Union goes to court to get Wal-Mart to re-open in Saguenay

The union representing Wal-Mart employees in Saguenay, Quebec, has gone to court to try to get the store re-opened -- with union employees.

The Food and Commercial Workers Union has asked the Quebec Superior Court to overturn two Quebec Labour Relations Board decisions that supported Wal-Mart's decision to close the store after the employees were unionized.

In its request for an appeal, the union wants the court to order the labour board to reconsider its rulings.

The store, 250 kilometres north of Quebec City, was Wal Mart's first North American location to unionize since a Windsor, Ont., outlet was briefly accredited several years ago. The Saguenay store was to close May 6, but shut its doors a week earlier.

On May 11, the Quebec Labour Board rejected a request for a provisional injunction to order the store reopened. On July 7, three Labour Board commissioners rejected a union appeal of that decision.

The union argued the closure of the Saguenay store was designed to intimidate other workers who might want to unionize.

Wal-Mart said the store closed because it wasn't profitable. Its lawyers argued that Canadian law recognizes an employer's right to close a location regardless of its motives.

The union's filing to the Superior Court said the labour board abandoned its responsibilities by failing to rule on the legality of closing the store.

It said the closure of a location in a chain of stores can't be viewed the same way as a single store. "It's not about an employer deciding to stop his operations, but rather about sacrificing a unionized location in order to prevent the unionization of other locations."