Wal-Mart Watch: Wal-Mart makes threatening gestures towards its one unionized site in North America:

Retail powerhouse Wal-Mart said it was "concerned about the economic viability" of its store in Canada which is the only one of its outlets in North America to be unionized. "It has been several weeks since the Jonquiere store was automatically certified with the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), but no communication from the union has been received with regard to beginning talks with the company," Wal-Mart said in a statement regarding the store in the province of Quebec. "The Jonquiere store is not meeting its business plan, and the company is concerned about the economic viability of the store. Wal-Mart Canada believes the unresolved labor situation at the Jonquiere store is proving detrimental to improving the performance of the store. The Wal-Mart associates in Jonquiere know their store is not meeting its business goals, and they would like the labor-relations process to move forward as quickly as possible so they can have certainty over operating conditions at the store."

Wal-Mart's ability to level threats against its one union store demonstrates why justice for all Wal-Mart workers ultimately depends on an international solution on the corporate level, in the form of a card-check neutrality agreement with Wal-Mart. For that to happen, labor has to be as well-coordinated as management.