By Robert Judd, President
BCTGMIU Local 116
The news is in, and it sure sounds good to the workingman. Wal-Mart has agreed to allow unions to organize freely as long as the workers want a union. This should be great news for all pro-union, pro-worker people nationwide, shouldn’t it? The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and other large American unions have been tireless in its dogging of Wal-Mart for years and years. Let’s all go celebrate…in Beijing.
I’ve gotten many phone calls and more emails than I can count regarding this latest development in the “Wal-Mart hates workers” saga. There is a vast difference between a traditional labor union and the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). The similarities, it seems, stop at the fact that both have the word union in their title.
As a member of a traditional labor organization, one is afforded vacations, higher pay, increased employment security, with collective bargaining rights being the single most important benefit available to workers. The sky is the limit in collective bargaining, as long as both sides can come to an agreement as to the subject being bargained. It’s not always about money either. I’ve seen companies agree to Christmas hams, “quiet rooms”, a place away from the shop floor that one can go rest, lose a headache, or read a book quietly on their lunch breaks. Also I’ve seen bus passes, and even ‘X’ number of tickets to the local ballgame. Every union contract it seems has something out of the ordinary that looks like fluff to the outsider, but is extremely important to those in the bargaining unit. I’m afraid that in China, those workers will enjoy none of the above.
You see, in the free world labor organizations are a democratic entity. If one desires to be an officer, they must be nominated and elected by their peers. In China however, the ACFTU is not run by people from the rank and file membership, rather by the Chinese Communist Party. This, I believe is going to put Wal-Mart in a precarious position. All members of a traditional labor union pay the same amount in membership dues, which gives them the right and responsibility to belong, and partake in union activities. In China, the employer pays the dues of all members, currently 2% of the monthly payroll.
In a traditional union the union is the sole bargaining advocate for all employees. In China however the roles are slightly different. The ACFTU often is regarded not as an advocate for better pay and working conditions for employees but as an intermediary that represents employers to workers. This is what I believe will hamper growth of Wal-Mart in China. Even though the unions are not necessarily advocates for the working class, they still take some of the power (and profit) away from the company, and Wal-Mart doesn’t like anyone telling it what to do.
With 60 stores at present within Chinas borders, and broad expansion plans in the works, this latest development could be the beginning of the end in Eastern Asia. Similar labor problems account for Wal-Mart’s retreat from Germany. Had Wal-Mart done its homework, they would have known that German workers have a very tight-knit relationship with their labor unions.
In closing, I have to say that I’m not as excited as people might expect regarding the unionization of the China Wal-Mart stores, but something is still better than nothing. If it takes the Communist Regime to reign in this modern day Goliath, then so be it. What makes me curious is this; if Wal-Mart deserts Chinas booming population growth and yen for western type goods, will they take their manufacturing plants with them?
