Labour pains
China's rapid economic development over the last quarter of a century - in particular the replacement of a planned economy with a market economy - the privatisation of state-owned enterprises, the massive inflow of foreign capital and the migration of millions of people from the countryside to seek work in the cities, has resulted in vast changes to its economic structure and created severe problems for its huge workforce.
While workers and peasants used to be called the masters of the country, increasingly it is foreign investors and domestic capitalists who call the shots. Even state-enterprise workers no longer enjoy an 'iron rice bowl' as state-owned enterprises lay off large numbers in an attempt to become more competitive. Many workers are not being paid what they are promised, even when they have a contract.
According to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions - the official network of trade unions under Communist Party control - of 400,000 foreign enterprises in China, only one-fifth have set up unions. And only 40 per cent of two million private enterprises in the country are unionised.
In the absence of worker protection, it is not surprising that there are frequent protests, some of them huge, such as the demonstrations against corruption, unpaid wages and pensions in Liaoyang and Daqing in 2002. What, one may ask, is the federation doing to protect workers' rights?
Actually, there have been a number of interesting developments. At the federation's last congress in September, it was announced that workplace unions across the country would be encouraged to hold direct elections for officials, especially the chairman. According to Robin Munro, of China Labour Bulletin - a Hong Kong-based organisation that works to promote workers rights and freedom of association for workers in China - thousands of such elections have been held on an experimental basis in such provinces as Shandong and Zhejiang in 2002 and last year, even before the congress.
'This is potentially a very important reform,' he said. 'In most factories, even if there is a union branch, quite often the workers don't even know.' He said that in some factories, the party secretary - or even the manager - is also the union chairman.
Another expert in Chinese labour issues, Anita Chan of Australian National University, suggested that there may be some cause for optimism, as things were changing for the better, albeit slowly, in some areas. Her comments came in a paper presented at a conference to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Universities Service Centre - an organisation which for decades has assisted western scholars with China research.
While labour problems - including layoffs, unpaid wages and violation of rights - continue to be very serious, within the federation, she reported, there are groups of officials and journalists who genuinely support the workers' cause. They have been instrumental in inserting pro-worker clauses into key pieces of legislation, including the Trade Union Law of 1992 and the 1994 Labour Law.
There is still no guaranteed right to strike, but the right to collectively bargain is guaranteed by the Labour Law. The laws also set a maximum number of working hours and a minimum age for entering the workforce, and establish industrial labour dispute procedures and the right to a democratically elected workplace union - statutes she said, 'that are on a par with international standards'.
Ms Chan concedes that there is a 'relative lack of enforcement of the labour laws', and workers' rights are being violated on a large scale. Set against this is the fact that there has been a rapid increase in the number of lawsuits filed by workers - a reflection that the laws have provided a platform for litigation and that workers' consciousness of their rights has risen. Workers have been receiving assistance from university law schools' legal aid centres, the trade unions' legal work departments and even from private practices.
Another interesting development is the establishment in some cities of unions for migrant workers. They are among the most vulnerable of China's workers and are often victims of employers who do not sign contracts with them and who fire them before payday. For a long time, they were not considered part of the industrial workforce but now, federation figures show that there are 94 million migrant workers in the cities, with the number increasing by five million each year.
Incremental though such developments may be, in the long run they may provide protection for China's workers who, after all, deserve the same safeguards as workers in other major countries.
Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based journalist and commentator
