Organizing at Walmart: Lessons from Quebec's Women

• Main Authors: Stéphanie Mayer, Yanick Noiseux
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: McMaster University Library Press 2015-01-01
• Series: Global Labour Journal
• Online Access: https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/2455

The job market has undergone fundamental changes over the last thirty years. The decline in permanent, stable, full-time employment and an increase in the number of non-standard workers transformed workers' collective organization and union representation. Based on a study of the collective struggles of women employed at Walmart in Quebec and taking into consideration the interrelated effects of non-standard workers' work and living conditions, the paper explores the ways in which organized labour can adapt to the new context. Two types of data were used: newspapers and academic literature and the results of a study in which eleven women working at Walmart were interviewed between 2010 and 2012. This case study is divided into three parts. In the context of the tertiarization of Quebec's employment market, the effects of the flexibilization of labour at Walmart are first presented through statistical evidence and the comments of the women interviewed. The next section provides an overview of the UFCW's union battles with Walmart, including some of the more successful campaign strategies. The final section focuses on participant testimonies to examine what can be learned from these union experiences in the hopes of contributing, insofar as possible, to the discussion on union renewal.