Attention Wal-Mart shoppers! The company has disclosed the discomforting news that it has found union workers have penetrated supercenter premises — even to “prohibited areas” like the meat-cutting room. While no immediate action on the part of consumers is necessary, shoppers may wish to inspect their meat and cook it throughly before eating. Wal-Mart has taken the wise precaution of going to the Benton County Chancellor and taken out a temporary restraining order that bars the United Food and Commercial Workers union from leafleting on store property. Wal-Mart took this justified action “to protect the health, safety and well-being of its employees, officials, customers and vendors”. Under the court order, the union is restrained from violating Wal-Mart’s policy of no solicitation on its premises. According to the Associated Press, Wal-Mart is seeking to make the court order permanent, and says the UFCW has trespassed in more than “200 hundred stores and counting”.
Anxious consumers who are worried about their health, safety and well-being, should inspect their food closely to look for any leaflets that may have been inserted in their bag, or any other threatening material. It is not known if Wal-Mart will make public the list of 200 stores where the union may have entered prohibited areas, but as a precaution, discard any leaflets you may have received. You can email the company to express your opinion by going to the company’s website at www.wal-mart.com. Wal-Mart in the past has stated that it is not anti-union, just non-union. For now, Wal-Mart’s timely action should be sufficient to keep those pesky organized workers out of supercenter meat-cutting rooms.
