It's not just a page out of the Firestone takedown. The UFCW bankrupted Food Lion in the 90's by concocting a tainted meat scandal in retaliation for Food Lion's position on labor issues. The media (ABC, I believe) took the lead on that "story", too.

I spent a number of years assisting employers in staying union free, which often required me to work in direct opposition to union organizing campaigns. The biggest thing I learned from that experience was that labor unions have absolutely no interest in helping the targeted workers or the union's own members. The ONLY priority they have is for the union itself. It's short sighted, but a typical international union's management does not care if its actions will put an employer out of business and its members out of a job. They are in it to "win" at all costs and if it requires occasionally employing a nuclear bomb tactic to teach everyone a lesson, they won't hesitate to pull the trigger.