Walmart workers in China have taken a stand against the company to demand for better pay and working conditions. The protests have gained momentum as the workers in Shenzhen have filed lawsuit against the company for back pay.

The workers are said to be using WeChat for the purpose of organizing their protests. It is reported that a laid-off worker Wang Shishu is the main person orchestrating the stand-off. The WeChat group has nearly 20,000 Walmart workers participating.

Like Us on Facebook

Wang said, "We want a snowball effect. We want everybody to know what to do next." He is a former customer service representative who has been fired twice by Walmart. Wang said that he wants Walmart to go back to its sympathetic ways.

Keegan Elmer, a researcher at the Hong Kong-based advocacy group China Labour Bulletin, said "We can only expect that online organizing will continue to break down local barriers."

Low wages and a new scheduling systems are considered to be the main reasons behind the unrest.  Several employees have complained that Walmart has failed to keep up with growing price level and has not set its compensation accordingly.

The US company's new scheduling system has also been blamed for leaving the employees exhausted. The new system was designed to help further reduce the costs.

Walmart bucked its global trend of resisting unionizations in 2006 when it agreed to establish Communist party-controlled trade unions in the country. Such unions are generally under the control of store managers. However, owing to their ineffectiveness, these unions are being bypassed by the workers.

TagsWalmart, china, Wang Shishu