Wal-Mart files labor grievance against UFCW to stop Black Friday strike

[Fpqxz]

From Reuters:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is taking its first legal step to stop months of protests and rallies outside Walmart stores, targeting the union that it says is behind such actions.

Wal-Mart filed an unfair labor practice charge against the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, or UFCW, asking the National Labor Relations Board to halt what the retailer says are unlawful attempts to disrupt its business.

The move comes just a week before what is expected to be the largest organized action against the world's largest retailer, as a small group of Walmart workers prepare to strike on Black Friday, typically the busiest shopping day of the year.

Wal-Mart's corporate office insists that the UFCW is trying to disrupt their business during the Holiday retail season, while the UFCW's people insist that Wal-Mart is simply trying to put up roadblocks to worker organization.

You can view the NLRB filing here.  Wal-Mart is represented in this matter by the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and you can view their letter to the UFCW's assistant general counsel here.

[Canadian Mojo]

So I'm guessing that Wal Mart is hoping  'freedom of assembly, bitch' no longer applies in America.

[Bezron]

So I'm guessing that Wal Mart is hoping  'freedom of assembly, bitch' no longer applies in America.

Well, Wal-Mart stores are private property..

I think they are hoping that any press is good press still applies.

[Yaezakura]

It doesn't seem to be a matter of press, but a matter of "These people are doing illegal protests on private property, which especially on Black Friday could endanger workers and customers".

[RavynousHunter]

The whole Black Friday thing is retarded, anyway.  If the protest stems the stampede of idiot customers, it could probably save a few workers' lives.  Then again, Walmart doesn't care if poor 17 year-old Steve Jones gets stomped to death so Little Biffy won't have to go without his new iPhone.

Also, as anyone who's worked at Walmart can tell you, just from the training videos, the anti-union vibe with them is so strong, you could power a Saturn V rocket for a year.  Heaven forbid workers expect to be treated like human beings, instead of a bunch of trained baboons.

[TheUnknown]

The whole Black Friday thing is retarded, anyway.  If the protest stems the stampede of idiot customers, it could probably save a few workers' lives.  Then again, Walmart doesn't care if poor 17 year-old Steve Jones gets stomped to death so Little Biffy won't have to go without his new iPhone.

Also, as anyone who's worked at Walmart can tell you, just from the training videos, the anti-union vibe with them is so strong, you could power a Saturn V rocket for a year.  Heaven forbid workers expect to be treated like human beings, instead of a bunch of trained baboons.

I heard they have kind of a weird cultish vibe, emphasizing the idea that people who work at Walmart are a family, and that if you suspect anyone of unionizing or trying to unionize, to alert superiors.

[Material Defender]

The whole Black Friday thing is retarded, anyway.  If the protest stems the stampede of idiot customers, it could probably save a few workers' lives.  Then again, Walmart doesn't care if poor 17 year-old Steve Jones gets stomped to death so Little Biffy won't have to go without his new iPhone.

Also, as anyone who's worked at Walmart can tell you, just from the training videos, the anti-union vibe with them is so strong, you could power a Saturn V rocket for a year.  Heaven forbid workers expect to be treated like human beings, instead of a bunch of trained baboons.

I heard they have kind of a weird cultish vibe, emphasizing the idea that people who work at Walmart are a family, and that if you suspect anyone of unionizing or trying to unionize, to alert superiors.

I worked at Sam's Club. While it tends to treat you a tad better than Wal-mart, it's still the same people. And the anti-union vibe is really strong though. To the point I was laughing a bit at the videos. Like... it's bad for the worker stuff. It's bad for the worker because the Home office goes insane. In fact, the home office is insanely centralized. All of the Security Cameras is hooked into the home office as well, the thermastat for our store was controlled by the home office. It just struck me as really, really insanely micro-management to the point of insanity.

But I swear there must have been some insane brain washing there. They were pressing me for more and more work, but I kept saying it wasn't so bad. But I hadn't felt so shitty at any point as when I was working there because they just work you so hard for no real reward, use harsh penalties to encourage activities (To the point I gave up keeping my job), and the methods for keeping your job is apparently totally arbitrary. I got fired for being too slow, despite the other supervisors saying I was better than some, worse than some. I was no where near in danger of being the most slow on the line, so basically. I got fired for some unknown bullshit bullshit.

[RavynousHunter]

The whole Black Friday thing is retarded, anyway.  If the protest stems the stampede of idiot customers, it could probably save a few workers' lives.  Then again, Walmart doesn't care if poor 17 year-old Steve Jones gets stomped to death so Little Biffy won't have to go without his new iPhone.

Also, as anyone who's worked at Walmart can tell you, just from the training videos, the anti-union vibe with them is so strong, you could power a Saturn V rocket for a year.  Heaven forbid workers expect to be treated like human beings, instead of a bunch of trained baboons.

I heard they have kind of a weird cultish vibe, emphasizing the idea that people who work at Walmart are a family, and that if you suspect anyone of unionizing or trying to unionize, to alert superiors.

(snaps and points at Iosa) Binnnnnnnngo.  Yes, that's exactly the word: cult.  And, yes, they do emphasize that whole "Walmart family" thing a LOT in their training shit.  I know I really felt the family love when they fired me in clear violation of their own company policy.

[Her3tiK]

Wally World's one of those places that I absolutely refuse to shop. This is pretty much why.

[Thejebusfire]

I stop shopping their because the quality of their merchandise is crap.
But these days it's like that every where.

[Material Defender]

I stop shopping their because the quality of their merchandise is crap.
But these days it's like that every where.

I love apathy.

[Witchyjoshy]

I shop there because it's the most time/money efficient place for us to shop :-/

That and boycotts always hurt the actual workers before they hurt the big CEOs.

[Meshakhad]

I don't shop there because there are better stores closer to us. As it turns out, there IS a Wal-Mart in our area, but it's down on Main Street. There are two Safeways, a Fred Meyer, three QFCs, and two Whole Foods, all closer to us than Wal-Mart. Hell, the Asian grocery is as close as Wal-Mart! And I'm fairly certain Wal-Mart sells neither seaweed, beef chow fun, nor sake.

[Vypernight]

Sounds like they just don't want workers to protect themselves from being trampled to death.  Personally if I worked there on BF, I 'd want to work in the posrting goods dept.  Not only are you in the back of the store, but you have access to metal baseball bats and firearms (This is one of the few times I'd want a gun.

[Cloud3514]

The whole Black Friday thing is retarded, anyway.  If the protest stems the stampede of idiot customers, it could probably save a few workers' lives.  Then again, Walmart doesn't care if poor 17 year-old Steve Jones gets stomped to death so Little Biffy won't have to go without his new iPhone.

Also, as anyone who's worked at Walmart can tell you, just from the training videos, the anti-union vibe with them is so strong, you could power a Saturn V rocket for a year.  Heaven forbid workers expect to be treated like human beings, instead of a bunch of trained baboons.

I heard they have kind of a weird cultish vibe, emphasizing the idea that people who work at Walmart are a family, and that if you suspect anyone of unionizing or trying to unionize, to alert superiors.

(snaps and points at Iosa) Binnnnnnnngo.  Yes, that's exactly the word: cult.  And, yes, they do emphasize that whole "Walmart family" thing a LOT in their training shit.  I know I really felt the family love when they fired me in clear violation of their own company policy.

I don't know how long ago you guys worked there, but when I got hired there a little over four years ago I don't remember sitting through the now legendary training video that said that Wal-Mart was Big Brother when it came to unions, instead I got videos that tried to convince their new employees that Wal-Mart wasn't "anti-union," they were "pro-associate," which is completely laughable, especially when they do shit like have me, the worst paid sales person work half the fucking store because they were too fucking cheap to hire the people they needed, then tell me that its fair because I don't spend 50% of my shift in another department and ultimately use the excuse of "you didn't greet a customer when they came to your register" (keep in mind that I wasn't a fucking cashier and was actually paid less than actual cashiers) to fire me.

And don't get me started on the bullshit "Wal-Mart cheer."

Sounds like they just don't want workers to protect themselves from being trampled to death.  Personally if I worked there on BF, I 'd want to work in the posrting goods dept.  Not only are you in the back of the store, but you have access to metal baseball bats and firearms (This is one of the few times I'd want a gun.

Well, the firearms, assuming the store has them (they aren't at newer stores and have been phased out of most of the older stores), aren't going to do you much good as only managers have the keys to unlock their case and they'd probably rather you get trampled to death than have to defend you in court for shooting someone in self-defense.