A restructuring of Walmart’s China business is being challenged by the country’s normally reticent official union, which is involved in at least one of three protests that have erupted at stores slated for closure this month.

A unit of the government-sanctioned All China Federation of Trade Unions has been leading the protests outside a Walmart store in Changde, Hunan province that closed last week. The ACFTU’s involvement in an industrial action, which is extremely rare, could increase official scrutiny of the closures.

“The fact that the union president has come forward in Changde has given the workers great confidence,” said Wang Jiangsong, a labour expert who has been advising the workers in Changde and at two other Walmart stores in Maanshan, Anhui province.