Cosatu: Walmart worst union bashing company

01 October 2010 - 09:07 By Sapa
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South Africa's largest labour federation has spoken out against Walmart's bid to enter the country, calling the US retail giant "one of the worst union-bashing employers in the world".

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said it is "deeply concerned" over news that Wal-Mart is in talks to buy South African wholesaler Massmart for 4.2 billion dollars (3.1 billion euros).

Massmart, which manages several of South Africa's largest retail chains, operates 288 stores in 14 countries around the continent.

"Wal-Mart is one of the worst union-bashing employers in the world," Cosatu said in a statement.

"Wal-Mart is a known anti-union company which trains its managers to keep the workplaces union-free."

Cosatu said labour unions are also fearful Wal-Mart would undermine local manufacturers.

"The company has become so powerful that it can dictate to their suppliers the price they are prepared to pay for goods," it said.

"If this deal goes through, it could be a severe set-back for our Proudly South African campaign to persuade retailers to procure products manufactured locally by firms which comply with minimum decent work standards."

Wal-Mart has faced sharp criticism in the United States over allegations it has acted aggressively to keep unions out of its stores.

In 2007, Human Rights Watch said the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company violated the rights of its workers with a "relentless anti-union drumbeat (that) creates a climate of fear at its US stores".

But Massmart said local unions had no reason to fear the potential deal.

"Massmart management is mindful that a corporate transaction of this nature should be aligned with the rights of all Massmart’s stakeholders, which clearly includes the rights that unions have negotiated in our organisation," it said in a statement.

"We have no doubt that Wal-Mart will honour pre-existing union relationships and abide by South African labour law."

Massmart's announcement Monday that it had received a non-binding expression of interest from Wal-Mart capped months of speculation that the world's largest retailer was seeking a foothold in South Africa.

Wal-Mart has sought to expand aggressively into emerging markets as its US sales have slowed.

The company reported a record net profit of 3.32 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2010, pushed by strong sales in China, Brazil and Mexico.

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