Wal-Mart to Eliminate Some Meat Cutters

Two weeks after the meat cutters in the Jacksonville, Texas, Wal-Mart store voted to unionize--the first union for the nation’s largest retailer--the company struck back. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it plans to close meat-cutting operations in 180 stores--including Jacksonville--in six states. Instead of fresh cut meat, those stores will carry “case-ready” products that are cut and wrapped elsewhere. The company said that its move away from meat cutting is part of an industry trend, and not the result of the labor organizing effort, in which meat cutters voted 7 to 3 on Feb. 17 to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. “This decision was in no way related to the Jacksonville situation,” a Wal-Mart spokeswoman said. She said that the company had been planning the shift for months and that the meat cutters will be offered other jobs.Shares of Wal-Mart closed up $2.06 to $52.63 on the New York Stock Exchange.