TV Report: Wal-Mart security guards spied on union sympathizers

[Thom Little]

Wal-Mart Canada on Friday denied it hired private security guards to spy on employees who supported a drive to unionize workers at one of its stores in Quebec.

Radio-Canada, CBC's French-language service, was scheduled to air a documentary later Friday in which security guards say they had been hired around the time Wal-Mart decided to close the store in Jonquiere, about 155 miles north of Quebec City. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, cited financial reasons for the closing. Union activists had claimed the Arkansas-based company was shutting them down because they nearly won the first-ever union contract from the retailer.

.......

According to excerpts from the TV documentary, union leaders and workers sympathetic to the drive were targeted by undercover security guards. Spying on union leaders or sympathizers is illegal under the Quebec Labor Code.

One former guard said he patrolled the store in civilian clothes, watching employees. Another said the store's surveillance cameras were used to follow certain employees. The guards said their tasks did not correspond to the normal duties of security.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NA_GEN_CANADA_WAL_MART_SPIES_AROL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-12-02-13-28-26

[Lefty48197]

1. OOPS! Forgot you were in Canada didn't you?

In the USA, big corporations can pretty much do whatever the hell they want to fight against organizing. Unfortunately, for Walmart, Canada is a nation of laws, and what Walmart is doing their is illegal. I don't think this is their first violation of Canada's labor laws. I hope they get socked with big fat fines by the Canadian government, or even banned from building their vile stores in the last remaining civilized country in North American.

[applegrove]

2. "Bye bye, mon cowboy, Adieu mon rodeo!" like the song says.

[maddezmom]

3. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1961786