Wal-Mart Agrees to Massive Settlement

Wal-Mart will pay up to $640 million to settle some 63 lawsuits alleging that the company bilked its employees out of rest and lunch breaks. Observers say the move by the famously anti-union superstore is preparation for a major battle in Congress over the Obama-backed Employee Free Choice Act, which could make it easier for Wal Mart workers to form a union. "This is part of their overall strategy to get their labor house in order, and compared to what unionization might cost them, I think they probably realized it was a small price to pay," a law professor told The Wall Street Journal.