Wal-Mart and big labor never seem to be too far from some type of dispute, but there was some particular trouble brewing between union workers and the big-box store in the run-up to Black Friday. Union organizers were threatening to stage walkout protests on this, the biggest day of many retailers’ years, in order to achieve maximum impact — but the day went off with hardly a hitch. Fox News reports:

The National Labor Relations Board said Friday that due to the ‘complex’ legal issue,  it will issue a ruling next week on Walmart’s request for an injunction against union-backed worker protests at store locations on Thanksgiving night and Black Friday.

But while the NLRB considers the request, the world’s largest retailer called this year’s Black Friday a success even though union-backed protests broke out at some locations over worker conditions and wages.

… Walmart said in a statement Friday that stores saw larger crowds then last year. The company also downplayed the number of protests and called it a “union-funded publicity stunt.”

“Only 26 protests occurred at stores last night and many of them did not include any Walmart associates,” the store said in a statement. It estimated that less than 50 associates participated in the protests.

Le sigh. Is it just me, or does it always seem like unions somehow manage to be endlessly vocal about the many ‘injustices’ perpetrated by evil, greedy supercenter, but at the end of the day, relatively few actual Wal-Mart employees demonstrate much desire to get involved?

To close, I’ll leave you with this classic from John Stossel — on oldie, but a goodie.