Report: Wal-Mart pressured to unionize

Bentonville, Ark. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union held a rally at Wal-Mart’s Landover Hills, Md., store Tuesday in support of creating a union and getting better benefits for workers at the retail behemoth, according to an article in The Washington Post.

This is one of several rallies held this week at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. In the Washington, D.C. area specifically, the UFCW said it is responding to “hundreds” of Wal-Mart employees who have signed union-authorization cards.

Besides coinciding with Wal-Mart’s annual shareholders meeting planned for Friday, the rallies also are a way for the union to lobby for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would allow members seeking to establish a union to simply sign cards rather than embark on a secret-ballot election, the article explained.

Wal-Mart has come under fire from labor unions due to its open disinterest in establishing unions within its chain. On its own, the retailer has made efforts to improve employee benefits, especially healthcare-related ones, with low premiums and faster coverage start dates.