“Boss, Give Me a Raise!”

According to an article out of Zhejiang, China, Wal-Mart workers in Jiaxing have recently earned the right to demand raises from their boss.  This little known practice at Wal-Mart stores throughout the world can be realized, the article says, by unionizing and signing a collective contract.  The particular contract that Jiaxing Wal-Mart workers signed gives the workers the right to negotiate issues such “wage levels, wage increases, paid vacation, as well as worker protections.”

In addition to Jiaxing workers, Wal-Mart employees in Changchun also signed a collective contract this week.  Perhaps this is making Wal-Mart U.S. a little more than nervous.

In Jiaxing a Collective Contract Is Born:  Wages Will No Longer Be Up To The Boss [Zhejiang News]

“Boss, give me a raise.” This sentence is something workers dare to think, but do not dare say.  Yesterday morning, 350 workers from the Jiaxing Wal-Mart store on Hong Street agreed to and signed a collective contract.  This means that in the future, workers will have the proper right to discuss pay levels with their boss.  According to our understanding, this is the first time a collective contract has been attempted in Jiaxing’s service industry. 

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Also see Wal-Mart Changchun Branch Signs Collective Agreement [China CTV] after the jump.

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Wal-Mart labor union chairperson Duan Xiaojun expressed that company demands profit maximization while workers demand maximization of their work value.  Both sides must find a balance.  The most effective means is to have both sides sit down and talk things over to reach an agreement that is profitable to both labor and capital.  The focal point of these talks can be wage levels, wage increases, paid vacation, as well as worker protections. “Formally, when workers entered a company, they passively accepted the company’s wages.  Now, once a year, workers can collectively talk to union representatives about the extent of a pay increase for the following year.  According to the contract, worker wages must be in accordance with the current year’s profit gain, consumer consumption levels, and CPI adjustments,” a Jiaxing labor union expert stated.

Wal-Mart Changchun Branch Signs Collective Agreement [China CTV]

On the morning of the ninth, the Wal-Mart Changchun branch held a collective contract signing ceremony at the city labor union.  This is Changchun’s first transnational company to agree to and sign a collective contract.

During the ceremony, Wal-Mart labor union’s chief representative and the labor union’s finance and trade committee representative jointly signed the collective contract.  According to the contract, the powerful Wal-Mart corporation will strictly comply with “China’s Labor Law”, “Labor Contract Law”, “Labor Union Law”, and the provisions of the collective contract, etc., and must put forth serious efforts on all great matters pertaining to the direct benefit and interest of the workers such as workers’ pay, break time, holiday time, contract supervision, insurance, worker safety, women workers’ special rights and benefit protections, worker discipline, worker training, work quotas, the labor union chairperson’s wages, etc.

Wal-Mart unionized in August 2006.  The result of Wal-Mart and the labor union signing the collective contract is sincere cooperation and the construction of a harmonious work relationship. The Wal-Mart branch workers will benefit the most from the collective contract.

Posted by Michael Mignano on Wednesday, September 10, 2008

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