Walmart has gone toe-to-toe with workers that tried to organize themselves. The retail giant is infamous for staunchly opposing labor groups. In 2000, it switched to prepackaged meats after a handful of butchers at a Walmart Supercenter in Jacksonville, Texas voted to join a union. The retail giant at the time said the move was planned ahead of the union vote, but it nevertheless sent workers a clear message. And, in 2005, Walmart shut down a store in Quebec where workers were close to reaching a union contract.
It's not as if Walmart is against all unions -- only those in the U.S. As the Washington Post pointed out last year, unions are prevalent in the United Kingdom. And for decades, the retailer has negotiated contracts with powerful labor groups in Brazil and Argentina.