The exchange highlights the complex relationship Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has with its employees as unions become as globalized as the retailing giant’s footprint.
Its employees are not unionized in the United States, where the retailer has become infamous for its staunch opposition to labor groups. Even in Canada, it closed a store after workers there organized. But in the United Kingdom, Wal-Mart touts a growing roster of union employees, and it has negotiated contracts with entrenched labor groups in Brazil and Argentina for decades.
“We recognize those rights,’’ said John Peter Suarez, senior vice president of international business development at Wal-Mart. “In that market, that’s what the associates want, and that’s the prevailing practice.’’
Union organizers are pushing for a unified approach to the retailer’s 2 million workers around the world. Labor leaders from disparate groups in Central America have begun talks, and unions in the United States, Argentina, and Chile bolstered South African organizations during their negotiations. Last week, the international trade union coalition UNI sent a letter to Wal-Mart executives to discuss the possibility of a global agreement similar to those signed by competitors such as France’s Carrefour and retailers IKEA and H&M.
“Our message to Wal-Mart is that they should realize that this is the new reality of dealing with unions in a global economy, that we are so connected,’’ UNI general secretary Philip Jennings said.
Wal-Mart has stores in 14 countries, and its expansion overseas is all the more important since it relies on international operations to fuel growth. While sales at home stagnated, its foreign stores raked in $100 billion in sales last year — one-quarter of the company’s total revenue. That has forced the retailer to play by new rules.
In some countries, such as China, recognition of unions is required by law. In other cases, the political and social climate of a country makes union membership more palatable.
