This is very common, you cannot expect a company to simply bend over and let every one of it's workers join a Union or similar. When I worked at CVS they did the same sort of thing with any worker unions trying to form at CVS.<p>Also that correlation between union membership and middle class income % needs some research citation, are we sure it is a causality not a correlation?
While Walmart may not be on the side of the angels, this story is disingenuous in at least one significant way. Figure 1 has the caption "As union membership rates decrease, middle-class incomes shrink" but the two axes are labeled "Union membership rate" and "Middle-class share of income".<p>It would be much more honest to track inflation adjusted actual wages.