Why Walmart Remains Staunchly Anti-Union in 2024
Labor unions empower workers. Through collective bargaining, they give employees leverage to negotiate improved wages, benefits and working conditions. Most unionized staff in retail, grocery and departments stores enjoy substantially higher pay, better healthcare, enhanced job security and a mechanism to voice concerns without fear of retaliation.
Yet despite employing over 1.6 million people in the U.S. across over 4,700 stores, Walmart remains staunchly anti-union – one of the most aggressive companies in the industry when it comes to thwarting employee efforts to organize. With razor thin profit margins and a business model dependent on minimizing costs, Walmart sees unions as a threat to their ability to offer the lowest prices.
Walmart‘s Anti-Union Stance – By the Numbers
- $524 billion in FY 2022 revenue
- $13.5 billion in FY 2022 net income
- 1.6 million U.S. employees
- Starting wages increased to $14-$19 per hour in 2022
- CEO Doug McMillon compensation: $25.7 million
Walmart and its founding family are among the richest in the world, with enough resources to pay every associate $5,000 more per year while retaining 85% of its profits. But executives often earn 1000x a typical retail worker‘s income, revealing huge divides in compensation.
When Walmart Employees Tried to Unionize
In the early 2000s, when some meat departments successfully voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union, Walmart responded by eliminating their entire in-store butcher program – cutting over 180 jobs rather than allow unionization.
An entire Canadian Walmart location unionized in 2004 but shut down shortly after amidst harassment and threats towards pro-union workers. Canada‘s Supreme Court ruled the closure illegal – one of many examples of Walmart violating labor laws.
| Policy/Compensation | Unionized Grocery Chains | Walmart |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Wage | $17-$18 per hour | $14-$19 per hour |
| Healthcare | Comprehensive, low premium plans | High deductible plans |
| Retirement | Pensions + 401(k) match | 401(k) with 6% match |
| Overtime Pay | Time + a half | Time + half overtime pay |
Advocacy Groups Pressure Walmart
Labor groups like United for Respect continue applying public pressure on Walmart to improve compensation and treatment of workers. Thanks in part to their efforts, Walmart increased its minimum wage to $12 in 2018, with average hourly wages now around $15. Some experts believe 75-80% of Walmart‘s workforce would need to unionize before collective bargaining power would pressure meaningful policy changes.
While Walmart remains anti-union in the US, other Walmart international subsidiaries actually allow collective bargaining in countries with more progressive labor laws like Chile, Brazil, Africa and China. But with its outsized influence and resources, the battle to unionize Walmart‘s US stores faces substantial – but perhaps not impossible – challenges ahead.
