back-handed "I-told-you-so" where everybody loses. Great.
UFCW: "Walmart escapes Supreme Court Decision on a Technicality"
CBC: "Walmart wins at Supreme Court"
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Ya, it is totally obvious that they closed because workers wanted a union, not because Wal mart isn't profitable - That is a lie if I ever heard one! Wal Mart is a part of our culture, just think of the movie, "Where the Heart is" where Natalie Portman gives birth inside a wal-mart and lives there where she is provided with EVERYTHING she needs. I am anti-walmart, but I can not deny that I don't go in. It is just too easy and convenient, especially now with the built-in grocery store with mad cheap food - unfortunately, there is little luck in finding local products there. The American Giant is taking over - It already has.This past weekend USA had "black Friday" which is like our boxing day. A few years ago a person was actually trampled to death in a line for Wal-mart on this day... My friends and I become extremely overwhelmed in the superstore Wal-Marts because the array of colours and products screaming out at us is just too much to handle.
P.S - your comment area is flawed. When I try to type in the mystery word so I can have my comment posted, there is no text box for me to type in or no scroll bar to find it...might just be my computer, but you might want to check that out. It took me a long time to get this posted.
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for you comment. I actually talked about the Walmart deaths here (if you're interested). I agree that the lure of convenience is fairly hard to resist.
And thanks for the tip: The comment problem was only malfunctioning on certain browsers/computers and is now fixed.