Walmart workers press for union rights in China
 
Workers at a Walmart in Shenzhen, China, are pressing to elect union officers without interference from the company or officials of the government-sponsored All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and they’re denouncing the company for sabotaging their efforts. Walmart has nearly 400 stores in 147 cities throughout China, and employs more than 100,000 workers.

Zhang Liya, a veteran worker at store no. 1059, announced in September he would run for union president against the slate selected by the incumbents. Zhang and his supporters criticize current officials for not fighting recent layoffs and store closures and for settling for wage increases far lower than before the state-backed union was organized at Walmart in 2006.

Workers in China confront abuses similar to those the retail giant’s employees are combating in the U.S. — low wages, sex discrimination, unpaid overtime, part-time jobs, retaliatory firing of those who organize or complain, as well as elimination of a small housing subsidy the company had provided in the past.

— MAGGIE TROWE