The United Food and Commercial Workers have dropped efforts to form a unit of its union at a Wal-Mart store in Ocala, Florida, the company said today.
Charlyn Jarrells Porter, Senior Vice President of Wal-Mart's People Division, said the UFCW notified the National Labor Relations Board it was withdrawing a petition it had filed in 2000 to hold a union vote among workers in the store's meat department.
"Our associates in Ocala had told the union repeatedly that they were not interested in union representation," Jarrells Porter said. "We're pleased that the union has recognized this lack of interest."
She added: "We believe - as our founder, Sam Walton, did - in a partnership that involves competitive wages and benefits, profit-sharing, incentive bonuses and a genuine effort to involve everyone in the business so we can all pull together and focus on customer service. This partnership is a key reason for our success over the years and a key reason for our associates' lack of interest in union membership."
As of December 31, 2002, the Company had 1,566 Wal-Mart stores, 1,244 Supercenters, 522 SAM'S CLUBS and 39 Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Internationally, the Company operated units in Argentina (11), Brazil (22), Canada (207), China (25), Germany (94), Korea (15), Mexico (595), Puerto Rico (52) and United Kingdom (258). Wal-Mart also owns a 34% interest in Seiyu, Ltd. with options to purchase up to 66.7% of that company.
Seiyu operates over 400 stores located throughout Japan. Wal-Mart employs more than 1 million associates in the United States and more than 300,000 internationally. Its securities are listed on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT.
