Wal-Mart hired security guards to spy on Quebec employees: CBC investigation

Last Updated Fri, 02 Dec 2005 05:35:06 EST
CBC News

Employees at a Quebec Wal-Mart store that closed after a successful union drive were spied upon by undercover security guards, according to an investigation by Radio-Canada.

Guards told journalists at CBC's French-language service, that Wal-Mart had hired them to spy on employees at the store in Jonquière, 200 kilometres north of Quebec City, early in 2005. It corresponded to the time the world's largest retailer announced the store would close for financial reasons.

A documentary on the subject will be broadcast Friday on the program Zone Libre. In it, the guards say their surveillance targeted union leaders and workers sympathetic to the drive.

One former guard said he patrolled the store in civilian clothes, watching employees. Another agent said the store's surveillance cameras were used to follow certain workers.

Wal-Mart Canada president and CEO Mario Pilozzi denied the allegations.

"No, we wouldn't tolerate the situation you mentioned," Pilozzi told Radio-Canada. "No idea about what you're talking about."

Spying on union leaders or sympathizers is illegal under the Quebec Labour Code.

In August 2004, the United Food And Commercial Workers succeeded in a drive to unionize the store's 200 workers. But a contract was never signed. The store closed in April.

A second Wal-Mart in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, won union certification in January 2005.

In February, Wal-Mart was chastised by the Quebec Labour Relations Board for attempting to intimidate workers who wanted to form a union at a third Quebec store in Sainte-Foy, just outside Quebec City.

Wal-Mart has 235 stores in Canada, employing more than 60,000 people.