Union forms at Wal-Mart store in China
Union forms at Wal-Mart store in China
By David Lague International Herald Tribune
Published: July 30, 2006
BEIJING Workers at Wal-Mart Stores have formed their first trade union in China, following official demands that the world's biggest retailer allow organ- ized labor in its stores here, according to reports in the state media over the weekend.
Wal-Mart has long battled to bar unions from its stores, in the United States in particular, but the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions, or ACFTU, has been campaigning aggressively to set up branches in the company's 60 outlets in China. Senior Chinese officials and the state-controlled media have accused Wal-Mart of obstructing efforts to un- ionize its work force.
The company has more than 30,000 employees in China.
The pressure on the U.S. retailer is part of a concerted drive to establish branches of the official union in all foreign-funded companies in China.
On Saturday, at a Wal-Mart store in the southern Chinese province of Fujian, 25 employees elected Ke Yunlong, 29, as the chairman of a seven-member trade union committee, Xinhua, the official press agency, reported. Earlier, 30 Wal-Mart employees had applied to local labor authorities to register a union.
"According to China's trade union law, enterprises or institutions with 25 employees and above should establish trade unions," Xinhua said.
Beth Keck, director of international corporate affairs for Wal-Mart, said the company was aware of media reports that employees in China had formed a union. She said that the company had not discussed the issue with the ACFTU. But she acknowledged that the federation had earlier signaled its intention to try to unionize the company's Chinese work force.
She added that Wal-Mart hoped to have a "cordial and productive relationship" with the federation.
"We know they have been interested in having a relationship with our company for some time," Keck said. "We will of course be looking forward to how this will evolve."
It is unlikely that Wal-Mart will suddenly face a militant work force. Labor activists often accuse the tightly controlled ACFTU of siding with manage- ment rather than workers.
But if the official union can recruit members among the employees of Wal- Mart and other foreign employers, it could give the government increased in- fluence over some of these companies.
China, with its vast and expanding pool of increasingly affluent consumers, is an important market for Wal-Mart as it reorganizes its international opera- tions. The company said Friday that it planned to sell its unprofitable business in Germany. In May, it withdrew from the South Korean retail market.
But Wal-Mart has been growing rapidly in China since it opened its first store in the booming city of Shenzhen in 1996. It now has outlets in 29 cities and sourced more than $18 billion in merchandise from China last year.
Keck said Wal-Mart recognized its employees had the right to join a union at any of its work places around the world. "In every country we operate, we follow the laws concerning labor relations," she said.
Of the 15 countries in which the company owns work sites, she said, some Wal-Mart employees in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Britain and Germany are union members. The United States is the "clear exception" where no employees are union members, she added.
Don Greenlees contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
BEIJING Workers at Wal-Mart Stores have formed their first trade union in China, following official demands that the world's biggest retailer allow organ- ized labor in its stores here, according to reports in the state media over the weekend.
Wal-Mart has long battled to bar unions from its stores, in the United States in particular, but the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions, or ACFTU, has been campaigning aggressively to set up branches in the company's 60 outlets in China. Senior Chinese officials and the state-controlled media have accused Wal-Mart of obstructing efforts to un- ionize its work force.
The company has more than 30,000 employees in China.
The pressure on the U.S. retailer is part of a concerted drive to establish branches of the official union in all foreign-funded companies in China.
On Saturday, at a Wal-Mart store in the southern Chinese province of Fujian, 25 employees elected Ke Yunlong, 29, as the chairman of a seven-member trade union committee, Xinhua, the official press agency, reported. Earlier, 30 Wal-Mart employees had applied to local labor authorities to register a union.
"According to China's trade union law, enterprises or institutions with 25 employees and above should establish trade unions," Xinhua said.
Beth Keck, director of international corporate affairs for Wal-Mart, said the company was aware of media reports that employees in China had formed a union. She said that the company had not discussed the issue with the ACFTU. But she acknowledged that the federation had earlier signaled its intention to try to unionize the company's Chinese work force.
She added that Wal-Mart hoped to have a "cordial and productive relationship" with the federation.
"We know they have been interested in having a relationship with our company for some time," Keck said. "We will of course be looking forward to how this will evolve."
It is unlikely that Wal-Mart will suddenly face a militant work force. Labor activists often accuse the tightly controlled ACFTU of siding with manage- ment rather than workers.
But if the official union can recruit members among the employees of Wal- Mart and other foreign employers, it could give the government increased in- fluence over some of these companies.
China, with its vast and expanding pool of increasingly affluent consumers, is an important market for Wal-Mart as it reorganizes its international opera- tions. The company said Friday that it planned to sell its unprofitable business in Germany. In May, it withdrew from the South Korean retail market.
But Wal-Mart has been growing rapidly in China since it opened its first store in the booming city of Shenzhen in 1996. It now has outlets in 29 cities and sourced more than $18 billion in merchandise from China last year.
Keck said Wal-Mart recognized its employees had the right to join a union at any of its work places around the world. "In every country we operate, we follow the laws concerning labor relations," she said.
Of the 15 countries in which the company owns work sites, she said, some Wal-Mart employees in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Britain and Germany are union members. The United States is the "clear exception" where no employees are union members, she added.
Don Greenlees contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved
By David Lague International Herald Tribune
Published: July 30, 2006
BEIJING Workers at Wal-Mart Stores have formed their first trade union in China, following official demands that the world's biggest retailer allow organ- ized labor in its stores here, according to reports in the state media over the weekend.
Wal-Mart has long battled to bar unions from its stores, in the United States in particular, but the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions, or ACFTU, has been campaigning aggressively to set up branches in the company's 60 outlets in China. Senior Chinese officials and the state-controlled media have accused Wal-Mart of obstructing efforts to un- ionize its work force.
The company has more than 30,000 employees in China.
The pressure on the U.S. retailer is part of a concerted drive to establish branches of the official union in all foreign-funded companies in China.
On Saturday, at a Wal-Mart store in the southern Chinese province of Fujian, 25 employees elected Ke Yunlong, 29, as the chairman of a seven-member trade union committee, Xinhua, the official press agency, reported. Earlier, 30 Wal-Mart employees had applied to local labor authorities to register a union.
"According to China's trade union law, enterprises or institutions with 25 employees and above should establish trade unions," Xinhua said.
Beth Keck, director of international corporate affairs for Wal-Mart, said the company was aware of media reports that employees in China had formed a union. She said that the company had not discussed the issue with the ACFTU. But she acknowledged that the federation had earlier signaled its intention to try to unionize the company's Chinese work force.
She added that Wal-Mart hoped to have a "cordial and productive relationship" with the federation.
"We know they have been interested in having a relationship with our company for some time," Keck said. "We will of course be looking forward to how this will evolve."
It is unlikely that Wal-Mart will suddenly face a militant work force. Labor activists often accuse the tightly controlled ACFTU of siding with manage- ment rather than workers.
But if the official union can recruit members among the employees of Wal- Mart and other foreign employers, it could give the government increased in- fluence over some of these companies.
China, with its vast and expanding pool of increasingly affluent consumers, is an important market for Wal-Mart as it reorganizes its international opera- tions. The company said Friday that it planned to sell its unprofitable business in Germany. In May, it withdrew from the South Korean retail market.
But Wal-Mart has been growing rapidly in China since it opened its first store in the booming city of Shenzhen in 1996. It now has outlets in 29 cities and sourced more than $18 billion in merchandise from China last year.
Keck said Wal-Mart recognized its employees had the right to join a union at any of its work places around the world. "In every country we operate, we follow the laws concerning labor relations," she said.
Of the 15 countries in which the company owns work sites, she said, some Wal-Mart employees in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Britain and Germany are union members. The United States is the "clear exception" where no employees are union members, she added.
Don Greenlees contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
BEIJING Workers at Wal-Mart Stores have formed their first trade union in China, following official demands that the world's biggest retailer allow organ- ized labor in its stores here, according to reports in the state media over the weekend.
Wal-Mart has long battled to bar unions from its stores, in the United States in particular, but the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions, or ACFTU, has been campaigning aggressively to set up branches in the company's 60 outlets in China. Senior Chinese officials and the state-controlled media have accused Wal-Mart of obstructing efforts to un- ionize its work force.
The company has more than 30,000 employees in China.
The pressure on the U.S. retailer is part of a concerted drive to establish branches of the official union in all foreign-funded companies in China.
On Saturday, at a Wal-Mart store in the southern Chinese province of Fujian, 25 employees elected Ke Yunlong, 29, as the chairman of a seven-member trade union committee, Xinhua, the official press agency, reported. Earlier, 30 Wal-Mart employees had applied to local labor authorities to register a union.
"According to China's trade union law, enterprises or institutions with 25 employees and above should establish trade unions," Xinhua said.
Beth Keck, director of international corporate affairs for Wal-Mart, said the company was aware of media reports that employees in China had formed a union. She said that the company had not discussed the issue with the ACFTU. But she acknowledged that the federation had earlier signaled its intention to try to unionize the company's Chinese work force.
She added that Wal-Mart hoped to have a "cordial and productive relationship" with the federation.
"We know they have been interested in having a relationship with our company for some time," Keck said. "We will of course be looking forward to how this will evolve."
It is unlikely that Wal-Mart will suddenly face a militant work force. Labor activists often accuse the tightly controlled ACFTU of siding with manage- ment rather than workers.
But if the official union can recruit members among the employees of Wal- Mart and other foreign employers, it could give the government increased in- fluence over some of these companies.
China, with its vast and expanding pool of increasingly affluent consumers, is an important market for Wal-Mart as it reorganizes its international opera- tions. The company said Friday that it planned to sell its unprofitable business in Germany. In May, it withdrew from the South Korean retail market.
But Wal-Mart has been growing rapidly in China since it opened its first store in the booming city of Shenzhen in 1996. It now has outlets in 29 cities and sourced more than $18 billion in merchandise from China last year.
Keck said Wal-Mart recognized its employees had the right to join a union at any of its work places around the world. "In every country we operate, we follow the laws concerning labor relations," she said.
Of the 15 countries in which the company owns work sites, she said, some Wal-Mart employees in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Britain and Germany are union members. The United States is the "clear exception" where no employees are union members, she added.
Don Greenlees contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved
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