Judge rules for workers - Walmart management 'illegally punished strikers'

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A National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that Walmart managers in California had illegally disciplined employees for going on strike and unlawfully threatened to close a store if many of its employees joined a group demanding higher wages.

In a decision made public on Wednesday, Geoffrey Carter, an N.L.R.B. administrative law judge, also found that a Walmart manager had illegally intimidated workers by saying, "If it were up to me, I'd shoot the union." In addition, the judge said it was unlawful for Walmart managers to tell employees that co-workers returning from a one-day strike would be looking for a new job.

Our Walmart, a union-backed group of Walmart employees, filed the complaint with the labor board, asserting that officials at Walmart stores in Placerville and Richmond, Calif., had illegally intimidated workers.

Kory Lundberg, a Walmart spokesman, said in a statement: "We do not agree with some of the administrative law judge's conclusions." The company said it would appeal parts of the ruling to the full labor board in Washington.

Walmart has a long history of vigorously battling unionization efforts.

Our Walmart is not a union but is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers union and has mounted a string of protests against Walmart over the last three years. On Black Friday, Our Walmart sponsored protests at more than a thousand Walmart stores, calling for a $15 base wage, more full-time jobs and an end to what it says is illegal intimidation and dismissals.

Walmart executives expressed pride last month that no judge had found the company guilty of unlawful actions against Our Walmart.

Judge Carter ruled that one Walmart manager had engaged in unlawful intimidation when he told an Our Walmart supporter who had a rope tied around his waist, to pull a heavy load, "If it was up to me, I would put that rope around your neck."

Federal law prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for supporting a union and from making intimidating statements that discourage workers from backing a union.

Judge Carter ruled that a Walmart dress code for its California workers was overly broad because it "unduly restricted associates' right to wear union insignia." He also said Walmart had unlawfully prohibited an employee from wearing clothes that said "Our Walmart" when it did not punish another who wore a shirt saying "Free Hugs."

The judge found Walmart had unlawfully disciplined six Richmond employees for engaging in a one-day strike in 2012. He also said management had improperly prohibited other employees from talking to those six workers.

One of the six, Raymond Bravo, an overnight maintenance employee at the time, applauded the ruling. "This reinforces the fact that we were doing nothing wrong," he said. "It shows that what we're doing is right, and the government is taking our side."

Judge Carter ordered Walmart to stop intimidating workers in Richmond, Calif., and to remove any reference to disciplinary write-ups ordered because the six employees had gone on strike.

The ruling was separate from a case in which the N.L.R.B.'s general counsel charged Walmart in January with illegal activities in 14 states, in particular disciplining about 70 workers - and firing nearly 20 of them - for participating in previous protests and strikes.

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