Walmart Allows Its Workers To Unionize In Other Countries, Just Not In The United States

Walmart Allows Its Workers To Unionize In Other Countries, Just Not In The United States

To complete its acquisition of Massmart, a chain of retail stores in South Africa, Walmart struck a deal that must seem extraordinary to the company’s American employees. To win government approval of the acquisition, 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, where Walmart has developed a reputation as one of the country’s most virulent opponents of organization efforts. In fact, Walmart’s workers are organized in many of the foreign countries in which it does business.

In Brazil, Argentina, China, the United Kingdom, and now South Africa, some Walmart employees are organized. In China, Walmart is required by law to recognize union membership, and in Mexico, 18 percent of its workers are organized. British labor leaders describe their dealings with Walmart as “honest,” and in Argentina, organized employees make as much as 40 percent more than employees at retailer’s major competitors.

Walmart has a convenient response to why it lets workers organize in these countries, as the Washington Post reports: “We have a local philosophy,” Wal-Mart International Chief Executive Doug McMillon recently told reporters. “It’s our intention to demonstrate that we are a great corporate citizen.”

thinkprogress.org...

This is simply amazing. Walmart, which gets most of its products from China, of course allows unions IN CHINA....but not here in the Good Old US of A....the country from which they were created....a businesses that used to only sell American products!!!!!!!!!

reply to post by David9176


Labor unions only bring higher prices. I don't care where Wal-Mart gets it's products. American products are too expensive because of government taxation, regulation and labor unions. Union bosses don't give a damn about "working families". They only care about lining their pockets with union member dues, and then they use all of that money to support the very politicians that cause American products to cost so much, which leads to outsourcing. One of the biggest farces of the 20th century is that labor unions make a stronger workforce. They are overflowing with greed and corruption. Good for Wal-Mart, stay the course.

Very simple,

In order to sink its talons into other Nations and rape the work force and the resources, it will bend over backwards...at first. Wait until the people start relying on the work and then Wal-Mart pulls back the unions.

In America, people will, as a rule, bend over and take it in order to get that minimum wage job because of what the options are...none.

Let's face it. Wal-Mart has become the destroyer of the American work force and they did it while Americans were celebrating their good fortune at having their 'Pride & Joy' American Iconic Company take over 3rd World Nations. They sang joyous songs of triumph at $3 t-shirts and poisoned baby formula.

Now that it's come back full force, it isn't such a proud moment anymore.

No jobs, no small business, no health care, no...nothing.

Wal-Mart can go to hell.

reply to post by OptimusSubprime
Labor unions only bring higher prices. I don't care where Wal-Mart gets it's products. American products are too expensive because of government taxation, regulation and labor unions. Union bosses don't give a damn about "working families". They only care about lining their pockets with union member dues, and then they use all of that money to support the very politicians that cause American products to cost so much, which leads to outsourcing. One of the biggest farces of the 20th century is that labor unions make a stronger workforce. They are overflowing with greed and corruption. Good for Wal-Mart, stay the course.
Showing you obvious ignorance and msm following.Union/non contractors and auto manufacturing all charge the same amount only in nonunion the company owner gets all the wealth.Ive worked both for many years and i can say union is safer,equiped with a better trained work force,and better finished product.period.

Originally posted by stormofnight
reply to post by OptimusSubprime

 

Labor unions only bring higher prices. I don't care where Wal-Mart gets it's products. American products are too expensive because of government taxation, regulation and labor unions. Union bosses don't give a damn about "working families". They only care about lining their pockets with union member dues, and then they use all of that money to support the very politicians that cause American products to cost so much, which leads to outsourcing. One of the biggest farces of the 20th century is that labor unions make a stronger workforce. They are overflowing with greed and corruption. Good for Wal-Mart, stay the course.

Showing you obvious ignorance and msm following.Union/non contractors and auto manufacturing all charge the same amount only in nonunion the company owner gets all the wealth.Ive worked both for many years and i can say union is safer,equiped with a better trained work force,and better finished product.period.

Ignorant huh? All I see are platitudes and status quo talking points from you. You are the one who is ignorant...

The benefit of right to work states

just in case you don't feel like clicking on the link, here are the facts

● Among America’s 22 right-to-work states (including Florida, Georgia, and Texas), non-farm private-sector employment grew 3.7 percent from 1999 to 2009, while it shrank 2.8 percent among America’s 28 forced-unionism states (e.g. California, Illinois, and New York).

● During those ten years, real personal income rose 28.3 percent in right-to-work states and sank 14.7 percent in forced-unionism states.

● In 2009, cost-of-living-adjusted, per-capita, disposable personal income was $35,543 in right-to-work states versus $33,389 in forced-unionism states. Americans in right-to-work states enjoyed more freedom — and a $2,154 premium.

Notwithstanding that right-to-work states are comparatively prosperous engines of job growth, the case for right-to-work laws is not merely economic, but moral.

“Government has granted union officials the unprecedented power to force individual employees to pay up or be fired and to coerce workers into subsidizing union speech,” says the National Right to Work Committee’s Patrick Semmens. “This fundamental violation of individual liberty — an infringement on freedom of speech and freedom of association — finally would end with passage of the NRTWA.”

In other words, your statement "only in nonunion the company owner gets all the wealth" couldn't be more wrong.

The CATO institute's website has thousands of pages written by people with PhD's about the stifling effect that labor unions have on production and the economy in general, as well as unemployment rates, but I guess you're smarter than they are.

The pro-corporate ultra-Nationalists are right; Unions only prevent the US from being competitive with third-world wages and living conditions. IF the US wants jobs, they need to be willing to work for as little as a peasant in China, and should get used to companies being free to pollute/plunder a nation's resources as much as they want.

You can quote all the msm and studies you want ....,but your still wrong.unions protect workers rights and safety.a non union company charges the same rate per hour or vehicle as a union comnpaqny only they pay their labor a hell of alot less.the reason companys move to china and mexico and such is to build a product using cheap labor,crappy working conditions,and they sell their product for just as much as a union made product right here in the usa.I work in ohio,make 35.0 an hour plus heath insurance,retirement,education,provided with all safety equipement to perform my job.my employer makes 15.00 profit on me per hour.In florida as you liked to praise.someone in my field makes 16.00 an hour,no insurance or crappy insurance,are told to get the job done how ever they can,are not certified to osha standards,nfpa standards,not provided with half the equipement they need.I know ive been down here for the winter.And you know what? They charge the same amount to thier customers.Who is making the profit.and as for dues.that money pays for education,training,political actions,and other benifits above and beyond.Are there downsides?yes but they dont outway the good.and as for your figures.my field = union 60,000 to 80,000 year. non union 25,000 to 40,000. And this is fact and personal experience not some quote from msm.

Yeah, unions in China must be awesome, im sure they do a bang up job of protecting workers rights lol.

reply to post by OptimusSubprime


The worst part about your argument is the concept of right to work. The 'right-to-work' allows non-union members to benefit from the negotiations the union makes with their employer while providing zero support to the union.

reply to post by OptimusSubprime


You're right, but you're also wasting your time. The pro union crowd can't see past their own self-interests. That corporate money just grows on trees, so let the gravy train and the good times roll...well, until they bleed their employers dry. Detroit was the model city for this country 50-60 years ago. The sad thing is, at the rate we're running businesses out of the country, it still is.

Greedy corporations, equally greedy unions. Now there's two groups that deserve each other. Unfortunately, there seems to be little common ground to provide for a happy medium these days.

As for Walmart, well, Walmart does suck.

I really do not know much about Unions. I would be completely unable to make any type of intelligent statement for or against Unions. I have absolutely now idea what they are about, what they actually do, or why this issue is even a big deal. What I do know about Unions is what I have experienced first hand... which is generally what I have allowed to form my opinion.

As I have said many times on this site, I grew up in Philadelphia. Unions are kind of a big deal. I have worked my whole life. I came from a household with a single, immigrant mother who busted her butt day and night to provide for 2 sons, all while going to school to make a better future, and she never sold her body or removed a stitch a clothing to do it. I only mention that last part because if I didn't my Mother would smack me.

Growing up, nothing came easy. It really did not matter what my brother or I wanted, there was not enough money. So we worked. My first "job" came when I was 7 years old..I would walk door to door in my area pushing a lawn mower and asking home owners if I could cut their grass. In the winter time, I walked door to door asking home owners if I could shovel snow and clear their walkways, driveways, sidewalks around their home. When I was actually "legal" to "work" I got a paper route and delivered newspapers. Of course I got older and the older I got, the harder I found it to find work. I could never understand why I could not get a job and work at the local Grocery Store because they were a Union, and I found it even stranger that I was not allowed to join any Union. One thing that became very clear to me as I would look for jobs, and by this time I was only 10-13 years old, was that these "Union People" were always angry at me when I came looking for a job. They would always look at me very threatening, they always told me that they were a Union with an angry tone. At that age, it was really kind of scary for me. At 15 I left Philadelphia and never again did I have a problem finding a job because of a Union.

At 22 I moved back to Philadelphia to live with family. I sold everything I owned and moved back with just my clothes. I had several issues at this time and I moved back home to get well. The last thing I needed was a job remotely close to what I had been doing, and so I found a job that in my opinion gave me very little responsibility and I could literally do it with my eyes closed. I took a job as a cashier at a video store and within a month worked my way to Manager. I had no car, and I would walk to work everyday. I am not sure how far the walk was, but it took me about 45 mins. It would have been a much much longer walk for me, but I made such good time because I would cut through the parking lot of what is now called Parx Casino. Now this parking lot is HUGE. It is so large that they hold the State Fair in that parking lot. For anyone familiar with the area, this place is the old Keystone Racetrack where they used to have horse racing. This parking lot had 2 entrances on the West side, 2 on the East side, and a very nice "main entrance" on the South side in the middle. The actual building was at the very North end in the middle. So walking to work I would enter in the Southwest entrance and walk to the main entrance out and go to work. Only once did I not cut through this parking lot, due to a foot of snow and the parking lot was not cleared and the gates were locked, and it took me 2 hours. So I saved a lot of time cutting through.

One day going to work I see people on strike at the entrances. They are holding signs, yelling at each other, and just hanging out. I walked through like I always do, going the same way, never ever going anywhere remotely close to the building or even walking in the direction of the building. On Day 1, I got a lot of very mean, threatening looks when I entered onto the property. I ignored the looks and kept walking and as I exited out that main entrance, I noticed more mean looks and I could hear people mumbling to each other. I thought nothing of it and kept my head down and kept moving. I was not looking forward to my walk home, I was actually a bit worried and was considering going the long way around and not using the parking lot, but I was relieved to see that they Strikers were all gone by the time I had to go home. I remember I chuckled to myself a bit thinking it does not matter if they work or strike, Union rules state they are done at 5pm.

For several days this pattern continued, and with each passing day I felt more and more threatened cutting through the parking lot to go to work. I stopped worrying about the nasty looks and the mumbling. I figured they can look all they want, no one touched me and I save so much time, I can deal with it. Just keep my head down and keep moving.

It had to be around day 10 or so, as I was walking up on the SW gate that I noticed not only did they see me coming, not only was I being stared downed and glared it, but something was different. They were already talking amoungst themselves and pointing at me. As soon as I came across their picket line with my head down just walking, I was punched in the back of the head. As I began fighting with the man who attacked me, others were yelling at me. They kept calling me name, I can not recall what the name was, but I had no idea what it meant. I had never heard the term before. Funny thing is, even right now I can not recall what they called me cause I have not heard the term since. Anyway.. I beat the guy up who attacked me. I knocked him out cold after about a 3-5 minute fist fight. I quickly grabbed my stuff and got the hell away from there. At this point I was past the picket line, so I was not about to cross again and go the long way. After a 20 minute quick paced walk I reach the main entrance to exit the parking lot. I see the stares and the glares as usual, but this time I stared back and never took my eyes off them. It was at this point that 2 men, who clearly did not appreciate me staring them down like they did me, began yelling at coming at me. As they yelled at me, I yelled back and I was ready for another fight. In the course of our yelling and after a lot of pushing and shoving and a few punches being thrown, one of them men yelled something (I dont remember what it was) which gave me a clue as to what was going on. I do not remember exactly WHAT was said, but it was something to the extent of me working at the Casino and taking their jobs while they were on strike. To which I yelled back with as many profane words as I could use that I worked at the video store up the street and I just cut through the parking lot. Instantly, like a magic wand was waved over the area, the hostilities stopped and everyone started laughing. Which made no sense to me, here I was standing there all pissed off, beat up, was doing my best not to get my butt kicked by these 2 rather large men (which I was failing at, I was being manhandled) and now they are all laughing.

They apologized, we began talking. They thought I was working at the Casino. I then asked one of the men if that is why I was attacked at the SW entrance, to which he was surprised I was just punched if I was not staring at them or had not said anything, but that they must have been thinking I was on my way to work at the Casino. The people I was speaking with at the Main Entrance were thinking that I was actually leaving after having worked at the Casino. I explained to them where I lived, where I worked, and how much time I saved by using the parking lot. They apologized some more, and I went to work. The next day, I made sure to begin telling the people at the SW entrance that I was not working at the Casino that I worked at the video store and was just cutting through the parking lot to save time before I even got close to them. When I got to entrance, we talked and I explained everything to them. They apologized, I apologized, and I never again had a problem. For the remainder of the strike, if I saw people I did not recognize and noticed any stares, I would stop and explain my purpose and everything was ok.

I guess my point is this.... Unions can kiss my arse. Anything that would prevent a young man from working for chump change instead of asking for hand outs like most kids do, can not be good. Most children feel entitled and expect their parents to give them whatever they want. Pagers, cell phones, cool running shoes with lights in them, whatever luxury the TV tells them they have to have. If you have a child who was taught and was willing to not ask, but instead work for it, then he should be able to do so.

Anything that would cause people to be so fearful or threatened over not being able to work which would cause a person to lash out violently at another can not be good. It is even worse when the job they are so scared of losing to someone else is a job they are simply refusing to do at that moment by their own own choice. In this world, there is always going to be someone who has it worse than you do. I would personally scoff at a job that pays 5 dollars an hour. To me that is an insult, but I can promise you that some where, there is someone, who would see that 5 dollars an hour as a gift from God himself. So while I laugh at the absurd idea of doing a job for 5 bucks per hour, there is someone who will not only do that job, for that price, but will be thankful for it.

So if you truly value your job, and you refuse to do your job because you want more, why would someone who is thankful for taking less money than you deserve to be attacked for being in need? Fact is, if these people were not on Strike and trying to get more, someone in need would not even have a chance to go in and show that he/she can do the job for less money.

People with Union jobs do not have it so bad. When I see them Strike, it pisses me off. Even today, I would be more than happy to take their "union job" for less money if it meant I got medical and dental insurance, paid holidays and vacation time. I imagine anyone who works at any minimum wage job would probably jump at the chance. I can not fault a person for wanting to get all they can and trying to make a better life, but there is a way to do things and way to not do things. What Unions have shown me is a way I would not do things.

Originally posted by vor78
reply to post by OptimusSubprime

 

You're right, but you're also wasting your time. The pro union crowd can't see past their own self-interests. That corporate money just grows on trees, so let the gravy train and the good times roll...well, until they bleed their employers dry. Detroit was the model city for this country 50-60 years ago. The sad thing is, at the rate we're running businesses out of the country, it still is.

Greedy corporations, equally greedy unions. Now there's two groups that deserve each other. Unfortunately, there seems to be little common ground to provide for a happy medium these days.

I suspect you've never worked for a major corporationinstitution before.

The point isn't that Unions are infallible or wonderful. The point is that, as flawed as they are, Unions provide equal footing for employees when they want to go up against a powerful employer.
Go ahead, talk to someone who belongs to a large Union and find out their opinion. 9 times out of ten they will tell you that, while flawed, they prefer having it when push comes to shove.

Originally posted by MrWendal
People with Union jobs do not have it so bad. When I see them Strike, it pisses me off. Even today, I would be more than happy to take their "union job" for less money if it meant I got medical and dental insurance, paid holidays and vacation time. I imagine anyone who works at any minimum wage job would probably jump at the chance. I can not fault a person for wanting to get all they can and trying to make a better life, but there is a way to do things and way to not do things. What Unions have shown me is a way I would not do things.

You wrote a lot and I read it all. It was all a misunderstanding, obviously. I wanted to point out that the 'perks' you mentioned above, medical, dental. vacation time, etc. Were more than likely a result of the union. As most minimum wage jobs don't offer any of those things.

If you and your coworkers came to work every day to your minimum wage job and were aware of the tremendous amount of money the business made, you would feel a little cheated as the money was primarily a result of your labor. When your company decides to lower your wages or remove some of your benefits in order to give their CEO's or upper management an extra large Christmas bonus what are you going to do? You sit back and take it or you can demand more...as a collective union you have more leeway in the negotiations than as an individual.

A lot of people seem to believe that unions have just got the life, they didn't have to work hard to get what they have. A lot of people don't understand the history of unions and unionization, especially in this country. People cry about the freedom we fought for in the American revolution...no one's taught about the fights the unions fought that got kids out of sweatshops and got women higher wages, created weekends and made 40 hour work weeks the norm. No one hears about the national guard gunning down camps of union members and families during strikes.

Union members and families have, literally, fought and died for what we all have today. Some members know this, others don't. They all get upset when someone tries to break the line or attempts to remove or cut back their benefits.

You don't hear about Ludlow.
You don't hear about the Triangle Fire.
...the children in the Paterson silk mills.
...Tompkins Sqaure.
...Bayview Wisconsin.
...the Haymarket Riot.
...Latimer Pennsylvania.
...Pullman strike.
...on and on.

If you ever see a strike, realize they're not fighting for what they think they deserve, they're fighting for what they believe everyone deserves.

reply to post by links234


I understand exactly what you are saying and on the surface it appears to be a positive thing. However, if they are fighting for what they think everyone deserves, why would they discourage or prevent others from joining their Union?

I can tell you why, it is about self preservation. I do not believe Unions have want to help bring up the "little man" they are more interested in maintaining a spot above the "little man". At least that is how it appears to me.

General FYI.

Just as there is good and bad corporations, there are good and bad unions.

Definitely correlates the power rule (power corrupts)..the more powerful either become, the less they care about the individual workers.