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Wal-Mart forced to the bargaining table by U.S. Court of Appeals

After nearly a decade of legal maneuverings and circumventions of federal law, the U.S. National Labour Board finally forced Walmart to the bargaining table in Jacksonville, Texas.

Texas (14 March 2009) - More than nine years ago, workers in the meat department in a Jacksonville Walmart voted to be represented by UFCW Local 540, but Walmart refused to bargain with the organized workers.

In one of the company’s most audacious displays of hubris, Wal-Mart first ignored the workers, refusing to bargain with them or provide information to their union.

Only after the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against Wal-Mart did the company try to move the goalposts by claiming that workers in the meat department had lost their right to representation because the skilled meatcutting jobs had been replaced by a prepackaged meat program.

Eight years and several legal battles later, Wal-Mart ran out of excuses when the United States Court of Appeals forced the company to bargain with these workers.