Gatineau Wal-Mart Death Watch

It's official. The count-down for the eventual closing of the Gatineau, Québec Wal-Mart has begun.

Just months after Wal-Mart shut a unionized tire shop in Gatineau, about 150 employees at another Wal-Mart in the Hull sector have won bargaining rights.

The United Food and Commercial Workers said the Quebec Labour Board has certified the group for bargaining three-and-a-half years after the original application. It said the adjoining tire and lubrication shop was also certified in 2005 but the certification of the main store was delayed by labour board hearings over Wal-Mart motions. ....

"Hopefully, Wal-Mart won't squander another chance to prove its critics wrong, and it will take this opportunity to show the world that it believes in human rights by sitting down with these Hull workers to negotiate a contract in good faith," Wayne Hanley, president of the Canadian UFCW, said in a statement.

Wal-Mart will never admit that its unofficial management policy precludes bargaining in good faith with employee unions. When Wal-Mart closes its Gatineau store, the official excuse will likely be economic considerations.

By the way, the graphic at the top of this blogpost is the marketing poster for a terrific documentary produced in Canada.