Well, Wal-Mart has a union…but not in the U.S…across the border, and only because a judge imposed the union on the Beast. Shows you what a slightly better legal system can do for union organizing. Here’s what The Wall Street Journal has today:

An arbitrator has imposed a contract on a Wal-Mart Canada auto center in Quebec that received union certification three years ago.

The auto center, Tire & Lube Express, is part of a store in Gatineau, near the Ontario border. It was union-certified in 2005 and its first collective agreement has been expected since the binding-arbitration process ended in June.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is known for strongly opposing unions. Back in 2005, Wal-Mart shut a Quebec store in Jonquiere after it was unionized; Wal-Mart said the store wasn’t profitable. The Supreme Court of Canada recently decided to hear a case challenging the closure.

   Even in Canada it took three years for workers to get justice. Which makes me still leery that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is the nirvana that we hope for. From where I sit, it’s employer neutrality that is really needed–something EFCA does not require. Does anyone believe that employers won’t come up with new and "improved" tactics if EFCA is passed? Hopefully, we will get to test that environment.