China backs workers in foreign firms as unrest grows

China backs workers in foreign firms as unrest grows

By Geoffrey Murray

BEIJING (Kyodo): China has made it clear that it will not
sacrifice workers' rights and interests for the sake of
attracting more foreign investment.

The official media has recently begun highlighting labor
unrest in foreign-owned companies and joint ventures, with
warnings to foreign employers that they must abide by Chinese
labor law, and not try to prevent their workforces from taking
strike action.

No matter how much the country might need foreign capital and
technology, say Chinese officials, "we cannot sacrifice the
interests of Chinese laborers to please certain foreign
investors."

Most of the unrest seems to be in Hong Kong-, Taiwanese- and
South Korean-operated low-tech manufacturing concerns, which, in
any case, Beijing regards as a less attractive type of foreign
investment.

Japanese companies, so far, have escaped fairly lightly,
although there was a strike at the Canon Zhuhai camera factory in
the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone in 1992 over money and working
conditions, which took a considerable time to resolve.

Nevertheless, with the central government now actively
encouraging workers to form in-house unions and to battle for
their rights -- supported by a new Workers Law which sets out the
roles and responsibilities for both sides -- more disputes are
predicted.

Considerable unrest has been reported in the southern province
of Guangdong, where mainly Hong Kong and Taiwanese concerns run
many low-tech factories.

A recent survey of the area by the provincial branch of the
All-China Federation of Trade Unions reported that almost 90
percent of workers there worked without any protection of their
safety, eight out of 10 said they had been forced to work
overtime or even work without pay to meet output quotas, and 18.9
percent reported they had suffered beatings or other forms of
physical abuse for complaining about conditions.

The Labor Ministry says most disputes occur in the small and
medium-sized enterprises, "mainly those which send materials,
designs and samples to be processed in China," and which,
according to one official, do not bring much capital into the
country.

"They didn't bring any advanced management experience or
technology. They were merely workshops, and not the main target
for China in seeking to attract foreign investment," the official
added.

Gradually the government has made clear that it wants these
sort of operations to disappear.

Chinese newspapers rarely report strikes unless they are in
joint ventures, and there is usually a message behind any stories
that appear.

A recent front-page report in the Workers' Daily about a
dispute at a South Korean clothing factory made its point very
clearly, with a headline blaring "If you make money on Chinese
land by using Chinese labor, you must abide by Chinese law."

The labor dispute occurred at the end of June but has only
just been reported. In it, some 600 women at the Li Da clothing
factory in the Qinhuangdao economic and technology zone in
northern Hebei Province walked out in protest at poor pay and
working conditions.

They demanded shorter hours, ending of excessive overtime,
wage rises, proper labor contracts and "the right not to be
beaten or insulted."

The Workers Law states that no more than 36 hours overtime may
be worked in a month, but the clothing factory employees said
this provision was completely ignored, leaving them little time
for their household chores at the end of a long and tiring day's
work.

The company had actually been fined 50,000 Yuan (5,747 U.S.
dollars) a month before for violations of the working hours'
provisions, but no changes in the schedule were made, the
newspaper reported.

The management rejected the workers' initial request, declared
the strike illegal, dismissed five workers' representatives and
penalized nine others.

But after tough negotiations, the women won their first pay
rise in two years, along with a guarantee of one day a week off
work, and a maximum of 36 hours overtime a month.

More importantly, perhaps, the Communist Party committee of
Qinhuangdao announced the formation of a labor union federation
for workers in foreign-invested enterprises. Production targets
will now be set jointly by shop stewards, trade union
representatives and the foreign managers, the committee
announced.

The latter is an important point. Workers accustomed to
lackadaisical work routines at state-run enterprises, where
quotas or lack of orders leave employees with a lot of time on
their hands, have had something of a shock when moving to
foreign-run companies where wages are higher -- but so are the
demands on their time.

Japanese companies complain of a high turnover of workers, for
example, primarily due to those who quit thinking "we're expected
to work too hard."

Meanwhile, in another dispute reported by the Workers' Daily,
the Hong Kong general manager of Beijing's prestigious Palace
Hotel, a venture built with money from the British colony, was
forced to retract the dismissals of four workers after protests
by other employees.

The four drivers were dismissed on the grounds that the
hotel's business was not good. They responded by barricading the
front entrance of the hotel with a bus until they won
reinstatement.

The newspaper said the hotel had failed to abide by Chinese
law requiring 15 days notice of dismissal. The men had also lost
their jobs without the knowledge of the hotel's trade union or
its Chinese joint general manager, the paper said.

The Workers' Daily reported the result of the dispute at the
Li Dang factory as a victory for the workers, and quoted the
factory manager as contritely accepting the need to abide by
Chinese law.

Other Chinese newspapers which reported the incident and the
trouble at the Palace Hotel emphasized that it is important for
foreign investors to "draw the right lessons" if they want to
enjoy labor harmony in their operations.