000315 Prepackaged Meat Replaces Wal-Mart Meat Departments

Dallas - Until two weeks ago, there had never been a successful union vote at a Wal-Mart in the United States. Butchers at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jacksonville, Texas, changed that in February with their 7-3 vote to unionize their department.

Now, their victory is in doubt. Wal-Mart said it will shut down its meat- cutting operations in Jacksonville and 179 other stores in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas and sell only prepackaged meat.

Those cuts will come in May and June, Wal-Mart spokesman Jessica Moser said in a statement from the retail giant's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

The displaced meat cutters will be offered other jobs at their stores, Moser said.

The company plans to switch to prepackaged meat at all 700 of its superstores, but there is no timetable for eliminating butchers at the remaining stores, she said.

Wal-Mart's opposition to unions in its stores is legendary in business circles. The company has even barred charities from its stores during the holiday season because of concern the food and commercial workers would use the policy to get inside and conduct organizing campaigns.

Moser denied any connection between the union vote and the closures.

She said prepackaged meat "has a better appearance and longer shelf life" and is easier to track inventory. Wal-Mart has been planning the switch to prepackaged meat for months.

Not everyone was buying the story.

"They just remodeled our store. They spent about $40,000 on a new wrapping machine. They just got new pans to hold the meat," said meat cutter Maurice Miller in Jacksonville. "If they'd been thinking about this for months, why would they spend all that money?"

Miller, 45, was on the winning side of last month's vote to be represented by Local 540 of the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Local and national union officials said Wal-Mart was responding not only to the Jacksonville vote but to a pending election at its store in Palestine, Texas, and organizing efforts at about 20 Wal-Marts around the country.

Wal-Mart officials announced their plan to close meat-cutting operations during a hearing Monday before National Labor Relations Board staffers.

Wal-Mart argued unsuccessfully - all the way to Washington - that all 300 store employees in Jacksonville, and not just the meat cutters, should have been able to vote on joining a union.

Now it argues that union officials took improper actions to influence the vote, and a hearing is scheduled for March 28. Union officials accused Wal-Mart of violating federal labor law.

Greg Denier, a union spokesman in Washington, said Wal-Mart cannot legally eliminate meat-cutting operations in Jacksonville without first negotiating with the 10 employees and the union. He said the union will file a complaint with the labor board and, if it loses there, take the retailer to court.

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