Beijing is accelerating its drive to unionise the mainland workplaces of foreign corporations by ordering all multinational companies in Guangdong to set up labour unions by the end of this year, state media reported.
Guangdong's official union organisation was aiming to add more than 1 million new members this year, most of them from the province's 300 Fortune 500 companies, the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News reported. The goal was for 80 per cent of foreign-invested companies to set up unions, while the target for private firms was 60 per cent, said the provincial branch of the state-run All-China Federation of Trade Unions.
The mainland's trade union law bans workers from forming independent unions or organising collective bargaining activities outside the Communist Party-sanctioned All-China Federation of Trade Unions.
With more than 17 million migrant workers - over one third of the national total - and above 70 per cent of its economy in the private sector, the problem of labour rights violations was serious in Guangdong, it said.
Tang Weiying , chairman of the ACFTU's provincial branch, was quoted as saying unionisation was beneficial for both workers and foreign companies.
'The purpose [of setting up unions] is to promote corporate development by protecting the basic rights of workers, who will then have greater motivation to work for their companies,' said Mr Tang.
The federation vowed to focus on workers' salaries, working hours and work security as this year's priorities, the newspaper said.
