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02.15.2013 0

NLRB Drops UFCW Walmart Black Friday Illegal Picketing Case

NRD Editor’s Note: This post first appeared at UFCWMonitor.com.

UFCW LogoBy Brad Tidwell — The National Labor Relations Board has held that the case against the UFCW’s Black Friday allegedly illegal picketing of Walmart will be held in abeyance, meaning that no legal action against the union will take place as long as the UFCW does not make any further organized efforts against Walmart.

To be clear, UFCW’s actions are an allegedly illegal, unfair labor practice given that the UFCW has not given notice that they are organizing a Walmart-specific union. However, based on commitments the UFCW has given Walmart and the NLRB, the NLRB will dismiss the case in six months as long as there are no further organized actions. The UFCW’s promises, as follows, are that they:

  • will stop all unlawful recognitional picketing, the basis of the Unfair Labor Practice charge against the union,
  • will stop encouraging unlawful disruptions by nearly 30 affiliated groups and,
  • will stop all picketing and confrontational conduct at our stores and other company facilities for at least 60 days.

As we’ve discussed before, the UFCW’s allegedly illegal actions culminated in a large-scale walkout planned for the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. This attempt to scare Walmart into accepting their demands not only failed to stall the retail giant into submission, it was also roundly hailed as a disaster. As we stated before the walkout:

For all of the previous attempts the UFCW has made to unionize America’s largest employer, Walmart has yet to unionize any of their stores, or even change their attitude towards unionization. But rather than change course, the UFCW has instead decided to double down on attacking the employer. This is a particularly bad strategy — not only because it only seems to fuel the animosity Walmart has for the UFCW, but because it also hurts the very employees the UFCW claims they are trying to help.

Now the UFCW is claiming that since their defeat, they will not be pursuing further action against Walmart. To that, we say their actions prove otherwise — the UFCW has not let a little illegal action stop them before, and have continued to press their luck when it’s clear their efforts will not pay off. It may only be a matter of time before this case is in front of the NLRB again.

Brad Tidwell is the editor-in-chief of UFCWMonitor.com, a project of Americans for Limited Government.

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