Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it would reopen in late October to early November five US stores whose closure had prompted a union to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming retaliation against workers for organising.
The retailer will start hiring for the stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and California, and will encourage previous employees and those that transferred to other stores to apply, company spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said on September 02. Wal-Mart announced the store closures in April to fix plumbing and other repair issues. The move impacted some 2,200 workers and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) filed a complaint to the NLRB that is still pending.
In the complaint the UFCW accused Wal-Mart of using plumbing problems as an excuse to close a store in Pico Rivera, California, in retaliation against workers there who have been active in attempts to organise for better pay and benefits. The other four stores were included as cover, the union claimed.
Wal-Mart has denied the claims, saying the repairs were necessary and extensive, and had flagged plans to reopen the stores in time for the year-end shopping season.
"We are moving forward with the process to reopen all five stores. While we continue to conduct plumbing repairs and store upgrades, our goal is to begin serving customers by late October or early November," Lorenzo said.
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