Wal-Mart Watch: Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott defends the punitive liquidation of the unionized store:

The chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. yesterday defended the retailer's decision to close a Canadian store after its employees voted to form a union, saying demands from negotiators would have forced an already unprofitable store to hire 30 more people and abide by inefficient work rules. "You can't take a store that is a struggling store anyway and add a bunch of people and a bunch of work rules that cause you to even be in worse shape," H. Lee Scott Jr. said. In his first interview since Wal-Mart announced it would close the store in Jonquiere, Quebec, Scott said Wal-Mart saw no upside to the higher labor costs and refused to cede ground to the union for the sake of being "altruistic." "It doesn't work that way," he said. ...Scott, who has worked at Wal-Mart since 1979 and became chief executive of the 3,000-store chain in 2000, said he has studied how major companies in the tobacco, beer and petroleum industries have weathered intense criticism.

No surprise that Scott tries to obscure his real fear - workers empowered to stand up for their rights and challenge business as usual at Wal-Mart - behind claims about union intractibility. It's understandable that a company used to management by fiat would bristle at the possibility of negotiation. Sooner or later, though, they're going to have to get used to it. In the meantime, how does Scott plan to sell Wal-Mart's agenda? By parrotting Big Tobacco, Big Oil, and Big Beer. Very telling.