Community-based organizations for migrant workers' rights: the emergence of labour NGOs in China

Abstract

In 1978, when economic reform began in China, it was the party- state-controlled people's organizations that were most deeply involved in people's work and social life. For example, the official trade union, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), was the one and only legal organization representing workers. Although people who worked for state-owned enterprises were mostly unionized under the umbrella of the ACFTU, the new migrant workers in private enterprises were basically unorganized. Since the mid-1990s, labour activists, some of whom are supported by the international civil society, have tried to establish an alternative form of organization, specifically labour non-governmental organizations (NGOs), for migrant workers. The labour NGOs are concentrated in the Pearl River Delta of South China and provide services in migrant workers' settlement communities. This paper evaluates the degree to which the labour NGOs have maintained a relatively autonomous civil society space for the vulnerable migrant workers and nurtured a democratic form of labour organization.