The Workers' Movement in China - China Labour Bulletin

THE WORKERS 37
10,000. Many strikes erupted seemingly without warning when plants
were operating normally, and the workers spontaneously downed tools
and walked off the job.
It is important to note here, however, that in none of the 100 cases in
this report or indeed in any media reports we have examined over the
last two years, was there any evidence of a trade union calling for
strike action. The Chinese government and the ACFTU-sponsored system
of collective consultation discourage “extreme behaviour” and do
not countenance any action that might be considered unlawful.
Blockades of major transport arteries such as roads, bridges and railway
lines are another favoured tactic. At least 43 of the 100 cases studied
here involved blockades, including 17 in which road blocks were
used as a secondary tactic after the launch of strike action. In these
cases, workers left the factory and blocked local roads in an attempt to
amplify the public impact of their protest and force the government to
take notice. In the other 26 actions, road blocks became the primary
form of protest as most of the enterprises concerned had gone bust or
closed down.
Sit-down protests at the factory gate or in public squares, and protest
marches were used in 18 cases considered in this report, including six
instances in which such protests were auxiliary to strike action. And
collective petitioning or sending a representative to local government
offices to air workers’ grievances was still a popular tactic in this reporting
period, being used in at least 21 cases. Seven petitions concerned
the problematic restructuring of SOEs.
Only five of the 100 worker protests involved damage to factory or
office property, attacks on bosses’ representatives or clashes with security
personnel called in by management. These outbursts were again
examples of workers giving vent to long-bottled-up dissatisfaction and
resentment.
- More than 800 mineworkers at Tanjiashan mine in Xiangtan,