Union bargaining, Wal-Mart style

Wal-Mart has reinforced its anti-union reputation by closing down a store in Canada after it became the first in North America to become unionised.

The confrontation became a cause celebre in Canada amid accusations by union organisers that they were threatened with violence.

Sylvie Lavoie started recruiting staff to the union in Jonquiere, northern Quebec, because "there was injustice at the company and it did not respect its workforce".

The US retailing giant acted quickly, calling a meeting of its 190 employees and publicly naming union organisers.

Activists claim they were later subjected to intimidation, although Wal-Mart strongly denies involvement.

Despite the threats, the union continued to organise and demanded a minimum 37-hour week for full-time employees.

Then the directors announced the Jonquiere store would be closing, because, they said, it was not making money

A Wal-Mart spokesman, Andrew Pelletier, said: "The store was struggling. When you factored in the union demands, which were completely unreasonable ... the store would not be viable."

But the United Food and Trade Workers' Union believes the closure of the only store that dared to unionise "is a Wal-Mart message addressed to the United States and elsewhere to say, 'If you want to unionise, we'll close you down'."

Wal-Mart has a long history of antagonism towards unions. A federal grand jury in Arkansas is still investigating whether Thomas Coughlin, Wal-Mart's former vice-chairman, has been orchestrating an illegal campaign against union organisers.

- INDEPENDENT