LITTLE ROCK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. workers staged rallies Friday in several of the retailer’s stores in other nations, claiming workers have been disciplined for seeking changes in their workplaces.
The protests were sponsored by OURWalmart (Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart) and Making Change at Wal-Mart. Both groups are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which has sought unsuccessfully for years to organize collectivebargaining units at Wal-Mart operations.
Employees from the United States, Argentina and South Africa also participated in a conference call to air their complaints. There also was a protest outside a Miami store, although the number of participants and their affiliations couldn’t be verified.
Rubin Cortina of Argentina, Uni Americas president, said 28 unions in his country have Wal-Mart stores in their jurisdiction. Union banners and leaflets were handed out by 14 of those unions, he said, and demonstrations took place at several locations.
Actions were scheduled later in the day at the rest of the Wal-Mart stores in the region, he said. “We are really excited about it,” he said.
Uni Americas is a regional organization for communications and services for the UNI Global Union. In a letter dated Friday to Mike Duke, Wal-Mart president and chief executive officer, Phillip Jennings, UNI Global general secretary, called on Wal-Mart to “respect the fundamental labor rights set out in the ILO [International Labor Organization] Core Conventions and join the ranks of responsible employers in the retail sector who have taken this step to ensure decent labor rights and standards for their workers.”
Stateside complaints against Wal-Mart, which have attracted a considerable amount of U.S. media attention since the holiday shopping season began, have included allegations of manipulation of hours worked to keep employees’ hours at less than full-time status and discrimination against women and nonwhite employees.
Jesus Vargas, a member of OURWalmart and until recently a Wal-Mart employee in Pacerville, Calif., was among the employees who went “on strike” on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and one of the busiest shopping days of the year. He said his actions resulted first in a suspension, then dismissal from his job.
Vargas said he has filed a complaint under the National Labor Relations Act.
“I stand with my co-workers. We are not backing down. We will continue on,” he said.
Dan Fogleman, a spokesman for Bentonville-based Wal-Mart, said Friday that, as in the case of Black Friday protests, “there have been very few of our associates who took part and most of what you see are union activists, not Wal-Mart associates.”
“As it pertains to today’s activities, it seems that recently there has been a vocal group of union activists who are quick to assume they know what’s best for Wal-Mart associates. The reality is that none of these ongoing union publicity stunts can erase the facts. Eighty-six percent of Wal-Mart associates say they love their jobs.”
Fogleman said that Wal-Mart’s wages and benefits are typically as good or better than most of its competitors, including those that are unionized.
“And our associates have repeatedly rejected unionization,” he said.
Nelson Lichtenson, professor of history at the University of California at Santa Barbara and director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy, described Wal-Mart’s global footprint as “remarkable.” He said the company had great success entering the Canada market with its purchase of 120 Woolco stores that were “instantly de-unionized.”
“That’s their methodology,” he said.
He added, however, that the retailer has met stiff resistance with the model in other nations.
“It creates chaos,” he said, and is the No. 1 grievance among workers.
“They’re trying to impose that model around the world,” he said.
Wal-Mart’s stock closed Friday at $68.75, down 29 cents, or 0.4 percent. The stock has traded between $57.18 and $77.60 in the past year.
Business, Pages 27 on 12/15/2012