The Emerging Approaches to Settle Strikes in China

Article One of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (2004) could not be clearer. China is a “socialist state under the people’s democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants”. This apparent collective “exceptionality” of China stands in stark contrast to the dominant political ideologies of the current individualistic neo-liberal era of capitalist globalisation. However, when I look at China through a lens of labour relations and the class struggles they generate, the case for China’s “generality” – as opposed to “exceptionality” – hoves into view: it is very clear that the country is marked by high inequality, a poor implementation of labour laws and an obvious power imbalance between the forces of capital and the forces of labour relations in which the state mostly supports the former. Seen through this lens, China no longer resembles a state “led by the working class” but rather a state focused on containing one that is finding its voice. It is this contentious dynamic that I examine in this paper

Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 2014

A qualitative shift is underway in the nature of labor protest in China. Contrary to prior literature that characterized strikes as being largely defensive in nature, the authors suggest that since 2008, Chinese workers have been striking offensively for more money, better working conditions, and more respect from employers. They explain these developments using a “political process” model that suggests economic and political opportunities are sending “cognitive cues” to workers that they have increased leverage, leading them to be more assertive in their demands. Such cues include a growing labor shortage, new labor laws, and new media openness. Their argument is supported by a unique data set of strikes that the authors collected, two case studies of strikes in aerospace factories, and interviews with a variety of employment relations stakeholders.

book chapter in Benjamin Rubbers (ed.), Inside Mining Capitalism. The Micropolitics of Work on the Congolese and Zambian Copperbelts, 2021

The project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement n° 646802). The ideas developed in this work reflect the authors' views alone. The ERC is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library ISBN 978-1-84701-286-9 (James Currey paperback) ISBN 978-1-80010-318-4 (James Currey ePDF) The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate Cover image: Workers washing copper plates in a solvent extraction and electrowinning plant (photograph © Héritier Amonda

International Union Rights, 2015

China Quarterly, 2019

What impact is the current rise in workplace conflict having on governance in China? This article argues that, over time, protests are driving the state in two directions at once: towards greater repression and greater responsiveness. Using an original dataset of strikes, protests and riots by Chinese workers between 2003 and 2012, along with government budgetary and judicial statistics, the article demonstrates that significant, positive correlations exist at the provincial level between increased unrest on the one hand and both increased spending on the People's Armed Police (repression) and increasing numbers of pro-worker and split decisions in mediation, arbitration and court cases (responsiveness) on the other. Feedback effects exist with regard to responsiveness, though: more cases in which workers win something in turn seem to spur greater unrest. The article closes by noting the changes since Xi Jinping took office and examining the implications of the findings for China's political development.

2012

Since the 1990s, Chinese workers at state-owned enterprises had put up many fights against privatization but with lackluster results. The migrant workers, on the other hand, have mostly been a silent majority, putting up with appalling working conditions. Though resistances among some of them have often arisen, most of these are spontaneous and not organized. However, the CHAM workers had been successful not only in winning an increase in their wages but also pushing the government and the company to agree to a revamp of the workplace union after a 19-day strike in 2010. The CHAM case attracted international concern on the potential rise of the Chinese workers' power and this also pushed the ACFTU to make further reform. Yet, the question remains-does the re-elected Honda trade union really represent the workers? In this article, we will reveal the truth about the ACFTU's engineered reform of the Honda trade union through workers interviews and data analysis. On May 17, 2010, workers at the Honda Auto Parts Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (CHAM) in the Nanhai district of Foshan city in China's Guangdong province downed their tools in a bid to improve their substandard wages. However, their bosses, the local authorities, and even their local trade union did what they could to smother their initiatives. The strikers doggedly held their ground, refusing to compromise. Eventually, after striking for 90 days, they were able to strike a deal with the bosses under which workers would get a pay rise, and their trade union would be overhauled. It is fair to describe this strike as an important milestone in the history of struggles of China's workers. While the workers at Foxconn responded to their harsh working conditions with a defeatist series of suicides, their CHAM counterparts adopted a very different approach. Both developments served as a wake-up call to draw attention to the shockingly awful positions that China's workers are in, but the CHAM case is especially indicative of the potential of the Chinese working class in the struggle for their rights. It provides a glimpse of the might of workers when they act in unison as was the case between CHAM's regular workforce and interns. The most important of all was the strikers' prominent call to reelect their union by frontline workers, a bold act to challenge the status quo.

China Information, 2017

Worker protests in China are increasing in frequency, and workers are making more ambitious demands. However, it is unclear whether this activism is, on the whole, drawing a reformist or conservative response from officials. Using a 2014 survey of city-level leaders from China's official trade union federation, we find that an acknowledgement of the seriousness of today's labour disputes and of how the country's industrial relations are changing is positively correlated with respondents' optimism regarding the likelihood of changes to China's political system. To determine exactly what this means ideologically, we further compare reform optimists and pessimists with regard to their support for a range of more specific policies, finding that those who believe systemic changes are close at hand have different views from their peers regarding the importance of engagement with global civil society and a tripartite (government, union, employer) approach to managing workplaces. This provides tentative support for the idea that reform optimists are reform supporters and that interest in change among Chinese officials, at least at the level studied here, is growing alongside workplace conflict.

This paper argues that whilst the relationship between US consumerism and China’s low-wage production has underpinned China’s economic growth in recent years, policy-makers are increasingly cognisant of heightened internal and external vulnerabilities, namely increased domestic social unrest and down- turns in US demand. Despite calls for increased domestic consumption, opinion remains divided as to the extent to which policy-makers will make a genuine departure with China’s export-orientation. This paper argues, however, that the direction of the Chinese political economy will depend much on the transformative role of workers’ struggles. Placed in a broader north-east Asian comparative perspective, we argue that China appears to be on the verge of a transition towards a limited labour supply, as evidenced in increasing labour shortages, rising wages costs and new forms of labour unrest. An in-depth case study of the strike at Nanhai Honda in 2010 suggests that China’s migrant workers are beginning to develop a class consciousness and move from reactive to proactive demands. Furthermore, the response of the Chinese state and employers has shifted from one of outright repression to one of accommodation. These trends are likely to be highly significant in terms of China’s uneven integration into the global economy.

China Information, 2017

Contrary to some scholars’ assertions, worker-led collective bargaining has become a practical reality in China, especially as seen in Guangdong Province between 2011 and 2015. This article analyses the practices and strategies of negotiation to show how this is possible in a regime that recognizes neither independent trade unions nor the right to strike. Labour NGOs have become a catalyst for collective action that enables workers to change the power balance with employers, official unions and local authorities and alter their response to labour conflicts. This article thus challenges the concept of ‘bargained authoritarianism’ by stressing social actors’ ability to carve out a space for negotiating authoritarianism despite obvious limits and tightening political constraints. However, collective bargaining will remain ad hoc and localized as long as trade unions and local authorities refuse to strike a durable alliance with workers and labour NGOs.