On July 14, appropriately enough, Chinese union leaders quietly celebrated Bastille Day by concluding the first-ever collective bargaining agreement with Wal-Mart management in China. Wal-Mart workers in Quanzhou, a city in coastal Fujian province, this week followed their Shenyang colleagues’ lead.
It has been two years since the first union was established at one of Wal-Mart’s 105 China stores – something the world’s largest retailer had long resisted. The collective bargaining agreements struck in Shenyang and Quanzhou this month are a direct result of that breakthrough. Both agreements guarantee Wal-Mart workers 8 per cent pay rises and additional guarantees on paid leave and overtime.
FT.com / Columnists / World View - A spectre haunts Wal-Mart - Chinese unions
