3. Debate the following controversial statement: "Unions are divisive and they artificially inflate wages and make companies less competitive In 2009, an arbitrator ruled that workers in the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) in Saini-Hyacinthe, Quebec, would not receive the wage and benefits Increase they had hoped to get from Walmart.ln rejecting the union's demands, the arbitrator portrayed Walmart as a good employer and concluded that Walmart's performancebased compensation system had to be retained because it was part of the culture of the company. The arbitrator also noted that Walmart sometimes paid its employees more than competitors like Zellers did. The arbitrator's ruling is the latest round in the intense battle that is taking place between the UFCW and Walmart. The UFCW is committed to organizing Walmart's employees, whHe Walmart' s management aggressively fights every UFCW attempt The fight has been bitter at times, and the eventual outcome is not yet clear. Each side has had both victories and defeats.

In 2010, this battle was intensifying even as Walmart was announcing further Canadian expansion with another 6500 employees needed to staff 35-40 planned superstores.