labor - Wal-Mart to open three stores in Shanghai

The US retailer Wal-Mart obtained permission to open three stores in Shanghai in 2005, the People's Daily announces. Wal-Mart is a late-comer in China's most booming city. Efforts to get access in the past was refused by the Shanghai Municipality because of its anti-trade union attitude.

Wal-Mart was forced to accept trade union branches in China, something that only happened with one of its stores in Canada. Since the official trade union in China is pretty hapless, it remains to be seen whether this means a real change.

While the retailers is popular with consumers for its low prices, it gets those prices by squeezing everything out of its suppliers, who love the turnover, but hate the way they are forced to cut cost.