Wal-Mart and the UFCW (labour relations) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wal-Mart and the UFCW (labour relations) - Essay Example to close its stores in locations where workers struggle to gain the support of labor unions, moving to court to oppose the actions undertaken by unions, conducting public relations campaign on its website, and replacing workers who act against the company. The company uses all these strategies so that it can continue paying workers low monthly wages and low compensation for over time. While the firm opposed labor unions in Saskatchewan, it faced legal, social, and political environmental factors. The company opposes the entry of its workers in trade unions to prevent the unions from representing employees and bargaining for higher wages and over time charges. For example, the company opposed the certification of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) in Saskatchewan, in 2004. The union applied for certification with the Saskatchewan Labor Relations Board (Vance, & Paik, 2011). The board ordered Wal-Mart to provide the union with the relevant documentation. However, the managers of Wal-Mart filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada, and this delayed the certification of UFCW. In 2009, Wal-Mart appealed against a court order that granted UFCW the certification to represent the employees of the company (Hamilton, & Webster, 2009). This led to the withdrawal of the certification in June, in the same year. While still opposing the certification of trade unions in court, the company also instills fear in employees by threatening to close its stores. Such a thre at triggers workers to restrain from supporting trade unions so that they can retain their jobs. The company threatened to close one of its retail outlets in Quebec, in North America because the workers of the store had signed an agreement with a trade union that had lasted for four months (Lewin, Kaufman, & Gollan, 2011). The company also threatens its workers that it may replace them whenever they act against the aims of the organization (Mattera, 2013). Since this means that workers lose