Wal-mart store managers and department supervisors in the Bay Area and nationwide have been summoned to mandatory-attendance meetings in the past few weeks. The topic? "If Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies," according to reporters at the Wall Street Journal. The percentage of American employees who belong to unions has fallen by half since 1985, to eight percent. At the same time, Wal-Mart has shifted its political donations from largely Republican to a 50/50 split as Democrats regain power nationwide. Here's the money quote:

"The meeting leader said, 'I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won't have a vote on whether you want a union,'" said a Wal-Mart customer-service supervisor from Missouri. "I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote," she said.

(Photo by AP/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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