Canadian Unions 1 , Wal-Mart 0

Workers at a Wal-Mart is Saskatchewan have finally (after five years or so) won the right to unionize- after years of legal wrangling and stall tactics on the part of Wal-Mart and two applications to the Supreme Court of Canada by Wal-Mart to overturn the process entirely. More Canadian Wal-Marts could follow.

I myself am somewhat conflicted on the idea of unions. I'm not against them per say, but rather I'm against big, ugly, overly nationalized unions that benefit union bosses rather than the workers they represent. Therein lies my main concern with the Employee Free Choice Act- it's not that I'm against making unionization easier- I just think that secret ballot elections should be absolutely mandatory for such organizing efforts- and no less an authority than George McGovern agrees with me. Some people have interpreted the EFCA as being a method for employees to get to that secret ballot election (and the NLRB mandated procedures that go with it) quicker and easier- but most of the interpretations I have seen seem to circumvent the question of organizing elections entirely- just to get more people in the union.

To me that smells a little funny. Like Union Bosses just want a bigger bat to swing- and that I'm not in favor of. Unions, when used properly can do fantastic things for workers, but unions, when they get big, ugly and out of control are entirely useless and do more damage to workers than help. (Part of this attitude I think stems from the fact that economic situation in Britain was so dire in the mid-80s my parents emigrated. I'm glad they did, but it was the socialism and unionization run amuck in the late 70s that drove Britain to the rocks and forced Thatcher to do fairly brutal things to the economy just to get something going again. Union types hate her, but I think there's plenty of blame to go around.)

Wal-Mart's stance on unionization has always struck me as a little ridiculous. Employees have to sit through a twenty minute video on what to do if a union organizer approaches you (run away is the general recommendation, I think) and their refusal to consider unionization is equally as ridiculous. In their defense, their corporate structure is supposedly more open than most companies their side. Associates of any level can exercise 'the open door policy' to talk to management whenever they want, whenever they have problems- and it's worth noting that the idea for people greeters came from a lowly associate and not from corporate HQ in Bentonville.

But here's the thing: just how open is the door? Sure they say you can 'walk through the open door' whenever you want- but can Wal-Mart workers really do that? Are the higher-ups really that responsive to the needs of their workers? Those are questions worth asking- and if you don't get a good answer, then Wal-Mart workers need another form of redress if management is not as responsive as it claims to be.

And here's a question: people jump and down on Wal-Mart's head, but what about McDonald's? No unions there either.