More than half the strikes and worker protests recorded by CLB last month occurred in the service sector, with protests by transport workers being particularly prevalent. A total of 45 protests were recorded on CLB’s strike map in April, about the same level as in March. There were 27 incidents in the service sector and 17 of those were in transport. Photograph of worker protest outside Yamada store in Jiangsu.

In China Labour Bulletin’s third comprehensive report on pneumoconiosis in China, we highlight the efforts of the workers fighting for justice, the growing support they have received from the media and civil society, and the wholly inadequate response thus far of the government. Photograph of pneumoconiosis activist He Bing by CLB.

The Chinese government last month invited public comment on its proposals to improve the implementation of the Work-related Injury Insurance Regulations (工伤保险条例). The proposals issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) are on the whole constructive and should help better protect the rights of victims of occupational injury and illness. However, China Labour Bulletin has noted a few potential problems in the proposals, which we outlined in a detailed submission to the MOHRSS in mid-February.

A Yunnan villager describes how the encroachment of coal mining has all but destroyed his village and caused almost irreparable environmental damage.