The National Labor Relations Board says it's legal for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union to pay Wal-Mart employees to strike, the Washington Examiner reports.
In a Nov. 15 memorandum, NLRB lawyers said the union's award of a $50 gift card to Wal-Mart employees who walked off their jobs on Black Friday last year "did not constitute unlawful restraint or coercion of employees."
The gift card was offered to the first 700 Wal-Mart employees who went on strike on Black Friday, a deal that was advertised on the website for OUR Walmart, a subsidiary of the UFCW, according to the NLRB.
"There is no evidence to indicate that the gift card was meant to buy support for OUR Walmart," the lawyers wrote. "To the contrary, the Union's $50 gift card was available to any employee who joined the Black Friday strike, as a way to supplement lost wages."
Wal-Mart has filed lawsuits against the UFCW and OUR Walmart for the demonstrations staged at various stores on Black Friday last year, accusing them of trespassing and blocking customer traffic.
OUR Walmart was launched more than two years ago following a series of unsuccessful attempts to unionize Wal-Mart’s employees. The group, with the help of the UFCW, is planning another round of Black Friday protests at 1,500 Wal-Mart stores across the country this week.
But the group has had some difficulty recruiting current Wal-Mart employees to join the protests, as Business Insider reported Wednesday.
SEE ALSO: How America's Largest Retailer Became Its Favorite Punching Bag