Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Canadian unit reached a contract with unionized workers at one of its stores, the first for the world’s largest retailer.
About 200 workers from a store in Windsor, Ontario, will vote Sunday on a contract between Wal-Mart Canada Inc. and the United Steelworkers of America, union spokesman Pat Van Horne said.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based company, with about 2,771 stores, vigorously opposed the union drive in Windsor, near Detroit. The way was cleared for talks that led to the weekend agreement when a court rejected Wal-Mart’s attempt to overturn union certification granted in February.
The province’s Labor Relations Board ruled that Wal-Mart implicitly threatened to close the store if workers voted to unionize.
“We hope this will encourage other Wal-Mart employees to call us,” Van Horne said. She declined to reveal contract details until after the vote.
Wal-Mart Canada spokesman Edward Gould said the tentative contract is an example of “good-faith bargaining.”
“We respect our employees’ judgment,” Gould said.
