Wal-Mart has made no secret about its preference to have nothing to do with unions.

Unions have made no secret about their preference to force Wal-Mart to accept unionization of their workers, raise prices, lower service, become less profitable, etc.

A few years ago, in a small town in Quebec (was it Jonquiere? I’d hafta look it up) a union succeeded in getting itself certified at the town’s only Wal-Mart store. Wal-Mart decided that the store could no longer be run the way they run stores, so they closed it. This put everybody who had worked there - including both the union members and all the non-union employees - out of work.

Recently, in a Quebec town, not far (just across the river) from my home in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, a union tried to organize Wal-Mart again. This time, they were succeeding, not for the whole store, but for the Tire-and-Lube shop portion of the store. Among other things, it would have meant that the unskilled workers in the Tire-and-Lube would have received instant raises from the provincial minimum wage ($8.75 per hour, I think - which is pretty shitty wages, but which is what that level of labor is worth) to somewhere above $15/hour. That would obviously put a big dent in the profitability of the Tire-and-Lube portion of the store.

Wal-Mart responded by closing the Tire-and-Lube shop, but keeping the main part of the store open.

Naturally, the papers and talk-shows were full of vitriol, denouncing the evil, union-busting tactics of Wal-Mart. Naturally, I had a response, which I submitted as a Letter to the Editor. Once again, it was on the “being considered” short list, but didn’t make it into the paper. Through the joy of blogging, I get to publish my version anyway. It goes like this:

Here’s how to make everybody happy in the infamous closure of the
Wal-Mart tire’n'lube shop.

Wal-Mart regains an “in-house” profit center that provides a popular
service, and the unionists get to keep their jobs on their terms.
Here’s how it works:

a) Wal-Mart leases the shop space to the union, at favorable rates (a
public-relations coup - not much profit in that corner, but no loss, and
all that good will).
b) The union gets a purpose-built space, in an ideal location, at better
lease rates than they could find for themselves, so they have more money
left over to buy insurance and utilities and HR/payroll services.
c) Wal-Mart sells or leases the tools, lifts and other equipment to the
union - after all, Wal-Mart is not making any profit off that gear right
now, so why not.
d) The union gets to buy some second-hand equipment that’s in
good-as-new condition (after all, they took perfect care of it while
they were employees, didn’t they?).
e) The union runs the shop as they’ve said they can do, while paying
everybody at least $15/hour plus benefits. Wal-Mart might even let them
share in any existing group benefits packages if it makes those more
affordable to the unionists - another PR coup for Wal-Mart and no red ink.
f) Either the union does their own managing and scheduling, or they
contract with Wal-Mart to answer the phones and schedule the service
bays - whichever approach the union finds most congenial. (So Wal-Mart
either has a small profit center or has no involvement.)

Wal-Mart gains by getting rid of unionized employees but without the
stigma (’in-house” outsourcing).
The union gains because they get to prove that they can do what they
swear is possible; run a profitable shop while paying the negotiated
wages and benefits to their own members. All of their vociferous
supporters are, of course, guaranteed customers of this fair-trade shop.

All the people who sided with the union gain because they can invest a
few dollars each if the union needs some startup/seed money (possibly
some sort of co-op venture), and they get the satisfaction of putting
their money where their mouths are.  Naturally, they would also (all these
people who have been righteously slamming Wal-Mart and vociferously
siding with the union) exclusively buy their tire and lube product and services
from the union-run Tire-and-Lube shop that resides in the Wal-Mart store.

Win-win-win!

- end of letter -

Now, who could possibly disagree with a plan like that?

That’s the way I see it anyway.

Copyright October 2008