Collective talks give pay increase to Carrefour workers in Shanghai

Workers at Carrefour's Shanghai company will see their total wages increase by 7.5 percent as a result of collective bargaining that was conducted in March between the company and its employees.

Carrefour's Shanghai company, which was established by the France-based supermarket company Carrefour and the Shanghai-based retailer Lianhua, signed its first collective wage contract in March 2011. Under the agreement, workers at the company received an 8 percent raise in their total wages and the assurance that their base pay would be set at an amount that is 5 percent higher than the local minimum wage.

"The employer proposed a 6-percent wage rise for this year but we demanded an 8-percent increase, just as it was last year," said Ma Yudong, trade union chairman for the company. "Both parties compromised and finally agreed to a 7.5 percent raise, largely because the company is seeing its profits decrease."