Under pressure to guarantee labour rights

Abstract

REPORT□ CHINA Under pressure to guarantee labour rights Official statistics estimatedthat morethan20 millionmigrant workersbecame jobless duringthe crisis DR KAN WANG isLecturer at the China Institute of Industrial Relations, Beijing, China The labour uncertainty Global interest for economic labour representation. rights crisis protection brings Actually, further and uncertainty forlabourrights protection and labour interestrepresentation. Actually, longbeforetheglobaleconomiccrisisin 2008, theofficial Chinesetradeunion,whichoperates under the national umbrella of All China Federation of Trade Union (ACFTU),is under pressure for change, andtheunionisseekinginitiatives forimproving itscapacity oflabourrepresentation and labourrights safeguarding. Theinstitutional arrangement inChinarequires the tradeunion to represent the interests and demandsofboththeruling Communist Party of China(CPC) and the workers.In thiscontext, Chinesetradeunionsalwaysneed to play the roleas a bridging actorconciliating theinterest differenceand strengthening the common ground betweentheStateand labour.Before the start of theeconomiccrisisin thelate of 2008, continuous economicgrowth didnotbring much difficulty to theunion,sinceeconomicdevelopmentcreateda steadyincreaseofjobs forworkers ,alongwithtaxation revenuesfortheState. However,the global economic crisispressed downtheChineseeconomy withunemployment rateriseand taxationrevenueshrink, so as to exposetheChineselabouranduniontoa different environment.Some serious challenges emergeand theunionhas to respondquickly. Pressure on the Implementation ofChinese Labour Laws and Regulations Justbeforethe global economiccrisis,several labourlawsand labourregulations wereenacted andlabourstandards wereincreased accordingly. For example,the LabourContract Law restricts theflexibility ofcorporate humanresource management and aims at establishinglong-term employment relationsbetween the employers andworkers. Meanwhile, theRegulation ofStaffs and Workers Paid AnnualVacationexpandsthe duration ofpaidleavefor labourandrequires the employers topayhighcompensation iftheworkersfailtotaketheleaves .A psychological impact is thencreated amongemployers, who complain on theincreaseoflabourcostsand arelobbying heavily forderegulation. Within tenmonths oftheimplementation ofthe labouracts,a financial crisis happenedintheUS, whichis thelargest buyeroftheChineseproducts .Weakdemandofglobaland domestic markets lowersthe profits of mostcompaniesin China.Thecompanies introduce largelay-off and redundancyplans. China Academic of Social Sciences, the governmentthink-tank, did a national survey and foundtheurbanunemploymentratein 2008 had reachedto 9.4 percent, twicemorethantheofficial number. Thankstotheshrinking ofoverseasorders and thecutting of jobs, ruralmigrant workers, who usuallyworkin labour-intensive exportsectors, lost theirincomesand had to eitherreturn to theirhometowns, or wanderaroundbig cities and manufacturing centreslooking for new opportunities. Official statistics from theMinistry ofHumanResources andSocialSecurity ofChina estimated thatover 20 millionmigrant workers becamejoblessduring thecrisis, whilethereal situation can be moreserious. Localgovernments are thenundergreatpressure . In orderto encourageemployment and reduce redundancy, some local governments issued theirinterpretations about the national lawsand regulations, sincethenational lawsare alwaysquitegeneraland requirelocal governments towrite localimplementation guidelines to enforce thelawsandregulations. InthePearland YangtzeRiverDeltas,whichare thetwolargest manufacturing hubs in China,thelocal governmentsnegotiate withthelocal and international chambers ofcommerce forstabilising thelabour market. Companiesagreeto suspendlayoff and redundancy plan,inreturn fordeferred payment of social security fortheworkers. Moreover, in some regions,local governments permitlarge local companiesto negotiateminimum wage rates with theauthority, so that unprofitable firms will not cut jobs, althoughthe workersmay receivediscounted salariescompared tothenormaltime .In Guangdong Province, theProvincial People's HighCourtissueda noticeand asked thepolicetobe cautiousinarresting theowners offirms hiring morethanone thousand workers, forthefearofinterrupting factory operation and causingunemployment. The courtnoticesays that iftheownerdoes notviolate thecriminal act, thenthispersondoes notneedtobe arrested, so thatthebusinessoperation can go as usual. ACFTUand itslowerunionshave paid attentiontothesituation and reactions from thebusiness and local governments. The union issues severaldocuments toexpressitsconcern abouta possiblederegulation in thefieldoflabourrelations .The union emphasisesthatlabourstandardscannotbe compromised underanycircumstances .ACFTUis againstthe idea of lowering labour protectionfor keeping jobs. Instead, ACFTUproposesto conductcollective negotiationanddialoguewith theemployers tosolvethe current corporate difficulty. In severalindustrial provinceslike Zhejiang Province,local trade unionshavesuccessfully reacheddealswith local employers, with theunionspromising tomobilise workers forhigher productivity and temporarily freezingwage increase.In return, employers agreedto keep thejobs and did notlowerthe existing benefits forworkers. INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 30 Volume 16Issue 4 2009 EscalationofLabour Disputes and Union's Role inRepresentingLabour Although the union triesits best to maintain employment stability, expansionof the global economiccrisis leads to closureand bankruptcy of manycompanies, whose bosses usuallyflee andleavetheworkers uncompensated. Riotscan happen if a factory closes and workersare unableto findthe employer forclearingtheir unpaidwagesandovertime compensations. Actually, the numberof labourdisputeshas beenescalating sincelate2008.Inthefirst halfof 2009,labourdisputes intheYangtzeRiver Delta increased aboutfour-fold comparedto thesame periodlastyear.The labourdisputeresolution teamis seriously shorthanded withone labour dispute arbitration orjudgehaving tohandleover 200 cases in a year.Lack of capacityto solve labourdisputecases further contributes to the riseofunofficial labouractions. Localtradeunionsintheindustrial areashave realised this challenge andaredoingtheir bestto providelegalaid forworkers. The local unions also use their positions to lobbythelocal governments foroffering fasttrackserviceforrural migrant workers under labour disputes. Mediationis always emphasisedby the trade unionas a wayto assistlabourrights and interests .Unionshaveestablished mediation services atthefactory and community levels.Community mediation serviceis more effective, since the community legalaid centres of thetradeunion stayawayfrom theintervention and harassment oftheemployers. In HubeiProvince, one ofthe largestautomobilemanufacturing centres in China,theprovincial tradeunionpublisheslaw education booklets forworkers and actively represents...