April 21, 2015
By LaborPress
The United Food and Commercial Workers filed a complaint April 20 with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Walmart’s closing of five stores last week was retaliation for union activity. The company says the stores, in California, Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida, were being closed for a few months because of “serious plumbing issues,” and that the 2,200 workers laid off could reapply for their jobs when they reopened.
But one of the five, in Pico Rivera, California, was the scene of the first strike at a U.S. Walmart store, in 2012. “Walmart has targeted this store because the associates have been among the most active associates around the country to improve working conditions,” the claim says. Workers only got a few hours’ notice of the closing, said Venanzi Luna, a deli manager in Pico Rivera. Read more
