NEW YORK (AP) — Target is having labor pains.

Until recently, the Minneapolis-based discounter largely had avoided the labor disputes and public relations challenges that have plagued Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. But now Target could face the same union opposition as its much bigger rival.

Target had its first union election in two decades in June amid allegations by workers of skimpy wages and reduced hours at a Valley Stream, N.Y. store. The measure ultimately failed after Target suggested to workers that the store might not survive if they vote to unionize. But the labor dispute __ and Target's handling of it __ is widely seen as a precursor to a bubbling national battle between Target and labor groups similar to the one Wal-Mart has been locked in for at least a decade.