Wal-Mart to fight ruling that lets Gatineau store unionize

Wal-Mart Canada says it will try to appeal a Quebec Labour Board ruling that granted union certification at a store in Gatineau.

Wal-Mart's Quebec spokesman Yanik Deschênes said Friday the company is disappointed by the board's decision earlier this week and is consulting its lawyers to find out if it can challenge the ruling.

The decision allows 150 employees at the store on Du Plateau Boulevard in Gatineau's Hull district to be represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada.

Deschênes said the union had originally promised Wal-Mart it would hold a secret-ballot vote before applying for certification, but it broke that promise.

"We want to respect the willingness of our people to get unionized or not, and that's why we're really disappointed our associates were not given the chance to vote," he said.

Such a vote is not required by Quebec labour laws to get union certification.

Union not worried about store closing

Wal-Mart has closed two other Quebec locations that have unionized in the past:

• One in Jonquière in May 2005.
• A tire and lube garage in Gatineau in October 2008.

However, union spokesman Mathieu Allard said he isn't worried.

"The Wal-Mart in Hull is very profitable, so I don't think there's any questions of closing the store at the moment," he said.

The union is preparing to begin negotiations for a collective agreement and estimates that could take two or three years. Allard said he isn't concerned about negotiating during an economic downturn.

"I think now more than ever the workers want to be in a position where they can improve their working conditions and improve their wages in the following years."

Deschênes wouldn't speculate what higher wages at the Hull store would mean for its future. But when the company closed the Gatineau tire shop in October, Deschênes told CBC News the higher wages there were "unworkable" under Wal-Mart's business plan.

Wal-Mart bills itself as the largest retailer in the world, with 4,100 facilities in the U.S. and 309 stores across Canada. Its stores and associated garden centres, pharmacies and tire-and-lube centres sell products ranging from clothes to groceries, electronics and hardware.