NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- On Labor Day, some fear the recent rift in AFL-CIO may adversely affect unions' effort to organize their toughest adversary, Wal-Mart.
More than any other corporation, the giant U.S. retailer epitomized all the difficulties facing organized labor in a global marketplace, the Washington Post reports.
The paper said the company keeps wages low and unions out, while applying relentless pressure on a huge network of suppliers to lower their own wage costs.
Union activists, corporate leaders and officials of both political parties, all want to know if the rift will allow the AFL-CIO to emerge stronger and energized, or divided and weakened.
In the 50 years since the AFL-CIO was formed, the percentage of the workforce represented by unions has steadily declined from more than 35 percent to 12.5 percent in 2004, the Post said.
"We have seen that the unions are very fragmented now," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Christi Gallagher. "We just don't feel like (labor's threatened campaign)... is anything we need to be concerned about."
