ASDA settlement may signal shift in Wal-Mart union policy
ASDA settlement may signal shift in Wal-Mart union policy
By Heather Timmons
International Herald Tribune - 29 June 2006
Wal-Mart's British arm, ASDA, which accounts for a tenth of the American retailer's total sales, narrowly averted a costly strike Thursday, after working out an agreement with a local union. The deal was seen as a sign that the company is softening toward organized labor.
The agreement is "exactly what the union demanded," said Jan Furstenborg, the commercial director of Union Network International, a global group with 900 union members that has been pushing Wal-Mart to negotiate with unions. "This means the company must begin to realize that they can't ignore the will of their employees to join and be represented by trade unions," Furstenborg said.
Employees at ASDA's distribution centers were threatening a five-day strike during what is expected to be one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. England plays Portugal in the World Cup on Saturday, and ASDA estimates it will sell 10 million bottles of beer on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in preparation for the game.
The agreement establishes nationwide collective bargaining for distribution center employees. In the past, the union representing these employees generally negotiated with ASDA on a center-by-center basis.
Unions will have input on issues from wages to technology used in the centers, and unions will be able to recruit new members on the job.
Next, the union plans to turn to employees in ASDA's retail stores, and hopes to establish a national collective bargaining agreement there.
"This is a very different ethos and approach" than Wal-Mart has in the United States, said Paul Kenny, the acting general secretary of the GMB, the union that did the negotiating.
The agreement represents a shift in ASDA's approach to unions, he said. "There had been a philosophy of excluding employees from meaningful discussions about the basics," Kenny said. "The company has realized that the system needs to change."
ASDA was fined 850,000pounds, or 1.5million dollars, in February, after a British employment tribunal found that it was offering employees at one distribution depot pay raises to give up their rights to collective bargaining, which is illegal in Britain.
ASDA focused Thursday on the positive. "We're pleased to have signed an agreement acceptable to both sides to end the current dispute - good news for our customers and colleagues alike," said David Cheesewright, ASDA's chief operating officer. He noted that the company expected to serve 24 customers every second on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. "A crack team of footy-filling shelf stackers is on hand throughout the weekend to restock our stores as quickly as customers try to empty the shelves," he said.
Wal-Mart bought ASDA in 1999. Unlike its U.S. parent, ASDA has a decades-long relationship with local unions, and about a third of its distribution center employees are members of a union.
ASDA is Britain's No.2 retailer behind Tesco, another superstore that sells everything from groceries to clothing.
Competition is fierce in Britain's retail market, and ASDA is struggling against rivals who have figured out how to target customers who are interested in more than just low prices, analysts say. Tesco has 31.4 percent of Britain's grocery market, while ASDA has 16.5 percent, according to the research firm TNS.
Wal-Mart's ownership of ASDA has not always gone smoothly, and there has been a lot of turnover in top management positions. Analysts said that stemmed from innate differences between the two companies.
"When you juxtapose the Wal-Mart, small-town America, southern states culture with the British slightly self-deprecating, slightly cynical, slightly skeptical culture, they're uncomfortable bedfellows," said Richard Hyman, an analyst at Verdict Research, which focuses on retailing.
In the North America, Wal-Mart, which had net sales for the year ended Jan 31 of 312.4 billion dollars, has long been known for its aggressive approach to fighting unions. When employees at an outlet in Canada voted last year to unionize, the retailer shut the store down, contending that it was unprofitable. In 2000, shortly after 11 Wal-Mart meat cutters in Texas voted to form a union, the company eliminated meat-cutter jobs companywide and announced that it would use prepackaged meat instead.
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board has filed dozens of complaints against Wal-Mart for using hardball tactics to fight unions, like improperly firing union supporters and threatening to deny bonuses to management if workers unionized.
By Heather Timmons
International Herald Tribune - 29 June 2006
Wal-Mart's British arm, ASDA, which accounts for a tenth of the American retailer's total sales, narrowly averted a costly strike Thursday, after working out an agreement with a local union. The deal was seen as a sign that the company is softening toward organized labor.
The agreement is "exactly what the union demanded," said Jan Furstenborg, the commercial director of Union Network International, a global group with 900 union members that has been pushing Wal-Mart to negotiate with unions. "This means the company must begin to realize that they can't ignore the will of their employees to join and be represented by trade unions," Furstenborg said.
Employees at ASDA's distribution centers were threatening a five-day strike during what is expected to be one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. England plays Portugal in the World Cup on Saturday, and ASDA estimates it will sell 10 million bottles of beer on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in preparation for the game.
The agreement establishes nationwide collective bargaining for distribution center employees. In the past, the union representing these employees generally negotiated with ASDA on a center-by-center basis.
Unions will have input on issues from wages to technology used in the centers, and unions will be able to recruit new members on the job.
Next, the union plans to turn to employees in ASDA's retail stores, and hopes to establish a national collective bargaining agreement there.
"This is a very different ethos and approach" than Wal-Mart has in the United States, said Paul Kenny, the acting general secretary of the GMB, the union that did the negotiating.
The agreement represents a shift in ASDA's approach to unions, he said. "There had been a philosophy of excluding employees from meaningful discussions about the basics," Kenny said. "The company has realized that the system needs to change."
ASDA was fined 850,000pounds, or 1.5million dollars, in February, after a British employment tribunal found that it was offering employees at one distribution depot pay raises to give up their rights to collective bargaining, which is illegal in Britain.
ASDA focused Thursday on the positive. "We're pleased to have signed an agreement acceptable to both sides to end the current dispute - good news for our customers and colleagues alike," said David Cheesewright, ASDA's chief operating officer. He noted that the company expected to serve 24 customers every second on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. "A crack team of footy-filling shelf stackers is on hand throughout the weekend to restock our stores as quickly as customers try to empty the shelves," he said.
Wal-Mart bought ASDA in 1999. Unlike its U.S. parent, ASDA has a decades-long relationship with local unions, and about a third of its distribution center employees are members of a union.
ASDA is Britain's No.2 retailer behind Tesco, another superstore that sells everything from groceries to clothing.
Competition is fierce in Britain's retail market, and ASDA is struggling against rivals who have figured out how to target customers who are interested in more than just low prices, analysts say. Tesco has 31.4 percent of Britain's grocery market, while ASDA has 16.5 percent, according to the research firm TNS.
Wal-Mart's ownership of ASDA has not always gone smoothly, and there has been a lot of turnover in top management positions. Analysts said that stemmed from innate differences between the two companies.
"When you juxtapose the Wal-Mart, small-town America, southern states culture with the British slightly self-deprecating, slightly cynical, slightly skeptical culture, they're uncomfortable bedfellows," said Richard Hyman, an analyst at Verdict Research, which focuses on retailing.
In the North America, Wal-Mart, which had net sales for the year ended Jan 31 of 312.4 billion dollars, has long been known for its aggressive approach to fighting unions. When employees at an outlet in Canada voted last year to unionize, the retailer shut the store down, contending that it was unprofitable. In 2000, shortly after 11 Wal-Mart meat cutters in Texas voted to form a union, the company eliminated meat-cutter jobs companywide and announced that it would use prepackaged meat instead.
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board has filed dozens of complaints against Wal-Mart for using hardball tactics to fight unions, like improperly firing union supporters and threatening to deny bonuses to management if workers unionized.
posted by Walking Contradiction at 9:21 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home