Zhou Zhigang wore his red Walmart jacket with pride when he joined the US retail group’s branch in Changde, Hunan province. But he has not put it on since the outlet’s closure in March, when his participation in protests with 70 other workers for better severance cost him a week’s detention without charge by Chinese police.
“After leaving the detention centre I tore off my Walmart jacket and threw it in a ditch,” he says. “I originally thought Walmart was a very good company and would provide me with a stable job.”
The Walmart dispute highlights a broader shift in the Chinese labour market that has significant implications for multinationals that manufacture or source products in the world’s second-largest economy. The number of protests is growing as the balance of power slowly shifts from employers to workers because of demographic and technological trends.