Wal-Mart and one of its most vocal labor foes joined forces on Wednesday to call for universal health-care coverage for all Americans by 2012, but offered no specific proposals.

"The current health-care system doesn't work for many Americans ... We need to change the current system and we need to start now," said Lee Scott, chief executive of Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. private-sector employer and the world's biggest retailer.

Scott appeared on a stage with Andrew Stern, president of the 1.8-million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to launch a "Better Health Care Together" campaign.

The effort so far is short on details and endorses only broad principles -- health insurance for everyone, individual health responsibility, better cost efficiency and involvement of business, government and individuals in health care.

Scott and Stern sat on opposite sides of the stage. Under questioning from reporters, Stern said he had talked directly with Scott prior to the event. But the two did not pose together for the cameras and Scott departed immediately after the event ended.

One union-backed group critical of Wal-Mart called the event with the SEIU a publicity stunt.

"Wal-Mart's supposed support for universal health care is nothing more than empty rhetoric designed to salvage the company's declining image," said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com, a project backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, in a statement.

UNLIKELY ALLIANCE

But others said the appearance of Scott and Stern, along with leaders from other groups, showed again how America's health-care crisis is creating unlikely and promising alliances.

"If Wal-Mart and SEIU join forces, and others join the effort, the probability of serious reform of the U.S. health-care system rises dramatically," said Boston University School of Management Professor Stephen Davidson.

The launch of the campaign was the second event of its kind in as many months. Stern's SEIU in January teamed up with the Business Roundtable, a CEOs group, for a similar campaign that led to some advertisements and a photo opportunity.

Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden -- who is backing health-care reform legislation -- said that joint efforts by business and labor would have been unheard of a decade ago.

"More employers and labor representatives are sending the message that our nation's health-care system is broken and if we don't fix it, it will die under its own weight," he said.

Along with the SEIU and Wal-Mart, the campaign includes the Communications Workers of America labor union, computer chip maker Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile , Research), telecommunications group AT&T Inc. (T.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and staffing company Kelly Services Inc. (KELYA.O: Quote, Profile , Research).

All pledged to convene a national health-care summit by the end of May and to recruit more campaign members.

Controlling health-care cost inflation and getting health care for millions of uninsured Americans are urgent national issues. But the government has struggled to cope with them, frustrating employer and employee groups alike.

Wal-Mart has endured criticism over the years from labor unions that say it pays inadequate wages and pushes employees onto government aid programs. The company has tried to counter such attacks by taking steps such as raising pay levels and selling generic drugs for $4 per prescription in many areas.

Kelly Services CEO Carl Camden suggested that Washington may soon find itself overtaken by the states on health care.

"The federal government has dawdled and the states have stepped in with experiments," he said, citing programs in California and Massachusetts as possible models for change.