THE South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) yesterday came out with guns blazing , slamming the "Walmart-isation" of the wholesale retail sector.

The union, which says it has 150000 members across the sector, has formed an Anti-Walmart Coalition in partnership with Africa's Uni Africa and other civil organisations.

Uni Africa represents 165 trade unions on the continent.

Saccawu general secretary Bones Skulu said the union was against Walmart's "disregard" for workers' rights and its anti-unionism policy.

"Walmart has a hostile stance towards the unions, to the point where prospective workers are asked whether they will be likely to join a union during job interviews.

"When workers organise in the US and Canada they close down the store or department. There are many cases of this," deputy general secretary Mduduzi Mbongwe said.

Sokhulu said Massmart, which owns Game, Dion and Makro, among others, had begun restructuring even before Walmart's bid for Massmart was announced in September.

"This has resulted in more than 1600 job losses," he said.

Massmart said: "The engagement to discuss the specifics of Saccawu's concerns is premature in the absence of a final offer from Wal-Mart."

Walmart recently announced its bid for 50percent of Massmart. Walmart is a multinational US retail company with strong global presence, with the exception of Africa.