In 2000, Walmart eliminated its entire meat department in Texas and five other states after meat cutters at a Texas location voted to unionize.
Posted by Behind the Bastards, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
Behind the BastardsOct 3, 2026
Contemporaneous 2000 reporting from the Washington Post, the Dallas-datelined Ledger story, and an AP story says Wal-Mart announced it would close meat-cutting operations in six states (Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas and Missouri) weeks after meat cutters at its Jacksonville, Texas store voted to unionize.
What was said
… But organizers in the US have yet to crack the retail giant, and look, it's not for lack of trying. In the past, Walmart has simply shut down stores who have tried to unionize. For example, back in the year 2000, which is so much further away than it really feels like it should be, back in the year 2000, after meat cutters at a Texas location voted to unionize, the company eliminated its entire meat department in Texas and in five other states for good measure. I'm thinking about it. I don't think we have a meat department in South Philly. Like, imagine cutting out an entire section of your store, of your enormous nationwide retail chain, because a handful of workers in one place were like, "Hey, what if you …
Behind the Bastards · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. A March 2000 Washington Post report says Wal-Mart announced it was closing meat-cutting operations in 180 stores in six states, including the Jacksonville, Texas store, two weeks after its meat cutters won union recognition.[1]
Supports. The Ledger (Dallas datelined) reports the butchers at the Jacksonville, Texas Wal-Mart voted 7-3 to join the UFCW and that Wal-Mart then decided to close meat departments in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas and Missouri.[2]
Supports. An AP report from March 2000 says Wal-Mart is closing meat-cutting operations at 180 stores in six states, Texas included, while a spokeswoman denied the move was related to the union vote.[3]
Supports. A 2008 report says that after the Jacksonville union drive, Wal-Mart eliminated meatcutting throughout the region, and the NLRB later found it had to compensate the affected workers, as if it had closed a store.[4]
Contradicts. Wal-Mart denied that the union vote influenced its decision and said the switch to prepackaged meat had been planned for months, so the causal motive is disputed, though the claim only asserts the sequence of events.[2][3]
Context. Reporting describes the change as a switch to prepackaged, case-ready meat rather than the removal of all meat sales, so 'entire meat department' is a loose paraphrase of closing meat-cutting departments.[1][5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 tier 2, 4 not rated
- 1Wal-Mart Ends Meat-Cutting Jobswashingtonpost.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
- 2Wal-Mart will end meat cutting at 180 storestheledger.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 3Wal-Mart slashing meat-cutting operationsjournalrecord.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 4Court Upholds NLRB in Wal-Mart Meatcutters Case: Reportsupermarketnews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Dateline Texastexasobserver.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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