Dive Brief:

• Labor strikes by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. store workers in 2013 were lawful, and the retailer must reinstate them in their jobs and give them back pay, National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge Geoffrey Carter ruled Thursday.

• Spokespeople from the union-backed “Our Walmart” worker group hailed the ruling, reports Reuters, which was over a “Ride for Respect” event that had busloads of store employees leaving their posts to protest at a 2013 shareholders meeting at the retailer’s Arkansas headquarters. Wal-Mart had said the strike was not protected by law, and fired the workers for their absence. The workers filed their complaint with the NLRB in 2014.

• Wal-Mart spokesperson Kory Lundberg told Reuters that the company would appeal the ruling. "We disagree with the Administrative Law Judge's recommended findings and we will pursue all of our options to defend the company because we believe our actions were legal and justified," Lundberg said.

Dive Insight:

This ruling comes as Wal-Mart is attempting to better train and better pay its workers in an effort to make significant changes to its stores — including better inventory control, improved interactions with customers, and cleaner and more orderly shelves.

The retailer has been beset by criticism over its treatment and pay of workers for years, enduring protests in the U.S. and abroad.

But from the beginning, Sam Walton was keen on keeping pay low for workers at his stores. In the 1960s, the federal $1.15 an hour minimum wage was extended to retail workers, at a time when Walton was paying workers half that. Because the law only applied to businesses with 50 or more employees, he attempted to argue that each of his stores was a separate business. The Labor Department disagreed and fined him for the move.

Wages and benefits at Wal-Mart have been notoriously low ever since, with critics pointing out that the retailer's workers are eligible for welfare benefits like food stamps and Medicaid, to the tune of $6.2 billion in public assistance each year, something taxpayers are getting impatient with. And other research has found that wages are lower in counties where a Wal-Mart store operates, especially in the South. (The exception may prove the rule: Most people will find it shocking that a Wal-Mart store in an oil-boom area of North Dakota with a higher-wage market offers a starting wage of $17.40 an hour.) 

Now the retailer is finding that both market forces in an improving economy, plus legislative efforts in many states and municipalities require better pay and working conditions for its store employees.

Wal-Mart is appealing this ruling, but in general it’s facing the limits of its ability to keep prices low in part by minimizing its pay to workers.

Plus, the poor reputation regarding working conditions at its stores works against its desire to appeal to a wealthier, more urban—and in many cases more liberal—and socially minded consumer.