Wal-Mart’s Trade Union in China

Economic and Industrial Democracy, July 25, 2011

21 Pages Posted: 28 Mar 2012

See all articles by Baogang He

Baogang He

Deakin University

Yuhua Xie

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: March 27, 2012

Abstract

In 2007– 2008, more than 100 Wal-Mart stores in China established trade unions, which were praised by labour organizations and scholars throughout the world. This article questions these positive assessments and evaluations through an empirical study. The empirical findings reveal a dark and unpleasant picture of a double cooptation in that both the Chinese government and Wal-Mart have successfully coopted a few more or less independent unions. Although the presence of the trade union seems to challenge Wal-Mart’s neoliberal corporate ideology and governance, the compromise and tacit agreement between Wal-Mart and the party-state not only reflects a marriage of convenience but also indicates some deeper compatibility, the compatibility between China’s state corporatist model and the neoliberal approach taken by Wal-Mart. This study finds that China continues to move in a ‘state corporatist’ direction and that the transition towards civil society and ‘societal corporatism’ has been stymied.

Keywords: China, industrial relations, labour movement, neoliberalism, trade union, Wal-Mart

Suggested Citation

He, Baogang and Xie, Yuhua, Wal-Mart’s Trade Union in China (March 27, 2012). Economic and Industrial Democracy, July 25, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2030015

Baogang He (Contact Author)

Deakin University ( email )

School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Melbourne, Victoria 3217
Australia

Yuhua Xie

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

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