the american National Labor Committee issued a report saying that wal-mart in china forces its suppliers to cut workers' salary and not provide basic facilities to their workers, the NLC even ask americans to call war-mart china to protest.
well, many of us might think that chinese workers will thank the NLC and rightminded americans. wrong! they don't, and the local government don't.
the logic here is like this. if the suppliers spent more for their workers, the prices of their goods will be higher, and as a result, wal-mart will go away and find other suppliers. to those workers, the situations are not better but worse, even deathful if they are fired. and the local government are also not happy for those suppliers might close down their factories and leave.
two lessons learned from this case: first, it is dangerous to think from one perspective when it comes to china issues, and second, living in the lower part of the international business ladder is miserable
update: Workers Demand Union at Wal-Mart Supplier in China