The Workers' Movement in China - China Labour Bulletin

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THE TRADE UNION 63 In early 2008, ACFTU Vice Chair, Zhang Mingqi, said unions and enterprises should be equal entities in a working mechanism for collective consultation, led by local governments. Again, he called for the establishment of a practical model of collective consultation in which the government would play the dominant role. 74 Promotion of collective contracts The ACFTU began to promote the collective consultation system at the beginning of the 1990s, 75 and in its annually published statistics, it has always painted a rosy picture. For example, by the end of 2007, it claimed that a total of 975,000 comprehensive collective contracts had been signed, covering 1.7 million enterprises and 128 million workers. The figures for regional collective contracts were 103,000 signings, covering 744,000 businesses and 31.6 million workers. It said 55,000 industry-specific collective agreements had been signed, covering 212,000 enterprises and 13.2 million workers. 76 However, in recent years the ACFTU has also acknowledged that the single-minded pursuit of numerical growth in collective contract signings has compromised the quality of collective negotiations and of the resultant contract provisions. Shortcomings included over-reliance on clauses and terms lifted verbatim from laws and regulations, a lack of specific quantitative standards, difficulties in implementing the agreements and insufficient binding force. 77 74 “ !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:3;
64 GOING IT ALONE Undeterred, the union pushed on with its quota-based approach and, on 5 June 2008, issued its Opinion Regarding Activities for Developing Collective Consultation Agreements, which proposed that in cases where enterprise unions have difficulties bringing management to the negotiating table, higher-level unions should step in and act in their place. At the same time, the ACFTU’s Opinion Regarding the Establishment of Instruction Teams for Collective Consultation proposed the establishment of teams: ...led, recruited and managed by union organisations, to be responsible for guiding, assisting and getting involved in grassroots unions’ worker representation in collective consultations with enterprise representative organisations, in signing collective contracts or salary-related and other single-issue collective agreements. The ACFTU’s moves to “guide” collective consultations and substitute higher-level officials and so-called “consultation experts” in place of enterprise union officials could in theory have resulted in a better deal for the workers. However, the workers themselves were rarely consulted in these negotiations; officials simply decided what was in their best interests and what the best possible deal was. Once again, the workers were excluded from the process. The much publicised collective contract at Walmart in 2008 was a classic example of higher level union officials deciding what is best for the workers without consulting them. On 24 June 2008, ACFTU Vice-Chair Xu Deming and his Walmart counterpart from the United States signed a framework agreement on collective contracts for Walmart China. On 14 July, the first of these collective contracts was signed at the Walmart store in Shenyang, and just two months later, the ACFTU announced that all 108 Walmart stores in China had signed collective contracts. These contracts provided parameters for wage increases during 2008 and 2009, and stipulated that minimum wage levels at the company must be higher than the minimum for the local area and exclude overtime and night work
Page 1 and 2:
China Labour Bulletin ulletin GOING
Page 3 and 4:
About China Labour Bulletin Founded
Page 6 and 7:
Introduction In early November 2008
Page 8:
INTRODUCTION 7 wages, better workin
Page 11 and 12:
10 GOING IT ALONE their jobs in the
Page 13 and 14: 12 GOING IT ALONE China. The number
Page 15 and 16: 14 GOING IT ALONE involved 650,000
Page 17 and 18: 16 GOING IT ALONE But mine disaster
Page 19 and 20: 18 GOING IT ALONE payments to be ma
Page 21 and 22: 20 GOING IT ALONE 2. disputes arisi
Page 23 and 24: ing to use the mediation, arbitrati
Page 25 and 26: 24 GOING IT ALONE hukou, and eight
Page 27 and 28: 26 GOING IT ALONE - On 13 February
Page 29 and 30: 28 GOING IT ALONE were a major reas
Page 31 and 32: 30 GOING IT ALONE - On 6 and 7 Marc
Page 33 and 34: 32 GOING IT ALONE sisting that: “
Page 35 and 36: 34 GOING IT ALONE Local governments
Page 37 and 38: 36 GOING IT ALONE blocks after the
Page 39 and 40: 38 GOING IT ALONE Hunan, staged a s
Page 41 and 42: 40 GOING IT ALONE - On 13 February
Page 43 and 44: 42 GOING IT ALONE In many cases, ho
Page 45 and 46: 44 GOING IT ALONE Industry-specific
Page 47 and 48: 46 GOING IT ALONE did not, however,
Page 49 and 50: 48 GOING IT ALONE On 23 November, a
Page 51 and 52: 50 GOING IT ALONE In large part, wo
Page 54 and 55: Chapter Three: The Trade Union Orga
Page 56 and 57: THE TRADE UNION 55 During the perio
Page 58 and 59: THE TRADE UNION 57 relevant Party o
Page 60 and 61: THE TRADE UNION 59 The ACFTU’s re
Page 62 and 63: THE TRADE UNION 61 Hong Kong-based
Page 66 and 67: THE TRADE UNION 65 pay. They also l
Page 68 and 69: THE TRADE UNION 67 Since 2002, the
Page 70 and 71: THE TRADE UNION 69 union bosses tur
Page 72 and 73: THE TRADE UNION 71 to working depar
Page 74 and 75: Conclusion In 2007-08, China’s wo
Page 76 and 77: CONCLUSION 75 went over his head an
Page 78 and 79: CONCLUSION 77 have to overcome its
Page 80 and 81: Appendix: 100 workers’ protests,
Page 82 and 83: 100 workers’ protests, 2007-2008
Page 88: APPENDIX 87 Major news sources used
Page 91 and 92: 90 GOING IT ALONE Bone and Blood: T
Page 93 and 94: 92 GOING IT ALONE tive cases, and d
Page 95 and 96: 94 GOING IT ALONE !"#$%&'()*)+,-./
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