BEIJING—Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employees in China are protesting
over what they say is a drastic change in work schedules as the
company overhauls its struggling business amid an economic slowdown
and competition from e-commerce.
Wal-Mart has had slow and uneven growth since its first China
outlet opened in 1996. It tried to expand into online retailing but
sold its operation last month to China's No. 2 e-commerce
operator.
Employees said Wal-Mart wants them to work 11-hour shifts on
weekends and as little as four hours on weekdays under a system it
started to roll out in June. Some said that might result in lower
pay and interfere with their ability to work second jobs.
Last week, staff members protested on Friday and Saturday
outside Wal-Mart stores in the cities of Nanchang and Shenzhen in
southern China, Chengdu in the West and Harbin in the northeast,
according to employees and two labor rights groups.
More than half the Nanchang store's workforce of 200 employees
took part, according to an employee. Some carried banners that
said, "Wal-Mart workers stand up and oppose fraud."
Wal-Mart said it is "planning a series of initiatives to enhance
and upgrade Wal-Mart China's overall talent management system," in
a written response to questions.
The company didn't answer questions about how scheduling and
working conditions would change or how the protests affected its
operations.
"We have communicated with Wal-Mart China associates and a
majority of associates support the new system," it said, using the
company's term for its employees. "For those associates who need
additional information, we are communicating with them on a
consistent basis."
Wal-Mart faced similar criticism in the U.S. over its "just in
time" scheduling system, which employees said changed work hours at
short notice and reduced pay for some. The company said in February
its U.S. stores would switch to allowing employees the option of
working fixed hours or putting together schedules in two-week
blocks.
In contrast to its U.S. operations, Wal-Mart's Chinese workforce
of 100,000 is represented by unions, though employees complain
those Communist Party-controlled groups often side with companies
instead of pushing for better wages and working conditions.
Wal-Mart was one of the highest-profile targets of a 2006
campaign led by the ruling party to have the country's umbrella
labor group, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, or ACFTU,
set up unions at foreign companies.
Managers presented the new scheduling system in May and
encouraged employees to sign new contracts to authorize the change,
according to employees. Under Chinese law, full-time employees work
under two-year contracts.
"The workload is very heavy because we have to stand for 11
hours," said another employee of the Nanchang store. "All the
employees felt it was too difficult and were very unhappy."
Employees were told they could keep working under previous
contracts if they wanted, but those who did so found their
paychecks were smaller because meal subsidies and other payments
were eliminated, according to the employee in Nanchang.
Activist group China Labor Watch said employees were pressured
to sign the contracts by being told they couldn't leave meetings
where the new system was announced until they did. Wal-Mart didn't
respond to a question about whether that happened.
Traditional retailers have been battered as Chinese shoppers
shift to shopping online. Total retail sales rose 10% in May
compared with a year earlier but that was down from 13 % in 2014.
Meanwhile, online commerce grew by more than 30 %.
Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, has expanded to 433
stores in China, but that is less than one-tenth as many as its
4,655 outlets in the U.S.
Wal-Mart bought a stake in online retailer Yihaodian in 2011 and
took full control last year. But after gaining a market share of
just 1.6 %, it gave up last month and turned over ownership to
JD.com. In exchange, it got a 5 % stake in the Chinese company.
Phone calls Wednesday to ACFTU branches in Nanchang, Chengdu and
Shenzhen weren't answered.
Frustration among Wal-Mart employees with the ACFTU prompted
some to start an informal group called the Wal-Mart Chinese
Employee Fellowship in 2014, according to Zhang Jun, who said he
was a spokesman for the group. He worked as an electrician at a
Wal-Mart in the eastern city of Yantai from 2011 until last
December.
The group's 20,000 members—about 20 % of Wal-Mart's China
workforce—use social media to communicate, according to Mr.
Zhang.
On Wednesday, employees expressed concern Wal-Mart's new system
would make them part-time workers who wouldn't be entitled to
compensation in the event of layoffs.
A cashier who has worked at the Nanchang store for more than
five years said her monthly pay of about 1,400 yuan to 1,600 yuan,
or about $210 to $240, has fallen by about 74 yuan under the new
system. The legal minimum monthly wage in Nanchang, the capital of
Jiangxi province, is 1,530 yuan.
Employees are unlikely to get a raise in the next few years,
said the cashier.
"What worries us more is that they are preparing for the
future," said the cashier. "Will we be cut off in the future and
get no compensation, like the part-time workers?"
Copyright 2016 Associated Press
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 07, 2016 12:45 ET (16:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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