May 15 Weeks after Wal-Mart Stores Inc
was accused of shuttering a California store to stop workers
from organizing, the company said it would seek permits to rip
up floors and replace plumbing lines as part of significant
repairs at five stores that justified their abrupt closure.
Wal-Mart's move last month to temporarily close the stores
triggered a union-backed complaint to the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) that is still pending.
In the http://www.carltonabbeyhotel.com/tag/rodent-problem/ complaint the United Food and Commercial Workers
International Union accused Wal-Mart of using plumbing problems
as an http://www.greenvol.com/tag/local-plumbing-company/ excuse to close a store in Pico Rivera, California, in
retaliation against workers there who have been active in
attempts to organize for better pay and benefits. The other four
stores were included as cover, the union claimed.
Wal-Mart, which has denied the claims, said on Friday that
it was ready to begin requesting permits for the extensive work
it says is needed at the five stores, which include locations in
Florida, Texas and Oklahoma. The construction will include
installation of new sanitary http://www.carltonabbeyhotel.com/tag/rodent-problem/ plumbing lines, replacing ripped-up
floor slabs and new refrigeration equipment, it said.
Wal-Mart also said that it would extend severance pay to
part-time workers who were among the roughly 2,200 employees
impacted by the closings. Under normal policy severance would
only be paid to full-time workers, the company said.
"Given the unique circumstances of the temporary closures,
we continue to focus on our associates and have added http://www.carltonabbeyhotel.com/tag/rodent-problem/ benefits
and made a series of policy exceptions," company spokesman
Lorenzo Lopez said in a statement to Reuters.
Lopez said more than half of the workers that had applied
for transfers to local area stores had received them.
He said the company was planning to reopen the stores within
the next six months, in time for the year-end holiday shopping
season.
With its complaint the UFCW is seeking injunctive relief to
have all employees reinstated or transferred to other stores
without loss of pay.
Wal-Mart had previously said each of the five locations had
more than 100 plumbing problems over the last two years, the
most among its 5,000-plus U.S. stores. It said issues at the
Pico Rivera location included clogged drains with water flowing
onto the sales floor, and that the local health regulator
downgraded the deli department in January as a result of the
problems.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Ted Botha)