Aftertastes

Why hasn’t Wal-Mart been unionized? Wal-Mart, as I explain in my book, has been fiercely antiunion ever since Sam Walton founded it, and far more aggressive in fighting to keep out unions than most companies. But the truth is, the United Food and Commercial Workers, which would be the logical one to unionize Wal-Mart workers, was for years doing very little in the way of union organization there –- in essence, Wal-Mart became a nonunion behemoth while the U.F.C.W. slept. In recent years, that union has stepped up its organizing efforts and officials said it initially saw a lot of support from Wal-Mart workers in Minnesota. But then the company flew in its antiunion brigade from Arkansas and the tide sharply turned against the union. (via Answers About the Nation’s Labor Laws and Unions, Part 1 - NYTimes.com)