Wal-Mart Canada Store to Vote on Unionization

Windsor, Ontario, Wal-Mart workers in Windsor, Ontario, will soon vote on whether to be represented by a union. The United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW) today said that it filed an application for certification with the Ontario Labor Relations Board, and an employee vote on unionization is expected to happen as early as next week.

When a Wal-Mart store in Jonquiere, Quebec, unionized early last month, the company closed the store, arguing that union demands were threatening the store's business. Shortly thereafter, the Quebec Labour Relations Commission told Wal-Mart Canada to stop intimidating employees who wished to unionize. The UFCW has successfully unionized a Wal-Mart branch in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, and said it has 12 other applications for certification pending with the labor board.