Labor Relations

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Walmart’s employees unionized in other countries

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I. Introduction

Walmart in South Africa struck a deal that must seem extraordinary to the company’s American employees. To win government approval of the acquisition of Massmart, a chain of retail stores, Walmart made concessions to a South African labor union, agreeing to avoid worker layoffs, honor existing union contracts, and use local suppliers. The idea that Walmart negotiated with and made concessions to a labor union in South Africa may seem odd to workers in the United States, due to the reputation as one of the country’s most virulent opponents of organization efforts. (Waldron, 2011)

II. The Problem

The United Food and Commercial Workers has been trying to help organize Walmart employees for more than two decades. At each turn, it has been stopped by the company, which spent millions to oppose organization efforts. In 2000, when the meat cutting department at a Texas store organized, Walmart responded by announcing the phase-out of its meat cutting departments. (Waldron, 2011)

In 2008, Walmart spent millions more fighting the Employee Free Choice Act, lobbying against it in Washington and going so far as to summon “thousands of Wal-Mart store manages and department heads to mandatory meetings,” where it warned that voting for Barack Obama “would be tantamount to inviting unions in.” Luckily for Walmart’s American employees, they have a useful ally in, of all places, South Africa. According to the Washington Post, the union that will represent Walmart workers in South Africa went to bat for the company’s American employees during its own negotiations. (Waldron, 2011)

III. Facts

Walmart’s workers are organized in many of the foreign countries in which it does business: Brazil, Argentina, China, the United Kingdom, and now South Africa. In China, Walmart is required by law to recognize union membership, and in Mexico, 18 percent of its workers are organized. British labor leaders...