Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Update on the Labour Situation in Mainland China
by Chen K.K.
The democratic movement of 1989 was begun by students and evolved into a people's movement. However, the role of workers in this historic event has not received much attention. Though led by students from beginning to end, there was widespread participation by urban workers in the latter stages of the movement. When the government began its violent suppression it was the workers who put up the strongest resistance. In Beijing and other cities the greatest injuries were suffered by workers and not students. After the movement was suppressed these workers were labeled
rioters by the authorities or were never mentioned again - as if they had vanished from the face of the earth.
The workers became involved partly out of sympathy and support for the students. But most importantly, they harboured profound hatred for the corrupt decadence of the cadres. In addition, the impact of economic reform was increasingly felt by the workers. Many of them were forced to become
xiagang, whereby they were stood down from work on minimal pay.
Now, after 13 years, corruption is even more serious.
Officials' attempts at expropriating the state's assets are better organized and more systematic. University students are busy gearing themselves up for a career in business after graduation. Economic development has created dreams of a middle-class lifestyle. One thing that has not changed, but has in fact worsened, is the
workers' struggle for survival.
Over the last decade China's economy grew at an amazing speed, yet wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. The xiagang problem in state enterprises is acute and the social security system flawed. As foreign and private enterprises flourish workers are exploited to the full.
Serious Unemployment
Xiagang unemployment is most serious among workers with registered residence
(hu kou) in the city. It is estimated that the number of xiagang workers in state-owned and collectively owned enterprises stands at close to 30 million. Arrears in wages is a grave problem in many enterprises, and xiagang workers often fail to receive their basic living stipend.
When dealing with
surplus labour, state enterprises often order workers to leave their jobs (becoming
xiagang) while maintaining a nominal relationship with the enterprise which will supposedly pay them a minimum wage or stipend every month. However, shortage of funds has meant that workers are often not paid, undermining their ability to survive. Another method that has been widely adopted by state enterprises in recent years is the buying-off of a worker's relationship with the enterprise with a single payment or over the course of two years. If the workers fail to get employment in their city of residence after they have exhausted their funds, their lives become extremely difficult.
Despite the government's claims of establishing a comprehensive social security system, the unemployed and the retired often have no way of claiming their entitlements as the enterprises have not been paying the premiums. The medical insurance system is also on the verge of collapse. In the past the state paid for medical services for urban workers and their families. But this system, too, is crumbling. Now working people simply can't afford to be ill.
In March 2002, state enterprise workers in Heilongjiang's Daqing oil field and Liaoyang in Liaoning Province, staged protest marches to demand their unpaid wages and pensions. These people who helped lay the foundation of China's industry are today regarded as a burden. Yet state enterprise officials keep lining their pockets, hollowing-out the firm's finances and turning themselves into private entrepreneurs overnight.
The government's policy of 'first fattening a few' has meant that national capital becomes concentrated in the coastal cities. So while inland industrial cities and their workers are struggling for survival, the cities along the coast boast huge investment projects worth billions. In the midst of all this large-scale wheeling and dealing, officials fill their purses to their hearts' content.
Unprotected Migrant Workers
In mainland China, there is an enormous floating population moving into the industrial towns and cities. Their hands have helped build the cities' high-rises, and their blood and sweat has paved the inter-city highways. They toil over 10 hours a day producing a range of goods in the manufacturing industry. They are prevalent in the food and beverage industry. Yet they do not even have basic citizen's rights.
Migrant workers may be workers, but the city is only interested in exploiting their most productive years. They are not insured against unemployment or old age. Even though the law entitles them to such protection, they still are denied pensions and medical insurance. Similarly, the legal requirements on minimum wages, overtime pay, and working hours may as well not exist. Their meager wages are often subject to arbitrary fees and penalties. Meanwhile, privatisation and closures of state enterprises, like the kind taking place in North-East China, leads to higher and higher levels of unemployment.
Workers Are Standing Up
Faced with exploitation, more and more workers have chosen to speak out for their rights. The recent protests by the xiagang workers in the Daqing oil fields and Liaoyang City show that
workers' struggle is an increasingly organised affair. The authorities use a combination of hard and lenient tactics, while targeting labour organisers for punishment. Despite this, struggles spring up one after another.
Workers are using different ways to fight for their rights. Official data recorded more than 200,000 labour disputes in the year 2000, and the number has been rising each year.
Since the authorities strictly forbid independent trade unions, the
workers' collective struggles cannot lead to the establishment of permanent
organisations. But in the continuous waves of protest we can see that the
workers' power is accumulating. More and more workers are standing up for their rights.
(from China Labour Bulletin)