Union battles Wal-Mart in dispute over store closure

A two-day arbitration hearing over a dispute between Wal-Mart Stores Inc and a workers' union in Changde, Hunan province, ended on Tuesday with the giant retailer ordered to submit its plans for a settlement by Friday.

The dispute, in which a trade union is representing workers against their employer, is one of the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland.

Huang Xingguo, chairman of the workers' union for Wal-Mart's Changde store, said 69 of 135 of the store's former employees have asked the union to help them seek greater compensation from the retailer after it announced on March 5 that the underperforming store would be shut down in two weeks.

According to a plan laid out by Wal-Mart, employees at the Changde store could transfer to work at any other Wal-Mart outlet or be compensated with one-month's pay for each year on the job plus one extra month.

Huang said the retailer failed to officially notify the trade union about the store's closure in a timely manner, as stipulated by law, and did not effectively communicate with the store's workers about the shutdown.

"We are not just fighting to double the existing compensation, but also for our dignity," said Huang. "We hope it is a chance to push employers to consider workers' rights more seriously in their decision-making."

Huang said he is determined to protect the rights of the workers even though his own friends and family members have expressed doubt that his decision to defend the workers will amount to anything.

"We are waiting for results from the arbitration hearing. Even if just one of our workers feels unsatisfied with the results, we will fight to the end," he said.

Liang Yuehua, an assistant store manager at the Changde outlet before it closed in March, said he signed the retailer's compensation deal on March 13 but soon regretted the decision and turned to the trade union for help.

"The regional human resource manager from Changsha gave me two options — relocate to the Changsha store without a pay raise or leave the company with a stipulated compensation without any room for negotiation," the 34-year-old said.

Liang had worked in various Wal-Mart stores in Hunan and Guangdong provinces for 13 years, including five years at the Changde outlet. Under the agreement he signed, he was paid for 14 months at his salary rate.

"The best times of my life were devoted to the company," said the father of two children, both under the age of 7. He said he is now struggling to find a job.

"It has been difficult to find a job as a middle-aged man. I am experienced in sales but when I say I worked for Wal-Mart, people say 'Oh, you are from that failed supermarket'. It gives them a very bad impression."

Liang said transferring to the store in Changsha, Hunan's provincial capital, without a bump in pay is not feasible because of the higher standard of living there. He said he would also have to leave his elder child behind.

Shirley Zhang, media director from Wal-Mart China's department of corporate affairs, said through an e-mail that "after thorough market assessment, we have announced that we will close some non-performing stores where needed. ... This is a normal business adjustment. Taking this action is appropriate and enables us to continue to grow in China."

She did not reveal how many stores Wal-Mart has closed on the Chinese mainland.

According to publicly available information, the company shut down more than 20 outlets in China this year, including the one in Changde in March and another outlet in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, this April.

Feng Tongqing, a labor professor at the China Institute of Industrial Relations in Beijing, said the case in Changde will set an important precedent for the country's trade unions to help resolve employment disputes.