Wal-Mart's sorry record - child labour and union-busting

Radio-Canada exposes abuse and exploitation
by U.S. retail giant in Canada and Bangladesh

Jonquiere, Quebec (4 Dec. 2005) - A documentary by Radio-Canada says Wal-Mart hired undercover security guards to spy on employees at a unionized store it closed here last April, contrary to the Quebec Labour Code. The law forbids spying on union organizers or sympathizers.

The documentary was aired Friday night. It was broadcast in the same week that another Radio-Canada exposed the use of child labour by Wal-Mart apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh.

Wal-Mart closed the Jonquiere store after it was successfully organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW Canada). The closure prevented the union from negotiating what would have been the first store-wide union contract with Wal-Mart anywhere in the world.

Wal-Mart claims that the closure took place for financial reasons. The union and the majority of Quebecers, believe that Wal-Mart's real goal was to prevent organized labour from gaining a foothold in the company, and to send a message to Wal-Mart employees elsewhere.

A Wal-Mart spokesman has denied engaging in illegal spying tactics. "No, we wouldn't tolerate the situation you mentioned," Wal-Mart Canada president Mario Pilozzi told Radio Canada.

Guards quoted

However, the broadcaster quotes several guards as saying that spying was the job they were hired to perform by Wal-Mart at Jonquiere in early 2005. One guard said he patrolled the store in civilian clothes, watching employees. Another said store surveillance cameras were used to follow certain workers.

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has signed a formal protocol with the UFCW, supporting its drive to organize Wal-Mart workers at outlets across Canada.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart is also being widely condemned for another Radio-Canada report last week showing that it is buying clothing from suppliers in Bangladesh who were using child labour to make products sold in Canada.

An investigative journalist, posing as an international buyer, visited factories in where garments are manufactured for Wal-Mart. The products included house brands such as Simply Basic, BUM, 725 and George, all sold in Canadian Wal-Mart stores.

Children who appeared to be under the age of 14 were filmed, using hidden cameras, working in the factories. Wal-Mart has said since that it has stopped buying from the factories filmed in the report.

The Canadian government has signed conventions by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency, calling for an end to the use of child labour around the world.

The behaviour of Wal-Mart has become an issue in the campaign for the Jan. 23 Canadian election. Jack Layton, the federal NDP leader, and Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois, have both condemned the company.

Duceppe has endorsed tougher labelling legislation, called for by the Canadian Labour Congress, to clearly indicate where imported garments are made and the conditions under which they were manufactured.

Wal-Mart, based in Arkansas, is the world's biggest retailer with more than 3,600 outlets world-wide. NUPGE

Web posted by NUPGE: 4 December 2005

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