Trade union officials claim to have thwarted plans by retail giant Walmart to reassign or lay-off over a thousand middle managers at its more than 120 supercenters and other outlets in China, Xinhua reported on 21 April. Walmart announced its plans to eliminate one layer of management in early April, being careful to state that no one would be fired, merely demoted or transferred to other stores. Managers, many of whom had been working at Walmart for over ten years, complained however that the proposals would inevitably lead to lay-offs because it would not be possible for them to relocate to other cities.

What does the ACFTU consider its role to be: Is it a defender of workers’ rights or a servant of the Chinese Communist Party and government? A new report from CLB explores the complex identity of China’s official trade union. Photo by SJ photography

The central government has vowed not to amend the Labour Contract Law to appease business leaders who claim the new legislation has increased costs and bankrupted tens of thousands of enterprises. Speaking at a National People’s Congress press conference in Beijing, Xin Chunying, deputy head of the NPC Standing Committee’s Legislative Affairs Commission, said the factory closures over the last year had nothing to do with the Labour Contract Law, which according to a government survey had only increased business costs by two percent.

China Labour Bulletin appears in the following article. Copyright remains with the original publisher.Feb 23, 2009 04:30 AM Moira Welsh