Another Wal-Mart in China gets a union

SHANGHAI:Employees of retail giant Wal-Mart have set up their second trade union in China, pushing toward the Chinese labour federation’s goal of unionising every Wal-Mart store in the country.

The second union was established by 42 employees of a Wal-Mart outlet in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The first was set up late last month in the southeastern province of Fujian. A senior official of the state-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions has said the body will work toward establishing a union in every Wal-Mart outlet.

The US retail chain, which employs more than 30,000 people at stores across China, has long resisted pressure to unionise its workers in the US and elsewhere.

But retail analysts say the Chinese government appears recently to be placing more emphasis on unionising the sector, both to develop the services industry and to assert control over an increasing number of workers leaving the state sector.

A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart in China earlier said she had no knowledge of the first union. On Saturday, Xinhua quoted a Wal-Mart statement as saying, “Should associates request the formation of a union, Wal-Mart China would respect their wishes and honour its obligation under China’s trade union law.”