Li Wangyang, a veteran labour activist who was only released from a ten year prison term last year, was found dead, hanging from a window in his hospital room, on 6 June; his family told the media yesterday.
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Workers at the Ohms electronics factory in Shenzhen got their first taste of democracy on 27 May when they voted for their own trade union chairman. The workers had demanded their own representative trade union during a strike at the factory two months earlier and their success left them exuberant but also uncertain about what the future might hold.
Direct elections at enterprise trade unions will become increasingly commonplace in Shenzhen, the deputy head of the city’s trade union federation predicted following the highly publicised election of a new trade union chairman at the Ohms electronics factory in Shenzhen this weekend. Photograph of Shenzhen factory workers by Remko Tanis available @ flcikr under a creative commons license.
Well-known democracy campaigner and workers’ rights activist Hu Mingjun is to be released from prison on 28 May after serving an 11 year prison term for “subversion of state power,” Human Rights in China reported today. He is believed to be in very poor health.
he Chinese government is seeking to reassure workers of their rights, a move activists say highlights Beijing's concern that possible labor unrest could cause disruptions to social stability.
Following two rooftop protests by workers this year at its Wuhan subsidiary, Foxconn has drafted an agreement (承诺书) under which its management staff promise not to instigate, organize or participate in any disruptive activities, the Boxun news network reported. The agreement also prevents staff from releasing any unauthorised information about the company or doing anything to harm its reputation. Any infraction of the rules will result in punishment, it said.
When the boss refuses to listen to workers’ grievances, those workers often have no option but to go on strike. But whether or not this tactic works sometimes depends on workers’ media advocacy skills.
Collective Bargaining Research examines the strike at the LG factory in Nanjing last December, and shows how collective bargaining could have provided a more effective solution.
Every year on Labour Day, China’s leaders make a big show of thanking the country’s workers for their endeavours and their contributions to the national economy. It is a well-rehearsed and rather tired publicity stunt not normally worthy of comment but this year Premier Wen Jiabao did something a bit more interesting. He visited bus crews and sanitation workers, two groups of workers who have been at the forefront of labour activism over the last few years.
After an upsurge in strike action last month, generated in part by transport workers’ dissatisfaction over the cost of fuel, the focus of labour activism returned to the factory floor in April, particularly in those factories that were planning to downsize or relocate. China Labour Bulletin recorded a total of 30 strikes in April, down eight from a month ago. Strikes in the manufacturing sector however rose 17 percent from March to 20 cases in April.
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