Wal-Mart's anti-worker lawyers went bust with their legal maneuvering, including a failed attempt to introduce a doctored document before the Labor Board. The Board rejected Wal-Mart's claim that the tire and lube express employees should not be able to vote because Wal-Mart considered the workers part of the normal store operation.
Employees in the Tire and Lube Express department stood up for a voice on the job and filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board in August. Frustrated by poor treatment, workers organized to get a say on the job with United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 99R. The workers are the second group of Tire and Lube Express employees to win the right to a separate union election. The first election, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, was blocked by a government investigation into Wal-Mart's labor law violations.
"Wal-Mart's delay tactics have backfired. The Labor Board supports these workers' right to vote for a voice on the job. The delays have not diminished the employees' desire to join together for better treatment and respect for their hard work," said Bill McDonough, President of UFCW Local 99R.
Wal-Mart challenged the workers' petition, causing unnecessary hearings and delays before the workers have a chance to vote in a union election. This is a typical Wal-Mart delay tactic. The Labor Board has already ruled that workers have the right to organize in separate departments such as the meat department in a Wal-Mart Supercenter and auto departments at Wal-Mart Supercenters and other department stores like Sears.
Wal-Mart's legal delay tactics took an especially sinister turn in these hearings. The Board hearing officer busted Wal-Mart for submitting falsified documents that had been subpoenaed for the hearing. The company also delayed the hearings by lying about a witness's availability.
This isn't the first time Wal-Mart has attempted to subvert the legal process. The company's actions in Arizona follow a well-documented pattern of discovery abuse. A Texas court fined the company $18 million dollars last year for withholding evidence. Judge James McHaffy imposed the fine and stated that Wal-Mart has "a corporate policy" of frustrating the discovery process in Texas. Wal-Mart has paid millions in fines from a series of discovery abuse violations in the past few years.
"Wal-Mart executives in Bentonville seem to think they are above the law. The UFCW will continue to fight for workers' rights at Wal-Mart no matter how long this company delays the legal process. Wal-Mart's delay tactics are backfiring. Workers see through these legal maneuvers as another unfair management tactic to deny workers their rights," said Mike Leonard, Director of the UFCW Strategic Programs Department.
In February, meat department workers at Wal-Mart's Jacksonville, Texas store voted for union representation with UFCW Local 540, and are demanding that the company obey the law, respect their choice, and begin immediate good-faith bargaining. The Board is prosecuting Wal-Mart for refusing to recognize and bargain with the UFCW in Jacksonville. Wal-Mart Meat Department workers in Palestine, Texas filed numerous charges with the NLRB for the company's federal labor law violations during their union election campaign in May, 2000.
Leonard said, "Once again, Wal-Mart is systematically abusing the legal process to deny workers their legal rights on the job. They should respect the law and their employees by ensuring they have an election free of company intimidation and harassment."
UFCW Local 99R is the largest private sector union in Arizona, representing more than 15,000 workers at Safeway, Smith's and Fry's supermarkets. The UFCW is the largest organization of retail workers in North America, with 1.4 million members. Workers at retail food industry leaders such as Kroger and Safeway are members of the UFCW. |
