New Approaches to Promoting Labor Rights in China

 

A 10-day trip in May by a high profile delegation from Change to Win (CtW), and a recent letter on China’s proposed draft labor law from the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to China’s President spotlight new approaches by the world’s trade unions as they grapple with how to deal with China’s emergence as a global economic powerhouse—and how to promote labor rights for Chinese workers.

The Change to Win delegation which included Teamster President James Hoffa, SEIU President Andy Stern, United FarmWorkers President Aruto Rodriguez, CtW Chair Anna Burger, and CtW Executive Director Greg Tarpinian  met with Chinese government officials, executives from US based companies doing business in China, and significantly, with officials from the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), the government controlled union federation to which all Chinese unions must belong.

 

The trip broke a decades’ long boycott of the ACFTU maintained by US unions, and many other unions around the world, and attracted considerable media attention. So far there has been little direct comment on the trip from the AFL-CIO or other national or global labor organizations.

According to CtW Executive Director Greg Tarpinian:

Corporate America has been here for decades, or at least 15-20 years, and we’ve been behind the curve. Engagement is not acceptance, engagement is not endorsement. We’re not joining the ACFTU nor are they joining us…We have to engage, we have no choice.”

The meetings resulted in an agreement to exchange visits, to share information and strategies, and to work together to confront US and other foreign based corporations doing business in China, although CtW Chair Anna Burger would not characterize the agreement as “formal”.

In speech in Beijing, Burger said,

[It’s]…. critical for Change to Win to come to China to explore the ways in which we can fight for good jobs in the global economy – and that includes efforts to work with the All China Federation of Trade Unions to advance the interests of both American and Chinese workers.

The challenges for workers in the global economy mandates that here, in Beijing, we develop common strategies for lifting worker standards with the same vigor we push for in Washington….

We have a common struggle to eliminate sweatshop conditions, to stop the exploitation of workers, and to create a vehicle for workers to share fairly in the great wealth of global economy. We reject trade based on the lowest wages, poor working conditions and little regard for workers’ rights.

Citing the massive job loss in US manufacturing, Teamster President Hoffa said in China,

Who do we blame for that? We blame American industries….Ford Motor, General Electric, people that are here. You can’t blame the Chinese government for that. I blame, you know, the Fortune 500 that wants to make money be moving here and laying off Americans and I think that’s terribly wrong.”

Another approach to the China from the global labor movement came in a letter to Hu Jintao, China’s President, from Guy Ryder General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the newly expanded international organization of labor federations, formerly known as the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Change to Win is not a member. The ITUC does not have any formal relations with the ACFTU which it does not consider a legitimate independent union federation, but the tone of the letter shows a certain degree of engagement.

The letter sent in late May offers support for the new draft labor law but focuses on lack of any provision in the law for freedom of association or the right to organize unions.

We note with concern that many workers, especially rural migrants, remain unprotected by a written contract and that many, despite having contracts, are working long hours in excess of national legislation and in conditions which break both Chinese and international occupational health and safety regulations. We also note the by-products of the rapid economic changes which include mass lay-offs from state owned industries and the discriminatory practice of female workers being laid off first---and being rehired last. We very much hope this law will help ameliorate some of the issues.

We believe that the new law currently under discussion attempts to address some of the most crucial failings of current labour legislation……We also observe that the draft law, although the revised version is somewhat reduced, could help bolster the extent and practice of collective consultation for ordinary workers….

However the ITUC also wishes to express its concern that no mention of the right of workers to form and join independent trade unions has yet been raised in current and forthcoming Chinese legislation and legislative discussion. While we are aware that there has been some public discussion over the draft law, we remain concerned that there remains little effective tripartite consultation over such issues. This is no doubt because of a lack of freedom of association and of a balanced and effective collective bargaining system.

The Chinese government has not ratified either of the two fundamental ILO Conventions on freedom of association and on the right to organize and to bargain collectively (ILO Conventions No. 87 and No. 98)…..

....While advances appear to have been made toward revision, refinement, and improvements of many other aspects in the legislation governing workers’ lives and their livelihood, we believe that without determined movement toward freedom of association there can ultimately be no real progress.”

What are we to make of the two approaches signified by the trip and the letter? Those who advocate working more closely with the ACFTU hope that it is evolving into a more aggressive union capable of addressing some of the worst abuses of the raw capitalism that has emerged in China.  According to Burger, “[the ACFTU] demonstrated to us that they have a sincere commitment to representing the workers of China and making sure that prosperity is shared in this country.”

Some labor rights activists inside and outside of China argue that the ACFTU must be the starting point for efforts to develop a working class movement in China. They argue that attempts to establish independent unions are bound to fail for at least two reasons. First, because Chinese state repression is very effective. The government tolerates local strikes and civil disturbances but ruthlessly suppresses any effort to link workplace struggles or to create organizations which could rival the Communist Party or state sponsored groups. Secondly, the majority of workers are newcomers from the country-side with little experience in industrial organization. They are only beginning to develop the kind of collective awareness needed to develop independent unions and organizations.  Absent vigorous civil society organizations where workers could learn needed organizational skills, an invigorated ACFTU could serve as a school for collective action.  Indeed, some argue, the Chinese state may have an interest in a more assertive ACFTU both as a way to smooth out the worst aspects of its sweat shop sector and preserve social stability and to deflect some attention away from the government’s failure to protect worker rights. Of course, whether or to what degree, the ACFTU can be transformed is an open question—the experience of a number of countries shows that transformation from state or employer controlled unions is highly unpredictable.

It’s noteworthy that new laws on arbitration and mediation and, most importantly, the election of local union officials—which could contribute to the reform of the ACFTU—are in the pipeline and could be acted on the coming year. In any event, according to this line of thought, identifying and working with progressive elements in the 100 million member ACFTU can be a key part of building global solidarity for the future

Other, equally well informed labor rights advocates inside and outside of China, insist that the ACFTU is simply a tool of the Chinese state with little concern for workers’ interests or in taking meaningful action against employers.  Indeed, they argue, the stated aim of the ACFTU is to build “harmonious” relations with employers.   It does not engage in strikes nor advocate for the right to strike, its leaders are hand-picked and are often company managers rather than workers. The ACFTU, according to many activists on the ground in China, is unpopular with workers who tend to view it as part of the repressive apparatus in the workplace. Working with the ACFTU serves only to legitimate it according to these critics. After all, they say, some European and Japanese trade unions have been “engaged” with the ACFTU for almost a decade with little to show for their efforts. The better course, they argue, is to invest resources in the small but growing contingent of independent grassroots community based groups advocating for worker rights.

The truth may be that there is value in many different approaches to China by labor. The CtW trip may very well have opened up an important avenue to reach out to, and work with, progressive elements in a rapidly changing union.  Engagement, as Greg Tarpinian points out, is not endorsement. But because those who are developing new relationships with the ACFTU run the risk of granting legitimacy to a state controlled union with a history of promoting the employers interest more than that of workers, they have the added obligation of using whatever new leverage they might have to vigorously promote the rights to freedom of association, to form unions, and to strike. These are rights that workers all over the world have fought for over the past 150 years. And even if they are under attack everywhere they must remain at the center of trade union struggles. In addition, the international labor movement must also back up its support for labor rights by working with grassroots organizations in China.

At the same time the ITUC and other labor organiztions might step up their activity in China by seeking out progressive elements in the ACFTU and offering some concrete support.

One thing that CtW officials, the ITUC, and most independent labor rights advocates are in strong agreement on is support for a concrete struggle—to fight international capital’s effort to limit Chinese workers’ rights by lobbying against China’s draft labor law.

CtW officials have roundly criticized US based corporate lobbying against the new code on a number of occasions. They raised those concerns when they met with corporate groups in China.

For its part in its letter to the Hu Jintao the ITUC states:

…..[W]e take this opportunity to condemn many of the arguments and lobbying deployed by transnational corporations and private business enterprises in opposing this law. We are saddened but not particularly surprised at the comments which have exposed the marked difference between the alleged desire of the transnational corporations to help develop the Chinese economy and bring economic progress to its citizens on the one hand, and the obvious unease they felt at the new law which would mean higher protection for their workers on the other hand.

In the final analysis, the job of international labor movement is to support the acquisition of true labor rights by Chinese workers whether they choose to do this by transforming existing labor organizations, creating new ones, or both.

M.O.