Chinese Workers Pay for Wal-Mart's Low Prices
From the
Washongton Post comes this story of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and their drive to cut costs that result in them being the top retailer.
bq. Most of the 2,100 workers here are poor migrants from the countryside who have come to this industrial hub in southern China for jobs that pay about $120 a month. A sign on the wall reminds them of their expendability in a nation with hundreds of millions of surplus workers: "If you don't work hard today, tomorrow you'll have to try hard to look for a job."
bq. The calculations driving production here at Shenzhen Baoan Fenda Industrial Co. are no different from those governing global capitalism in general -- make more for less -- but it is applied with particular vigor on this shop floor. Sixty percent of the stereos coming off the line are for one customer: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., whose mastery at squeezing savings from its supply chain made it the world's largest company.
bq. "The profit is really small," said Surely Huang, a factory engineer, speaking of the 350,000 stereos that Fenda agreed in March to supply to the retailer for $30 to $40 each. Huang said they sell for $50 in the United States. "We have to constantly cut costs to satisfy Wal-Mart."
And one very intresting point:
bq. As capital scours the globe for cheaper and more malleable workers, and as poor countries seek multinational companies to provide jobs, lift production and open export markets, Wal-Mart and China have forged themselves into the ultimate joint venture, their symbiosis influencing the terms of labor and consumption the world over.
The article goes into greater detail on wages paid to workers (very low) and how working for Wal-Mart affects the ability to work with other comanies. Interesting stuff...
Posted by DaveH at February 10, 2004 1:59 PM