Post by calabi-yau on Aug 3, 2004 16:28:27 GMT -5
From today's Globe and Mail and La Presse Affaires:
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040803/WALMART03/TPNational/TopStories]Wal-Mart employees in Quebec win union approval
Wal-Mart encaisse le coup
Québecers know how to make themselves well-loved and appreciated by corporations. Good stuff.
By TU THANH HA
With a report from Canadian Press
Tuesday, August 3, 2004 - Page A1
MONTREAL -- A Wal-Mart outlet in Quebec has moved closer to becoming the retailing giant's only unionized store in North America after the provincial labour board granted employees a union certification yesterday.
The certification does not mean that a bargaining unit is in place yet at the store in Jonquière, in the Saguenay region, 220 kilometres north of Quebec City.
Unless Wal-Mart manages to overturn yesterday's decision on appeal, the union hopes to table collective-agreement proposals by September.
The decision marked a reversal of fortune for the union, which had lost by eight votes when 145 employees cast ballots last April.
The union pursued its drive and got enough employees to sign union cards to clinch yesterday's certification.
"My God, I'm very happy and very proud of those workers. They're trailblazers," said Marie-Josée Lemieux, president of Local 503 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
"There was a lot of pressure on their shoulders."
Jonquière becomes the second Wal-Mart in Canada to obtain a union certification after one in Windsor, Ont., in 1997. The Windsor outlet lost its certification before a bargaining unit was ever established.
Ms. Lemieux said she was optimistic the same thing wouldn't happen at the Jonquière store, saying that Quebec's laws are more favourable to unions.
An official of Wal-Mart Canada Corp. said the company questioned the way the certification was obtained and would look for avenues of appeal.
"If the labour board has certified that store without a vote, we would have some very serious concerns because we would question whether the true wishes of the employees were being reflected," company spokesman Andrew Pelletier said.
A breakthrough would have a significant impact on some of the 1.3 million employees working in 4,500 Wal-Mart stores worldwide.
There are no unionized Wal-Mart stores, although a handful of meat workers at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Texas have joined the United Food and Commercial Workers.
After losing the vote in Jonquière last April, the union waited the prescribed three months, then applied again before the Quebec Labour Relations Board.
Under the Quebec Labour Code, this time they did not have to hold a vote but only sign enough union cards among the 170 floor employees they had targeted for their bargaining unit.
Wal-Mart tried to dilute support for the union by asking the labour board to broaden the definition of the unit to include other staff, such as some managers, administrative employees, auto-workshop employees and security guards.
However, adjudicator Jocelyne Houle said in her decision that, no matter the unit definition, "the applicant is representative, as required by the law."
A hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 20 to decide the scope of the bargaining unit.
"Of course, there can be an appeal. But I dare hope that they will respect the wishes of the workers," Ms. Lemieux said about the prospect of Wal-Mart challenging the certification.
Mr. Pelletier said various surveys have repeatedly ranked Wal-Mart as an excellent employer.
Ms. Lemieux said employees at present don't have standard, formal wage scales, need better benefits and don't have set schedules so they are too often required to work with little notice.
Union officials had high hopes of success for the store in Jonquière because they saw Quebec's laws as being more favourable to their drive.
Besides Jonquière the UFCW is also attempting to organize Wal-Mart stores in Weyburn and North Battleford, Sask. It is also arguing that it has successor rights to represent workers in a Moose Jaw store.
Some Wal-Mart employees in Saguenay have previously suggested the retail giant would shut down the local store rather than allow it to operate with unionized employees. Mr. Pelletier dismissed the notion.
"We would not close the store because of a union," he said. "The only reason we would close a store would be due to economic reasons."
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040803/WALMART03/TPNational/TopStories]Wal-Mart employees in Quebec win union approval
Wal-Mart encaisse le coup
Québecers know how to make themselves well-loved and appreciated by corporations. Good stuff.
By TU THANH HA
With a report from Canadian Press
Tuesday, August 3, 2004 - Page A1
MONTREAL -- A Wal-Mart outlet in Quebec has moved closer to becoming the retailing giant's only unionized store in North America after the provincial labour board granted employees a union certification yesterday.
The certification does not mean that a bargaining unit is in place yet at the store in Jonquière, in the Saguenay region, 220 kilometres north of Quebec City.
Unless Wal-Mart manages to overturn yesterday's decision on appeal, the union hopes to table collective-agreement proposals by September.
The decision marked a reversal of fortune for the union, which had lost by eight votes when 145 employees cast ballots last April.
The union pursued its drive and got enough employees to sign union cards to clinch yesterday's certification.
"My God, I'm very happy and very proud of those workers. They're trailblazers," said Marie-Josée Lemieux, president of Local 503 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
"There was a lot of pressure on their shoulders."
Jonquière becomes the second Wal-Mart in Canada to obtain a union certification after one in Windsor, Ont., in 1997. The Windsor outlet lost its certification before a bargaining unit was ever established.
Ms. Lemieux said she was optimistic the same thing wouldn't happen at the Jonquière store, saying that Quebec's laws are more favourable to unions.
An official of Wal-Mart Canada Corp. said the company questioned the way the certification was obtained and would look for avenues of appeal.
"If the labour board has certified that store without a vote, we would have some very serious concerns because we would question whether the true wishes of the employees were being reflected," company spokesman Andrew Pelletier said.
A breakthrough would have a significant impact on some of the 1.3 million employees working in 4,500 Wal-Mart stores worldwide.
There are no unionized Wal-Mart stores, although a handful of meat workers at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Texas have joined the United Food and Commercial Workers.
After losing the vote in Jonquière last April, the union waited the prescribed three months, then applied again before the Quebec Labour Relations Board.
Under the Quebec Labour Code, this time they did not have to hold a vote but only sign enough union cards among the 170 floor employees they had targeted for their bargaining unit.
Wal-Mart tried to dilute support for the union by asking the labour board to broaden the definition of the unit to include other staff, such as some managers, administrative employees, auto-workshop employees and security guards.
However, adjudicator Jocelyne Houle said in her decision that, no matter the unit definition, "the applicant is representative, as required by the law."
A hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 20 to decide the scope of the bargaining unit.
"Of course, there can be an appeal. But I dare hope that they will respect the wishes of the workers," Ms. Lemieux said about the prospect of Wal-Mart challenging the certification.
Mr. Pelletier said various surveys have repeatedly ranked Wal-Mart as an excellent employer.
Ms. Lemieux said employees at present don't have standard, formal wage scales, need better benefits and don't have set schedules so they are too often required to work with little notice.
Union officials had high hopes of success for the store in Jonquière because they saw Quebec's laws as being more favourable to their drive.
Besides Jonquière the UFCW is also attempting to organize Wal-Mart stores in Weyburn and North Battleford, Sask. It is also arguing that it has successor rights to represent workers in a Moose Jaw store.
Some Wal-Mart employees in Saguenay have previously suggested the retail giant would shut down the local store rather than allow it to operate with unionized employees. Mr. Pelletier dismissed the notion.
"We would not close the store because of a union," he said. "The only reason we would close a store would be due to economic reasons."