On toeholds

CanWest reports on some potentially great news for labour, as a Quebec store is on the verge of finalizing the first collective bargaining agreement at a North American Wal-Mart:

Contract negotiations between the retail giant and unionized workers at the Wal-Mart store in St. Hyacinthe, Que., have resolved all issues but salary, which is to be brought before an arbitrator in November.

Indeed, after a year of talks, the negotiations are further ahead in St. Hyacinthe than they were at the unionized store in Jonquiere, Que., which Wal-Mart shut in 2005, after citing poor sales...

"Certainly, Quebec has been the leader," said Bob Linton, spokesperson for UFCW Canada.

"Right now it's wait and see. Once, and if there's a collective agreement, we're pretty confident that other Wal-Mart employees will want to follow suit."

It still remains to be seen whether Wal-Mart will look for excuses to close the St. Hyacinthe store as well, or otherwise ignore the rights of its workers. But given that some results have already been reached through collective bargaining, it would seem awfully late in the day for that type of move.

Which means that despite a corporate culture aimed at demonizing unions, Wal-Mart may not be far away from learning that collective bargaining can easily be a part of a successful business model. And if that recognition takes hold, then barriers to unionization could start to drop both at Wal-Marts specifically, and across the retail sector generally.