A senior south China trade union official said fast food giant
McDonald's has promised to set up union branches in Guangdong Province outlets before July, but
the company on Thursday refused to confirm the claim and would not
comment.
Kong Xianghong, vice chairman of the Guangdong Trade Unions
Federation, said his federation was confident McDonald's would
establish union branches in first half of this year.
However, he would not comment about union branches in KFC and
Pizza Hut restaurants, both operated by Yum! Brands Inc., which
were last week accused along with McDonald's of overworking and
underpaying their part-time staff.
Kong said that a preparation group including representatives of
employees and management had already been established, and both
sides had agreed on issues such as union fee payments.
"Helping overseas-funded enterprises set up trade unions is
beneficial to building harmonious labor relations," said Kong,
adding his federation had a duty to encourage all overseas-funded
enterprises set up trade unions.
A spokesman for McDonald's in Guangdong on Thursday said he
could not comment on Kong's claim and would not confirm that the
company was establishing union branches.
However, a statement from McDonald's (China) late on Wednesday
said the company had always strictly abided by all national and
local laws and regulations.
It went on to say the company was "deeply surprised" that the
All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) had alleged that some
international fast-food companies violated the labor laws of
Guangzhou City.
It said the ACFTU had been "imprudent" in making such
allegations.
A spokesman for Yum! Brands in Guangzhou on Thursday said he
could not comment on the possibility of establishing union branches
in its KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.
Since the story broke last week, McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut
have been publicly criticized for paying their part-time Chinese
employees just four yuan (US$52 cents) per hour, up to 40 percent
less than Guangzhou's statutory minimum wage of 7.5 yuan (US$97
cents).
McDonald's and KFC have almost 3,000 outlets in China and employ
almost 200,000 people.
The ACFTU succeeded in establishing union branches in Wal-Mart
last year.
About 26 percent of China's 150,000 overseas-invested companies,
excluding McDonald's and Yum! Brands, have set up trade unions,
with a total membership of 4.29 million.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2007)