Wal-Mart, which repeatedly has stated it will not bargain with any union and has taken steps to prevent workers from gaining a voice at work in its stores across North America, was ordered to recognize and bargain with the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Three years ago, meat cutters at a Wal-Mart in Jacksonville, Texas, voted 7–3 for solidarity on the job with UFCW Local 540. A month later, Wal-Mart announced it was eliminating fresh-cut meat and reassigned all the Local 540 meat cutters to different jobs that did not employ their special skills.

On June 10, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge ordered Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest employer, to recognize Local 540 as the bargaining representative for the meat cutters to restore their meat-cutting duties and to engage in collective bargaining with Local 540, including bargaining over the impact of the company’s elimination of meat-cutting and its change to case-ready meat.

“This is a historic decision—the first bargaining order issued against Wal-Mart in the United States,” says UFCW Executive Vice President Mike Leonard. “It is a victory for all Wal-Mart workers who are fighting for a voice at work.”

Get more details from the UFCW.