沃爾瑪關閉中國門店引發抗議

A restructuring of Walmart’s China business is being challenged by the country’s normally reticent official union, which is involved in at least one of three protests that have erupted at stores slated for closure this month.

沃爾瑪(Walmart)重組中國業務計劃正受到中國通常沉默寡言的官方工會的挑戰。在計劃關閉的門店本月爆發的3場抗議中，官方工會至少參與了其中一場抗議。

A unit of the government-sanctioned All China Federation of Trade Unions has been leading the protests outside a Walmart store in Changde, Hunan province that closed last week. The ACFTU’s involvement in an industrial action, which is extremely rare, could increase official scrutiny of the closures.

政府批准的中華全國總工會（All China Federation of Trade ，簡稱ACFTU）的一個單位，近日在上週關閉的沃爾瑪湖南常德店外領導抗議活動。中華全國總工會極其罕見地參與勞工行動，可能加強官方對沃爾瑪關店措施的關注。

“The fact that the union president has come forward in Changde has given the workers great confidence,” said Wang Jiangsong, a labour expert who has been advising the workers in Changde and at two other Walmart stores in Maanshan, Anhui province.

“工會主席在常德出面的事實，給了工人們很大信心，”勞動關係專家王江鬆表示。近期他爲常德以及安徽馬鞍山另外兩家沃爾瑪門店的工人們提供建議。

The protests highlight Chinese workers’ growing willingness to demand higher compensation during corporate acquisitions and restructurings, in addition to agitating for higher pay adjustments every year. A historic demographic shift in 2012, when China’s working-age population declined for the first time, has given workers greater bargaining power.

這些抗議活動突顯中國工人除了每年要求得到更大幅度的加薪外，還越來越傾向於在企業併購和重組時要求得到更高補償。中國在2012年發生歷史性的人口結構變化，勞動適齡人口首次減少，這給了工人們更大的議價能力。

China has proved to be a difficult market for Walmart. It opened its first stores in the country in 1996 and now has about 400, but it has struggled to get a satisfactory return on investment and in the past two years has admitted to making mistakes in its haste to expand.

對沃爾瑪來說，中國已被證明是一個困難的市場。沃爾瑪1996年在中國開設首批門店，目前擁有大約400家門店，但該公司一直難以取得令人滿意的投資回報，在過去兩年裏承認在匆忙擴張的過程中出現失誤。

While China’s ACFTU was instrumental in establishing branches at Walmart’s Chinese stores in 2006 and 2007, many labour activists say that it is more interested in collecting lucrative payroll fees than fighting for workers’ rights. ACFTU officials played no part in a recent strike that affected an IBM factory in southern China and have also been silent on two other labour protests in which workers were charged with disrupting public order.

儘管中華全國總工會在2006年和2007年大力推動在沃爾瑪的中國門店設立分支機構，但許多勞工活動人士表示，這個官方工會更感興趣的是收取豐厚的工會會費，而非爲工人爭取權益。前不久在中國南方一家IBM工廠發生的罷工行動中，中華全國總工會的官員沒有扮演任何角色；這些官員在另外兩場勞工抗議活動中也保持沉默，儘管參與抗議的工人被控擾亂公共秩序。

China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based rights group, has described the situation in Changde as “historic”.

總部位於香港的勞工權利組織——中國勞工通訊(China Labour Bulletin)形容常德發生的情況是“歷史性的”。

“It’s a very unusual and encouraging sign that a store union chairman would take the initiative and take such a strong stand in defence of his members’ interests,” said Geoffrey Crothall at CLB.

“這是一個非常不尋常和令人鼓舞的跡象：某一家店的工會主席站出來，採取強硬立場捍衛工會會員的權益，”中國勞工通訊的傑弗裏•克羅塞爾(Geoffrey Crothall)表示。

Chinese workers have been picketing the stores in Changde and Maanshan since it was announced that they would be closed. They are demanding twice the compensation offered by Walmart to workers who will lose their jobs, and also rental and other subsidies for those who transfer to stores in other cities.

自沃爾瑪宣佈將要關閉常德和馬鞍山的門店後，中國工人們就在相關門店外聚集抗議。他們要求沃爾瑪對將要失去工作的工人提高一倍補償金，並向調任其它城市的門店的員工提供房租及其它補貼。

The more than 140 workers at Walmart’s Changde store have been offered positions in the city of Yiyang, a three-hour bus ride away. “Workers cannot survive elsewhere on their low wages,” said the store’s union head, Huang Xingguo. “Walmart’s offer is an empty cheque. Our families are in Changde. It would cost more to rent new homes in Yiyang.”

沃爾瑪常德店的140多個工人已被提供益陽市的崗位，從常德搭乘巴士到那裏需要3小時。“工人們憑這點低工資是無法在其它地方生存的，”沃爾瑪常德店的工會主席黃興國表示。“沃爾瑪的提議是一張空頭支票。我們的家在常德。在益陽租一個新家需要更多錢。”

Mr Huang has vowed to continue the Changde protest even after police forcibly detained workers at the weekend.

黃興國誓言將常德的抗議進行下去，即便警方在週末強行帶走了一些工人。

Walmart has denied claims that its workers in Changde and Maanshan were given inadequate notice about the closures and says that it consults closely with local governments, the ACFTU and affected workers. “The nearest store [to Changde] is Yiyang, which unfortunately is about 100km away,” said Ray Bracy, a senior vice-president with Walmart’s China operations. “That makes it really difficult for the associates to transfer.”

沃爾瑪否認有關常德和馬鞍山的工人們沒有在關店這件事上得到充分通知的說法，並表示，公司在與地方政府、中華全國總工會和受影響的工人密切磋商。“距離常德最近的門店在益陽市，可惜該市在大約100公里外，”沃爾瑪中國區高級副總裁雷•佈雷西(Ray Bracy)表示。“這真的使員工們很難調任。”

Mr Bracy said Walmart was closing about 20 stores as part of a wider restructuring of its China business, but also has plans to open another 110 new stores and hire 19,000 more workers over the next three years. “Those stores [that are closing] are not acceptable from a dollars and cents standpoint,” he added. “In the cases where we’re closing it’s a decision of last resort.”

佈雷西表示，作爲在華業務整體重組計劃的一部分，沃爾瑪將關閉大約20家門店，但同時也計劃在未來三年開設110家新店，新增1.9萬員工。“那些將要關閉的門店從財務角度看是不可接受的，”他補充道。“關店是我們在萬不得已的情況下作出的決定。”