Wal-Mart says 'No' to Canadians, 'Yes' to Chinese

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which ranks among the world's worst employers, recently threw a bizarre one-two punch: It responded to a pro-union vote by employees of a Quebec store by announcing that it would close the store; and it also announced that it would "respect the wishes" of Chinese workers who want to unionize. That's globalization with a truly cruel twist.

The blow against its Canadian employees nearly coincided with the company's announcement of a 16.2 percent increase in profits for the fourth quarter of 2004. That result beat Wall Street's expectations and pushed Wal-Mart's full-year earnings above $10 billion for the first time.

More recently, in the ever-growing struggles with Wal-Mart, the good guys won a round: intense pressure from unions and residents caused a developer to abandon plans to build the company's first New York City store in the borough of Queens.

In addition, watchdogs have challenged a U.S. Department of Labor ruling giving the company a 15-day advance notice of department complaints involving federal wage-and-hour laws. The department's inspector general announced that he would "review the circumstances surrounding" that lenient offer, which AFL-CIO Pres. John Sweeney equated to "the fox guarding the hen house" and notes that "it is the Wal-Mart workers who will pay the price."