Wal-Mart closes store in Germany ignoring workers' protests

Wal-Mart's downhill in Germany seems to continue. On 30 June, the Bentonville-based retailer will close its store in Neunkirchen, amidst protests from its personnel and their works council. The company has sold the store to a buyer whose name they refuse to give to the works council.

As late as in January, Wal-Mart's German CEO Kay Hafner had ensured the president of the Neunkirchen works council that no stores would be given up, and that negotiations about the bail for the site would be continued in this sense. When the works council once again on 17 February asked about how negotiations were proceeding, they received no answer from management.

- The Neunkirchen store was bought by Wal-Mart in December 1998 together with 73 other Interspar shops. In 1999, managers from America gave us big promises. They said that more personnel would be employed and a major renovation would be undertaken, says the works council in a statement today (29.3.2005).

- On 3 March this year, the works council is then told that Wal-Mart gives up the Neunkirchen store on 30 June 2005, the annoyed workers say: - This is the way that world's largest retailer treats management statements - OUR ASSOCIATES ARE OUR BIGGEST CAPITAL.

- The same month, on 2 March 2005, Wal-Mart distributes its corporate ethics code to all employees, the works council reminds: - One of the ethical principles is to be honest and fair and to show respect for the individuals.

Recently, Wal-Mart's German CEO Kay Hafner was told to have personally threatened workers to close their stores unless they accepted important concessions in employment conditions. The company also got caught in a veritable media storm after it issued 'ethics guidelines' establishing an informer hotline and banning intimate relations between co-workers. The central works council has now taken this code to court, seeking it to be repealed as they were not consulted.

Wal-Mart has not performed well in Germany, and has continued to generate important losses. This has caused analysts to question whether Wal-Mart's social dumping concept really travels.