Sticking Together

Without fussing over the details in this particular post (you can go here for that), the Employee Free Choice Act would almost certainly make it easier for unions to organize new workplaces.  That’s why unions support it and management doesn’t.  Wal-Mart management, for example, especially hates it.  But I sure never expected this, as reported by Ezra Klein:

The more impressive strike came, however, earlier this morning, when Citibank downgraded Wal-Mart’s stock from a “buy” to a “hold” on fears that passage of EFCA could force the company to unionize which would in turn decrease shareholder profits as more of the company’s worth was distributed to employees.

….It’s hard to recall another time when an analyst actually downgraded a stock on fears of legislation that few expect will even pass. Indeed, many on the left are arguing that this is more about creating stock market panic that will convince senators to vote against EFCA than about accurately pricing Wal-Mart’s stock. “When I see upgrades to the stocks of Wal-Mart’s already-unionized competitors (grocery stores like Safeway who will gain back market share if easier unionization results in higher Wal-Mart labor costs) specifically pegged to the specter of EFCA, then I’ll admit that Citi is engaged in good-faith prognosticating here,” e-mails Josh Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute. “Otherwise, not so much.”

The malefactors of great wealth are really sticking together on this, aren’t they?  Considering Citibank’s recent record, though, I think we could all be forgiven for taking their view on this with a grain of salt.