"Our people make the difference," Wal-Mart says. But a story
different than the Mr. Smiley TV ads of happy "associates" emerged
this month in Argentina.
Wal-Mart began operations in Argentina 12 years ago. The giant
retailer built its first supercenter in Avellaneda, Province of
Buenos Aires in 1995. Wal-Mart Argentina, with 15 stores
currently, has big plans to open 12 new stores in the next two
years, creating 5,000 "new" jobs. The retailer says it now employs
more than 5,500 Argentinians in its stores.
The company likes to boast that Wal-Mart Argentina was ranked 29th
on a "Great Place to Work" poll, and was named the 12th Best
Company to Work for in Argentina by Apertura Magazine. The
University of Palermo ranked Wal-Mart ranked 10th among companies
with the best reputation for social responsibility in Argentina.
But earlier this month, in legislative hearings in Buenos Aires,
the giant retailer was grilled by lawmakers who are not happy with
the company's virulent anti-union policy. According to the
newspaper Pagina12, Wal-Mart executives were summoned before the
Argentine Chamber of Deputies (similar to the U.S. House of
Representatives). The Committee on Labor Legislation wanted
Wal-Mart to respond to charges of anti-union activities. The
company also had to respond to criticism for their hiring of a
retired military official linked with detention centers as
Wal-Mart's head of Security.
"There are some stores that do not have delegates (union members)
because they are recently opened," explained Marcelo Villegas,
Wal-Mart's Director of Human Resources. But one lawmaker observed
that one Wal-Mart store had been open for 11 years and was still
not unionized. Lawmakers were considering a resolution that
expressed their "preoccupation with the labor situation and by
union persecution within Wal-Mart, as well as by the participation
in management positions of ex-members of the Armed Forces that
participated in the former military dictatorship." The lawmakers
asked Wal-Mart to rehire two workers who were dismissed without
cause from the Avellaneda branch after involvement in union
organizing. Wal-Mart Argentina's director of Institutional
Relations, Human Resources, and manager of Institutional Relations,
all testified at the hearing, as did members of the union at
Wal-Mart. The union and Wal-Mart testified in separate hearings.
Wal-Mart denied any anti-union practices, asserting that some of
their workers are affiliated with the union, and that the company
has a total 31 union delegates. "Thirty-one delegates for 5,800
workers?" one lawmaker asked. "There are some stores that do not
have unions because they are recently opened," Wal-Mart testified.
But one lawmaker responded, "It is clear that there is a company
policy against unionization and union freedom. It is clear that
they knew about the union activity of Cordoba and Schmidt (the
fired workers), although they deny it." Deputy Claudius Lozano told
reporters, "Accusations of union persecution weigh on this chain in
other parts of the world," and added that Wal-Mart has been
denounced in the United States by Human Rights Watch for its
anti-union corporate policy.
Wal-Mart directors minimized the report of the international human
rights organization, saying it was based on the testimony of 41
employees or ex-employees. Pagina12 reports that "the most tense
moment" in the hearings came when one lawmaker linked Wal-Mart's
head of security with concentration camp activity. "Where he was
posted, clandestine concentration camps were operating. We all
know that we are talking about a clandestine process of
repression. Not all the people in charge have been indicted."
In a separate hearing with workers, members of the union testified
that "In the chronicle of supervisory abuses, women sadly occupy a
separate chapter: the degradation of the condition of women has
surpassed the limits of their tolerance." The delegates charged
that several weeks ago, a 19 year old Wal-Mart cashier told the
manager that she was menstruating and requested a replacement to be
able to go to the toilet. "She asked several times but thirty
minutes passed without any response", said one union member. "When
the replacement finally arrived, the cashier's clothes were
stained. When the supervisors saw what had happened, they covered
her with a coat in plain view of co-workers and customers could
see, took her to clean up, bought her new pants and underwear, and
sent her back to the cash register to continue ringing."
The union delegates also complained that Wal-Mart workers were
forced to sing the company song at the start of each work day, in
front of customers. They described this practice as "humiliating"
for employees. Wal-Mart responded by saying, "It is a greeting to
start the day, to build group spirit. It's normal, natural, but it
is not required. Those who do not want to, do not sing; nobody is
evaluated nor promoted by virtue of how he or she sings." But one
Wal-Mart union worker told lawmakers, "Often the song is assigned
like punishment, or they take notes on who is not singing, or they
make you sing if it is your birthday or if you arrive late at
meeting, as they call it."
If Wal-Mart intends to nearly double its store count in Argentina
over the next few years, it clearly needs to clean up its labor
policies, and put on a friendlier face towards organized labor.