Dive Brief

• The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Jan. 15 issued a complaint against Wal-Mart Inc, for violating labor laws in 14 states by taking action against striking workers.
• Workers received warnings, reprimands and other inappropriate disciplinary action for striking, and the company improperly counted strike participation as unexcused absences, according to the complaint, which was issued after settlement talks broke down.
• More than 60 Wal-Mart supervisors and one corporate officer are named in the filing.

Dive Insight

Wal-Mart has been down this road before — the company is no stranger to labor disputes around the world and tends to shrug off criticisms about its worker policies. Last year’s strikes got a lot of play, though, and the NLRB yesterday made much noise about its complaint. Wal-Mart spokespeople say the company is eager to go before an NLRB judge to get the facts out, but it may be inviting more bad press. Still, it remains to be seen if consumers start demonstrating that they care enough about Wal-Mart’s wages to shop elsewhere — or pay more.