Wal-Mart, union unable to reach agreement

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Wednesday it would close a Canadian store whose workers are on the verge of becoming the first ever to win a union contract from the world’s biggest retailer.

Wal-Mart said it was shuttering the store in Jonquiere, Quebec, in response to unreasonable demands from union negotiators that would make it impossible for the store to sustain its business. The United Food & Commercial Workers Canada last week asked Quebec labor officials to appoint a mediator, saying that negotiations had reached an impasse.

Pierre Martineau, above left, and Patrice Bergeron, two of the Wal-Mart workers who initiated the unionization, stand in front of the store.

“We were hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” said Andrew Pelletier, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada. “Despite nine days of meetings over three months, we’ve been unable to reach an agreement with the union that in our view will allow the store to operate efficiently and profitably.”

Pelletier said the store would close in May.

Mad Cow

USDA to reject Canada’s aging beef

The Agriculture Department will not allow meat from older cattle when it expands U.S. imports of Canadian beef March 7, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Wednesday.

The United States had been planning on that date to reopen the border for import of meat from animals of any age and import of live cattle younger than 30 months. Now, Johanns has instead extended the existing ban on importing older beef. The ban on bringing in older cattle also remains in force.

Two cases of mad cow disease turned up last month in Canada after the Bush administration decided to reopen the border, and U.S. cattlemen are suing to stop trade from expanding.

Johanns said he remained confident that resuming trade in live cattle would not harm U.S. consumers and livestock.

Settlement

Bank of America firm to pay $375 million

Bank of America Corp.’s mutual-fund adviser company, brokerage and clearing firm have agreed to pay a total $375 million to settle regulators’ charges of improper trading that hurt ordinary shareholders, authorities announced Wednesday.

The $375 million payment, which includes $125 million in civil fines and $250 million in restitution, is part of an agreement between the three Bank of America companies and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the office of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.