Battle for China's Past : Mao and the Cultural Revolution

THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST
The socialist truth and belief value of labour law
In the absence of an established legal system to protect individual
rights, the socialist legacy of the Mao era matters a lot even now. It is
often claimed that trade unions in the Mao era were not only decorative
but actually another organ protecting the interest of the state. This
line of thinking is based on the assumption that the relationship
between trade unions and the state ought to be antagonistic in a
communist state. This anti-communist cold war assumption fails to
notice that the mode of production in the Mao era was so structured
that the social relationship between the workers and the state was not
meant to be antagonistic. There might be disputes and grievances in
individual cases, in which case trade unions might act on behalf of the
workers, but in general workers and management were supposed to
work together for the same goal; workers were supposed to be owners
and masters of the means of production and therefore supervise and
participate in management. It was precisely in order to strengthen this
supposed social relationship that the Cultural Revolution was
launched. It was for this reason that workers and masses were encouraged
to participate in the ‘Four Big Freedoms’ (Da ming, da fang, da
bianlun, da zibao – speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great
debates and writing big character posters) during the Cultural Revolution.
It was for this reason that the Four Big Freedoms were written
into the Chinese Constitution in the Mao era.
When the mode of production is transformed, that is, when the
means of production are no longer publicly owned and when workers
are no longer supposed to be the owners of these properties, the relationship
between the trade unions and the state then become
antagonistic. Deng saw clearly what the problems would be. So in 1980
he ordered the abolition of the Four Big Freedoms. In 1982 when the
Chinese Constitution was amended, the clause of the Four Big Freedoms,
together with the freedom to strike, was stricken out (Hu 2004).
Clearly the post-Mao regime has started to axe the Maoist legacy
little by little, but there is still substantial amount that remains intact.
As has been discussed, collective ownership of land remains intact.
Another part of the Maoist legacy that remains intact is related to
labour conditions and regulations in state-owned enterprises. The
truth and belief values of socialism mean that workers have the right
to rest at least one day a week, the right to legal holidays, the right not
to work overtime more than three hours a day or 36 hours a week in
total, the right to be paid overtime rates not lower than 150 per cent of
the normal rate for a working day or 200 per cent during holidays, the
right to be paid on time, the right to maternity leave of no less than 90
days and healthy and safe work equipment. However, in private and
[ 196 ]