Wal-Mart Union
The union representing Wal-Mart workers in Jonqiere says it will take legal action against the retail giant. Earlier this week, Wal-Mart announced it would close the store in May. It was the first Wal-Mart store to unionize in North America. Since then, workers at a Wal-Mart in St-Hyacinthe, Que., also joined a union. The retail giant and the union in Jonqiere were in the middle of negotiating a contract when Wal-Mart decided to shut the store down, saying it was not making money. The union disputes that.I fully support the right of workers to form a Union for collective bargaining. I equally support the right for a company to attempt to hire non-union workers (scabs) as an alternative or to close their doors rather than unionize. I am not in favor of legal measures that require a company to unionize or prevent employees from collective bargaining. In my view, the governments only role in such disputes is to protect both sides from any violence the other might offer and enforce any contracts that are signed.
posted by Dave Justus | 2/11/2005 12:15:00 PM
2 Comments:
What do you think of the laws in some states that require a worker to join the union after accepting a job in a union shop?
How about the Supreme Court's Beck decision?
I think that those laws are a very poor idea. I would have nothing against a contract between an employer and a union that stated that the employer could only hire union members (so long as it was entered into without violent coercion) and would expect government to enforce those contracts. However, government mandating union only union employment by a company is a very different matter. It is in fact the implied use of force (by the government) on behalf of the union. Obviously though an employee who was not part of a union at a union shop should not automatically recieve the benefits of the union contract. It seems only fair to me, that if an individual (or a company) feels they can get a better deal bargaining on an individual basis they should be allowed to do so.
Obviously I agree with the outcome of the Beck decision as well. I am not all that familiar with the arguments in the case, so I can't say that I necessarily argree with the means that were used to obtain a verdict which I agree with.
It is often the case that I agree with the outcome, but not the reasoning, of a court decision. Roe v. Wade is a good example of that, as is the recent Massachusetts supreme court decision on gay marriage.
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