Wal-Mart and the union trying to organize workers in the discounter's Twin Cities area stores have reached a settlement over allegations the retailer violated federal labor laws.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789 filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board last summer accusing Wal-Mart of illegal antiunion activity at the Midway store on University Avenue in St. Paul and at a store in Hastings.

The union later withdrew the Midway charges after employees declined to testify. But at the Hastings store, the board found merit to allegations that a manager threatened to fire an employee if he continued to engage in union organizing. The same manager solicited grievances from an employee with the purpose of discouraging a union, also illegal, according to the NLRB.

The National Labor Relations Act protects employees' rights to engage in union organizing activity.

In agreeing to settle the matter, Wal-Mart did not admit wrongdoing. "We simply agree with the board that it makes sense to resolve the matter," said Daphne Moore, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart argued the employee was a supervisor and therefore was not protected by the union organizing law, said Marlin Osthus, director of the NLRB's regional office. The NLRB concluded the employee was not a supervisor and thereby protected in trying to form a union.

It's also against the law for employers to threaten workers' employment status based on

union activity, and it's illegal for a supervisor or manager to interrogate or intimidate an employee about union support.

After Wal-Mart contested the charges, the NLRB issued a complaint. The case had been set for a trial before an administrative law judge. Wal-Mart has agreed to post a notice at its Hastings store for 60 days informing employees of their protected right to form a union.

The posting is the only remedy the National Labor Relations Act provides in such cases, unless there is actual harm to the employee such as a demotion or termination, said Osthus.

During the union's organizing campaign last summer, Wal-Mart sent a team from its corporate offices to the five stores where workers were most active in trying to form a union, according to Doug Mork, Local 789's organizing director. The team held daily meetings and tried to persuade employees they don't need a union. "They beat the crap out of us," Mork said.

Wal-Mart, he added, is "an awfully tough nut to crack."

Julie Forster can be reached at 651-228-5189.