...[A]ctivism against Walmart’s more than 400 stores in China in recent months has followed a different pattern: workers in several cities agitating against the same company, bypassing official unions controlled by the Communist Party and using social media to coordinate their actions — while the authorities largely stand aside...

Ever since the Solidarity trade union helped topple Communist rule in Poland, Beijing has sought to prevent the emergence of a nationwide labor movement, suppressing efforts by workers to organize across industries or localities.

But the authorities appear to be hesitating in the case of Walmart, whose workers have complained of low wages and a new scheduling system they say has left them poorer and exhausted...

...Walmart denied that it had treated its employees unfairly or had pressured them to accept the new schedules...