Portside

'Does the world's largest retailer, with revenues of half a trillion dollars in 2012, with profits of $16 billion, whose family owners possess the astonishing wealth equal to that of the entire bottom 42 percent of American families (that's 49 million families, folks) really, truly need protection from unions? The National Labor Relations Board sure seems to think so; yesterday it upheld a petition filed by Wal-Mart to block the United Food & Commercial Workers from picketing outside its stores. The 60-day picketing moratorium stems from claims that the union lingered for more than 30 days without filing for recognition, but history suggests this is just another action in a litany of pathologically anti-labor moves by the retail kingpin. '