Walmart, Stiffing Chinese Workers, Too

From today's New York Times.

Across China, Walmart Faces Labor Unrest as Authorities Stand Aside

It seems Walmart's penchant for paying people low wages while demanding long hours is international.

Walmart employees in China, furious over low pay and exhausting schedules, have organized nationwide strikes and boycotts at some of the retail giant’s 400 stores.

Much of the discontent stems from a new scheduling system that Walmart put in place this summer as a way, the company said, of giving workers more flexibility. Workers have argued that it has resulted in cuts to overtime pay and excessively long shifts, and some say they were coerced into signing new contracts agreeing to the system....

When Walmart opened its first store in China in 1996, workers rushed to snap up jobs that paid more than those at Chinese competitors.

Now, some employees say, a Walmart job does not pay enough to comfortably support a family, with wages hovering around minimum wage, or about $300 a month. While Walmart has led a high-profile campaign in the United States to raise pay, salaries in China have remained largely stagnant, workers said, barely keeping pace with inflation.

These folks down in Bentonville must love being able to pay employees $300 per month rather than, say, that amount per week as they would in the states, huh?

It seems union organizing is on the rise in China.

Fantastic.

They are getting what they deserve, Walmart. Just not quickly enough.