Canada's Supreme Court Penalizes Walmart for Closing Store After Workers Unionized

Posted by sdesapio 11 years, 8 months ago to Business
93 comments | Share | Flag

Canada's Supreme Court ruled Friday that Wal-Mart must compensate former workers at a Quebec store that was closed after they voted to become the first Wal-Mart store in North America to unionize.

All Comments

Previous comments...   You are currently on page 4.
  • Comment hidden due to member score or comment score too low. View Comment
  • Posted by Maphesdus 11 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I don't think employees really qualify as "parasites." A large company cannot exist without its employees.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by richrobinson 11 years, 8 months ago
    From a business perspective I have to say that I agree with this ruling. Wal Mart knew the rules going in and thought they could once again use their size and political muscle to avoid the consequences. Wal Mart had a similar issue in Germany where they were required to accept unions. They pulled out years later complaining about the wages they had to pay. Again, they knew the rules going in and tried to use crony capitalism to bully every one around.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years, 8 months ago
    As much as I like shopping at WalMart and support free enterprise in general, a couple of WalMarts in my county that I don't use were built on sites that county commissioners deemed "blight" allegedly because they weren't paying enough county taxes. WalMart went in a few months later. The rumor is that WalMart paid a county commissioner to declare at least one of the zones "blighted". I am not sure whether this is true, but I don't doubt it. If WalMart does this, then they are getting their just desserts.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ winterwind 11 years, 8 months ago
    I think the workers were arguing that closing the store was altering the working conditions. Yeah, closing the store where I work definitely alters my working conditions - if you close one eye and tilt your head to the left. ;} It's unclear whether there was an actual "unionization process" or not, and whether any "up" was ongoing or finished when the store was closed.
    Nevertheless, arrrrrgggggh.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Comment hidden due to member score or comment score too low. View Comment
  • Posted by Maphesdus 11 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    B&W? Are you referring to Babcock & Wilcox?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babcock_and...

    If so, that seems like a slightly difference situation, as a power generation company can typically relocate almost anywhere without consequence, whereas a grocery store cannot relocate without removing itself from the market of that particular area.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Solver 11 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Parasites can't imagine a world without lots of hosts. If one gets too weak, they just jump on another.
    This would NOT include those unions that actually respected individual rights.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by UncommonSense 11 years, 8 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Failure. That's what all unions eventually do. They destroy. Need some proof? Have you driven through the Beaver valley in Western PA? You should ask the older citizens what happened to B&W plant that closed in 1983 and the union said "You'll be back." The last time I drove through, it was a nice grove of trees.

    If you're still not convinced, drive through Aliquippa & Ambridge, PA and Stuebenville, WV. Unions destroy. Period. So much for 'the little guy, the economy & the children' and any other leftist non-sense slogans I may have forgotten.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Eudaimonia 11 years, 8 months ago
    Pull all Walmarts out of Quebec.
    Tell them to pound sand, and tell them in French.
    And then let them deal with the consequent unemployment.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Comment hidden due to member score or comment score too low. View Comment
  • Posted by Maphesdus 11 years, 8 months ago
    Darn. It would have been an interesting experiment to see what kind of results a unionized Wal-Mart would produce. Oh well.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by LetsShrug 11 years, 8 months ago
    "Quebec labor law, which says working conditions must not be altered in any way, shape or form during a unionization process."
    Directive 10-289 or what?
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Comment hidden due to member score or comment score too low. View Comment
  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years, 8 months ago
    I hope Wal-mart stalls them in the courts, costing Quebec lots of money, and keeping the unionized employees unemployed.

    Meanwhile, without Wal-mart... prices will go up...
    It's win-win for everybody... /sarc
    Reply | Permalink  

  • Comment hidden. Undo