Target employees in Virginia file legal charges against the company over alleged intimidation, spying

The Target employees in Virginia reportedly filed a claim against the retail giant for alleged unfair labor practices that involved intimidation and spying. With the filing, the United States Department of Labor will be reviewing the claims to determine if they hold merit.

As per Fox Business, the charge was filed by Target workers who have been seeking to unionize. They alleged that the company had created a "climate of fear and anxiety for workers" when they were trying to become part of a labor union.

The Target Workers Unite is the independent group that filed the unfair labor practice charges against the big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this month. Adam Ryan, the group's organizer, told Fox Business that Target store managers at Christiansburg, a town in Montgomery County, Virginia, launched what they labeled as "union busting tactics" not long after the workers displayed an interest in unionizing.

Ryan said the scheme allegedly began just days after the Target Workers Unite tried to file a petition to hold a union election with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on May 10. He further claimed that on May 16, Target "chose to bombard store workers with management from across the state of Virginia to spy, interrogate, and intimidate workers."

The company reportedly started to hold daily meetings led by store managers from around the state, and the main aim of this was to dissuade workers from voting to hold a union election. The group leader added that managers would spy on employees and approach them individually to know what they think and which side they are leaning on.

Meanwhile, the Target Workers Unite had to withdraw its petition to vote for the union on May 18 as it failed to collect enough signatures. The Associated Press News reported that the workers had withdrawn their request from the National Labor Relations Board for a union election.

However, at that time, there was no reason given to the filing when it canceled the request. It was noted that the group actually is not required to provide a reason for the decision. And now the group is saying they were being intimidated, which was possibly why they failed to gather enough valid signatures.