I've done the same job union and non union at different companies. I also went from union worker to non union manager in a meat plant in Illinois. (Meat plant under UFCW) I can honestly tell you that the pay wasn't better from one to the other. The only difference was paying dues. I was also a mechanical insulator in a union for a while and did the same job non union. It wasn't much different in pay. What exactly would a union bring to some place like Wal-Mart? It has cheap insurance, 401k with matching, stock purchase with matching, dental, vision, college grants, pays for GED classes, 10% discount on all durable goods and produce, 10% off on food during nov-dec, had profit sharing until recently, easy promotions based on merit instead of time on job, automatic raises, lots of different jobs to do so you don't have to leave to change what you do. What exactly would a union do to help the average person at Wal-Mart? Would raising prices help Wal-Mart's associates if they have to lay people off? Would the share holders allow the company to suck balls for profit? You are talking 50-60 million hours a week of man power. A couple dollar an hour raise to every associate would be 6 billion a year, and another billion in 401k matching and the like. The unions are wanting 13 dollar an hour starting wage if they get in. This means the average wal-mart would become unprofitable immediately. That being said, it would be very easy to get a union inside of Wal-Mart. There are departments in the stores that are treated as individual businesses that have all of 10-20 workers in them. It would honestly take a half dozen pissed off people to get a union in a store. I really don't understand why the Unions haven't been able to seal the deal - are they even trying? If the Unions wanted to change Wal-Mart, they would offer it a compromise. Something like "If you spotlight a union/USA made item every week in your store, we will tell our millions of socialist friends to buy them, if we buy enough, you keep it in your store." This would in fact be voting with your wallet and fix the issue by creating union jobs in America if that is their ultimate goal. Do you know there are many made in America items coming back to Wal-Mart? I go to the yearly business meeting every year. They are actively trying to bring American made goods to the table in Wal-Mart. All people have to do is buy them and the company would put them for sale.