Wal-Mart says it isn't globally anti-union

LITTLE ROCK -- Although Wal-Mart prefers to handle labor negotiations directly with individual employees, the world's largest retailer does not have a global anti-union policy, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

"Our global policy is to work within the laws of individual countries," said Wal-Mart international spokeswoman Beth Keck.

Keck's comments followed news earlier this week that the company would permit branches of the official Communist Party-controlled union in its Chinese stores if employees requested it.

Keck said the statement didn't reflect a change in Wal-Mart policy.

"(The statement) was to set the record straight and was oriented to the Chinese media and Chinese audience," Keck said.

Wal-Mart, headquartered in Bentonville, operates 39 stores in China employing 20,000 people. Keck said Chinese employees thus far haven't asked the 123 million-member All China Federation of Trade Unions to represent them.

"We have good relations with our associates in China. Benchmarked against China's other leading retailers, we have less than 20 percent turnover, and that's very low for the industry," she said.

The push to enter Wal-Mart stores was the latest attempt by the union -- the sole body permitted to organize workers in China -- to penetrate retailing, shore up declining membership and boost its political status. Branches of the Chinese union are usually toothless management-controlled bodies that work mostly to prevent conflict.

Wal-Mart has no unionized stores, although workers at a Wal-Mart in Canada recently had their union accredited by the local labor board. Wal-Mart was expected to fight that ruling.

The chain has more than 4,300 outlets in nine countries employing more than 1.3 million people. It sourced $15 billion worth of products in China last year.

The All China Federation of Trade Unions has threatened to sue Wal- Mart along with other foreign companies including Dell Inc. and Eastman Kodak Co. if they don't set up union branches in their China stores.

Keck said Wal-Mart was on solid legal ground in the country.

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