沃爾瑪常德員工仲裁請求被駁回

A Chinese arbitration panel has dismissed a landmark suit brought against Walmart by a chapter of the country’s official trade union, ending a three-month dispute that galvanised labour activists across China.

中國一仲裁委員會駁回了沃爾瑪(Walmart)常德分店工會對該公司提起的里程碑式仲裁請求，結束了鼓舞中國各地勞工維權人士的3個月糾紛。

The panel dismissed worker demands for extra compensation after the world’s largest retailer closed its store in Changde, Hunan province, in March as part of a restructuring of its China operations.

該仲裁委員會駁回了沃爾瑪常德分店員工提出的更多補償的要求，今年3月，全球最大零售商關閉了其在湖南常德的門店，這是其在華業務重組的一部分。

Industrial action erupts daily across China and over recent months has affected the operations of multinationals such as IBM, Cooper Tire and Rubber of Ohio and Yue Yuen Industrial, a shoe manufacturer.

中國經常發生勞資糾紛，最近幾個月影響了很多跨國企業的業務，包括IBM、俄亥俄州的固鉑輪胎橡膠公司(Cooper Tire & Rubber)以及製鞋企業裕元工業(Yue Yuen Industrial)。

But the Changde protest was unusual in that it involved the head of the official store union, an affiliate of the tightly controlled All China Federation of Trade Unions. The ACFTU and its affiliates rarely confront management, often leaving workers to fend for themselves in industrial disputes. Labour activists are highly critical of this tendency, saying it only leads to greater unrest.

然而，常德糾紛的不同尋常之處在於，它涉及沃爾瑪門店工會主席，該工會是受到嚴密控制的中華全國總工會(All China Federation of Trade Unions)的分支機構。中華全國總工會及其分支機構很少與管理層對抗，往往讓員工自己在勞資糾紛中維權。勞工維權人士對於這種傾向非常不滿，他們表示，這隻會釀成更大的不安定。

The involvement of the union head, Huang Xingguo, in the Changde dispute excited worker rights groups, who said it was a significant event in the development of China’s labour movement. Mr Huang said he was surprised and disappointed by the arbitrators’ ruling, and intended to appeal.

沃爾瑪常德店工會主席黃興國參與了此次糾紛，這激勵了勞動者權利團體，它們表示，這是中國工人運動發展中的一個重大事件。黃興國表示，他對該仲裁委員會的裁決感到意外和失望，並打算上訴。

“We are not celebrating here but we think it is the right decision,” said Ray Bracy, a senior Walmart executive. “We always felt we were doing what was right and what was required by law.”

“我們沒有慶祝，但我們認爲這是一個正確的決定，”沃爾瑪高管博睿(Ray Bracy)表示，“我們一直認爲，我們所做的是正確的，依法的。”

The Changde outlet employed 130 workers and was one of about 20 Walmart stores earmarked for closure as part of a larger reorganisation of the US retailer’s China operations. Walmart also intends to open 110 new stores and hire more than 19,000 workers in the country over three years.

沃爾瑪常德店曾聘用130名員工，該門店是沃爾瑪作爲重組在華業務的一部分準備關閉的大約20家門店之一。沃爾瑪還計劃在未來3年在中國新開110家門店，聘用逾1.9萬名員工。

Sixty-nine of the Changde workers rejected Walmart’s original settlement offer. But by the time the arbitration court issued its ruling on Wednesday evening, only Mr Huang and 17 other holdouts remained.

有69名常德店員工拒絕了沃爾瑪最初的和解方案。但到仲裁庭週三晚做出裁決時，拒絕和解方案的只剩下黃興國和另外17名員工。