The retailer, whose 2,941 stores are not unionized, took these steps because the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union was planning to use the chain's policy of allowing on-premise solicitation to gain access to the store. While the move is a blow to many nonprofit groups, the Salvation Army, the nation's largest charity, is not taking sides. ""Wal-Mart has been great to us, and so have the unions"" said Tom Jones, national spokesman for the charity.
See "Union drive spurs chain reaction", Judith Graham, Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1999