[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
WORKER RIGHTS
=======================================================================
EXCERPTED
from the
2011 ANNUAL REPORT
of the
CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 10, 2011
__________
Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov
_____
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20402-0001
CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
House Senate
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, SHERROD BROWN, Ohio, Cochairman
Chairman MAX BAUCUS, Montana
CARL LEVIN, Michigan
DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
SUSAN COLLINS, Maine
JAMES RISCH, Idaho
EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
SETH D. HARRIS, Department of Labor
MARIA OTERO, Department of State
FRANCISCO J. SANCHEZ, Department of Commerce
KURT M. CAMPBELL, Department of State
NISHA DESAI BISWAL, U.S. Agency for International Development
Paul B. Protic, Staff Director
Lawrence T. Liu, Deputy Staff Director
(ii)
Worker Rights
Findings
Workers in China still are not guaranteed,
either by law or in practice, full worker rights in
accordance with international standards, including the
right to organize into independent unions. The All-
China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), the official
union under the direction of the Communist Party, is
the only legal trade union organization in China. All
lower level unions must be affiliated with the ACFTU.
The Commission continues to note the lack of
genuine labor representation in China. ACFTU officials
continue to state that it is their goal to develop
stronger representation for workers. In January 2011,
for example, the ACFTU announced its plan to establish
a system of electing worker representatives in 80
percent of unionized public enterprises and 70 percent
of unionized non-public enterprises in 2011. In March
2011, Zhang Mingqi, the vice chairman of the ACFTU,
acknowledged that an increase in worker actions was due
to enterprises having ``neglected the legal rights and
benefits of workers'' for many years. Multiple
localities in China also announced plans to establish
collective wage consultation systems in coming years,
including Qingdao, Changde, Rizhao, Qinhuangdao, and
Shenzhen.
At the same time, advocates for worker rights
in China continue to be subjected to harassment and
abuse. In particular, officials appear to target
advocates who have the ability to organize and mobilize
large groups of workers. For example, in October 2010,
a Xi'an court sentenced labor lawyer and advocate Zhao
Dongmin to three years in prison for organizing workers
at state-owned enterprises. Authorities charged him
with ``mobilizing the masses to disrupt social order.''
Authorities continue to detain Yang Huanqing for
organizing teachers in fall 2010 to petition against
social insurance policies they alleged to be unfair.
As the Commission found in 2010, Chinese
authorities continue to face the challenge of
accommodating a younger, more educated, and rights-
conscious workforce. In February 2011, the ACFTU
released a set of policy recommendations intended to
better address the demands of these young workers.
Younger workers, born in the 1980s and 1990s, continue
to be at the forefront of worker actions in China this
year, including large-scale street protests in southern
China in June 2011. These young workers also make up
about 100 million of China's 160 million migrant
workers, and compared to their parents, have higher
expectations regarding wages and labor rights. China's
Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu has pointed out
that many of these young workers have never laid down
roots, are better educated, are the only child in the
family, and are more likely to ``demand, like their
urban peers, equal employment, equal access to social
services, and even the obtainment of equal political
rights.''
With Chinese officials charged with preserving
``social stability,'' the extent to which they will
allow workers to bargain for higher wages and genuine
representation remains unclear. In part to address
official concern over the unequal distribution of
wealth across China and its potential effects on
``social unrest,'' the government reportedly is
considering a national regulation on wages. Chinese
media in the past year reported that the draft
regulation includes provisions creating a ``normal
increase mechanism'' for wages, defining a set of
standards to calculate overtime pay, and requiring the
management of certain ``monopolized industries''
(longduan qiye) to disclose to the government and the
public the salary levels of their senior employees.
The Commission continued to monitor the
progress of Guangdong province's draft Regulations on
Democratic Management of Enterprises, which reportedly
would extend to workers the right to ask for collective
wage consultations and allow worker members to sit on
the enterprise's board of directors and board of
supervisors, represent worker interests in the boards'
meetings, and take part in the enterprise's
decisionmaking processes. In September 2010, the
Standing Committee of the Guangdong People's Congress
reportedly withdrew the draft from further
consideration due to heavy opposition from industry.
During this reporting year, a major Hong Kong media
source reported that Guangdong authorities would
approve the draft in January 2011. However, no such
action has been observed.
Chinese workers, especially miners, continued
to face persistent occupational safety issues. In
November 2010, the ACFTU released figures showing a 32
percent increase in occupational illnesses in 2009, of
which the vast majority involved lung disease.
Officials took some efforts to close some mines and
promote safety, and fatalities have been consistently
reduced over the past few years, but uneven enforcement
reportedly continued to hinder such efforts. Collusion
between mine operators and local officials reportedly
remains widespread.
In January 2011, revisions to the Regulations
on Work-Related Injury Insurance became effective. The
changes include requiring officials to respond more
quickly to worker injury claims, but the effectiveness
of the changes is unclear. As the Commission reported
last year, the claims process may last for more than a
decade. The process is further complicated for migrant
workers who may already have left their jobs and moved
to another location by the time clinical symptoms
surface.
The extent of child labor in China is unclear
in part because the government does not release data on
child labor despite frequent requests by the U.S.
Government, other countries' governments, and
international organizations. While a national legal
framework exists to address the issue, systemic
problems in enforcement have dulled the effects of
these legal measures. Reports of child labor continued
to surface this past year. As an example, in March
2011, Shenzhen authorities reportedly found 40 children
working at an electronics factory.
The National People's Congress Standing
Committee passed the PRC Social Insurance Law in
October 2010, and it became effective on July 1, 2011.
The law specifies that workers may transfer their
insurance from one region to another and discusses five
major types of insurance: Old-age pension, medical,
unemployment, work-related injury, and maternity. No
implementing guidelines have been released and some
critics have said the law is too broad to be
implemented effectively. In addition, the extent to
which the law will enable a greater number of migrant
workers to obtain social insurance remains unclear. At
the same time, migrant workers continued to face
discrimination in urban areas, and their children still
faced difficulties accessing city schools. Employment
discrimination more generally continued to be a serious
problem, especially for workers without urban household
registration status.
Recommendations
Members of the U.S. Congress and Administration officials
are encouraged to:
Support projects promoting reform of Chinese
labor laws and regulations to reflect internationally
recognized labor principles. Prioritize projects that
not only focus on legislative drafting and regulatory
development, but also analyze implementation and
measure progress in terms of compliance with
internationally recognized labor principles at the
shop-floor level.
Support multi-year pilot projects that showcase
the experience of collective bargaining in action for
both Chinese workers and trade union officials;
identify local trade union offices found to be more
open to collective bargaining; and focus pilot projects
in those locales. Where possible, prioritize programs
that demonstrate the ability to conduct collective
bargaining pilot projects even in factories that do not
have an official union presence. Encourage the
expansion of exchanges between Chinese labor rights
advocates in non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the
bar, academia, the official trade union, and U.S.
collective bargaining practitioners. Prioritize
exchanges that emphasize face-to-face meetings with
hands-on practitioners and trainers.
Encourage research that identifies factors
underlying inconsistency in enforcement of labor laws
and regulations. This includes projects that prioritize
the large-scale compilation and analysis of Chinese
labor dispute litigation and arbitration cases and
guidance documents issued by, and to, courts at the
provincial level and below, leading ultimately to the
publication and dissemination of Chinese language
casebooks that may be used as a common reference
resource by workers, arbitrators, judges, lawyers,
employers, union officials, and law schools in China.
Support capacity-building programs to strengthen
Chinese labor and legal aid organizations involved in
defending the rights of workers. Encourage Chinese
officials at local levels to develop, maintain, and
deepen relationships with labor organizations inside
and outside of China and to invite these groups to
increase the number of training programs in mainland
China. Support programs that train workers in ways to
identify problems at the factory-floor level, equipping
them with skills and problem-solving training so they
can relate their concerns to employers effectively.
Where appropriate, share the United States'
ongoing experience and efforts in protecting worker
rights--through legal, regulatory, or non-governmental
means--with Chinese officials. Expand site visits and
other exchanges for Chinese officials to observe and
share ideas with U.S. labor rights groups, lawyers, the
U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), and other regulatory
agencies at all levels of U.S. Government that work on
labor issues.
Support USDOL's exchange with China's Ministry of
Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) regarding
setting and enforcing minimum wage standards;
strengthening social insurance; improving employment
statistics; and promoting social dialogue and exchanges
with China's State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS)
regarding improving workplace safety and health.
Support the annual labor dialogue with China that USDOL
started in 2010 and its plan for the establishment of a
safety dialogue. Encourage discussion on the value of
constructive interactions among labor NGOs, workers,
employers, and government agencies. Encourage exchanges
that emphasize the importance of government
transparency in developing stable labor relations and
in ensuring full and fair enforcement of labor laws.
Introduction
Workers in China still are not guaranteed, either by law or
in practice, full worker rights in accordance with
international standards, including the right to organize into
independent unions. Advocates for worker rights in China
continued to be subjected to harassment and abuse. The All-
China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), the official union
under the direction of the Communist Party, is the only legal
trade union organization in China. All lower level unions must
be affiliated with the ACFTU.
During the 2011 reporting year, Chinese authorities have
faced the dual challenges of accommodating a younger, more
educated, and rights-conscious workforce and addressing changes
in economic development patterns (including inland growth,
fewer workers migrating to coastal areas, rising wages, and
labor shortages in some locales). Due in part to shifting
labor, economic, and demographic conditions, official and
unofficial reports have indicated that workers appeared to have
gained increased leverage in the relationship between labor and
capital. In recent years, Chinese workers have become more
assertive in securing their rights, higher wages, more genuine
representation, and better protection under China's labor laws.
In some cases during this reporting year, workers continued to
channel their grievances through, and to seek guidance, advice,
and legal aid from, labor lawyers and advocates. At the same
time, authorities have harassed, detained, and sent to prison
labor advocates who attempted to organize workers for
``disrupting social order.'' Some local officials reportedly
beat and kicked striking workers and labor petitioners, and
reports of attacks on migrant workers seeking back pay
continued to surface.
With Chinese officials charged with preserving ``social
stability,'' the extent to which they will allow workers to
bargain for higher wages and genuine representation remains
unclear. Principles and different aspects of collective
bargaining rights have been mentioned in multiple drafts of
local and national regulations during this reporting year,
including the draft Regulation on Wages--proposed in part to
address official concern over the unequal distribution of
wealth across China and its potential effects on ``social
unrest''--as well as trials and measures for collective wage
negotiations in different localities. Some critics, however,
have questioned the lack of specifics in some of these
proposals and, thus, their eventual effectiveness.
Rights Consciousness, Worker Actions, and ``Social Stability''
During this reporting year, Chinese officials have
continued to assess the characteristics of the new generation
of migrant workers as well as their significance on the
shifting labor landscape, public safety, and ``social
stability.'' \1\ Chinese government statistics suggest that
these young workers constitute 61.6 percent of all migrant
workers.\2\ In February 2011, the ACFTU released a study
identifying the characteristics unique to current young migrant
workers. The document also provided several policy
recommendations for ``resolving the problems facing the new
generation of migrant workers in realizing their rights and
interests.'' \3\ The report notes that over half of young
migrant workers are unmarried and that 74.1 percent of them had
``studied in school'' prior to leaving home. By contrast, only
35.4 percent of the ``traditional migrants,'' those born before
1980, had studied in school.\4\ These young migrant workers
also are mostly concentrated in secondary and tertiary
industries and are overwhelmingly employed by private
enterprises (84.3 percent) as opposed to state-owned
enterprises (12.5 percent).\5\ On average, they receive lower
wages (167.27 yuan (US$26) lower than ``traditional
migrants''); are more likely to sign labor contracts that lack
specific provisions detailing minimum pay in line with local
regulations; have less employment stability; face ``relatively
more hidden dangers'' in terms of workplace safety; and are
less likely to join labor unions (44.6 percent of young migrant
workers are union members, versus 56 percent of ``traditional
migrants'').\6\
The ACFTU report provides several recommendations on ways
in which the government may more effectively accommodate
younger workers' unique life experiences and characteristics.
Some of the suggestions include strengthening efforts to tackle
wage disparities, advance social insurance programs, provide
technical training to increase young migrant workers'
competitiveness and ability to adjust to changing
circumstances, encourage localities to explore methods to
reform the household registration system, and organize young
migrant workers into unions and facilitate channels for them to
address their grievances.\7\ These suggestions appear to
reflect the Chinese government's initial ideas to grapple with
the aforementioned generational changes, a generation of
migrant workers who, as one senior Chinese official observed,
have never put down roots, are better educated, are only
children, and are more likely to demand equal access to
employment and social services--and even equal political
rights--in the cities.\8\
Official and unofficial reports indicate that, for the most
part, the young migrant workers described above have been at
the forefront of recent worker actions.\9\ Worker actions have
been common in China in recent years, and that continues to be
the case during the 2011 reporting year. China Strikes, a Web
site dedicated to ``track[ing] strikes, protests and other
collective actions taken by Chinese workers to defend their
rights and interests,'' recorded at least 32 such actions by
workers from October 2010 to May 2011.\10\
As with the spate of worker actions that took place in the
spring and summer of 2010 that garnered international
attention, workers during this reporting year took action to
recover back wages, protest the non-payment of wages, call for
higher pay, and, for some older workers, demand due
compensation in the cases of restructuring at certain
enterprises. Social inequality and the lack of rule of law
reportedly played a role in driving low-paid migrant workers to
participate in a series of riots and protests in southern China
in June 2011.\11\ In April 2011, workers reportedly blocked the
front gate of a liquor factory protesting the compensation
terms during restructuring.\12\ In the same month, more than
1,000 truck drivers in Shanghai municipality, reacting to
rising fuel costs, protested for higher pay. In March 2011,
about 80 sanitation workers in Guangzhou city, Guangdong
province, took part in work stoppages to protest non-payment of
wages, claiming that management owed each worker from 3,000 to
4,000 yuan (US$464 to US$618) for overtime and other
allowances.\13\ In November 2010, an ``entire street'' in
Foshan city, Guangdong province, was reportedly ``filled with
workers,'' perhaps up to 7,000, as management at Foxconn, a
Taiwanese-owned company that produces electronics, allegedly
forced workers to sign contracts with terms that many workers
found unsatisfactory.\14\ Starting in October 2010, about 70
workers at a Japanese-owned factory took part in strikes to
demand that the company comply with China's labor laws,
including the right to sign contracts and to be compensated
with overtime payments.\15\
Chinese authorities during this reporting year continued to
harass, detain, and imprison labor advocates and lawyers whom
officials deemed to be threats to ``social stability.'' For
example, authorities ordered Yang Huanqing, a teacher in
Jingzhou city, Hubei province, to serve one year of reeducation
through labor in March 2011 for ``disrupting work unit order''
when he supposedly organized 22 and 33 dismissed teachers in
October and November 2010, respectively, to petition in
Beijing. Yang reportedly led the teachers to petition against
social insurance policies they alleged were unfair.\16\
In another case that reflects authorities' concern with
labor advocates' and lawyers' ability to organize and mobilize
large groups of workers, the Xincheng District People's Court
in Xi'an city, Shaanxi province, sentenced labor lawyer and
advocate Zhao Dongmin to three years' imprisonment on October
2010 for ``gathering a crowd to disrupt social order.'' \17\
Zhao had allegedly organized workers at state-owned enterprises
in Xi'an in April 2009 to establish the Shaanxi Union Rights
Defense Representative Congress, an organization that,
according to China Labor News Translations, a Web site
dedicated to analyzing developments in China labor relations,
was ``critical of the Chinese [state-run] trade union's failure
to represent the interests of state sector employees in
restructured and/or privatized enterprises.'' \18\ Prior to
Zhao's arrest, Shaanxi authorities had warned that Zhao and
others had:
seriously disrupted the normal workings of Party and
government organs and have become a huge potential
danger to social stability. They have made use of
problems in society, including using old and frail
enterprise retirees as cannon fodder to pressure the
government. They have stirred up extreme delusions and
fanned the flames in an extremely outrageous manner. If
resolute measures are not adopted, they will grow into
a threatening force and are very likely to wreak even
greater havoc to social stability.\19\
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
The Chinese government prevents workers in China from
exercising their constitutional right to freedom of
association.\20\ Trade union activity in China is organized
under the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), a
quasi-governmental organization under the direction of the
Communist Party.\21\ Leading trade union officials hold
concurrent high-ranking positions in the Party. The ACFTU
Constitution and the Trade Union Law of 1992 both highlight the
dual nature of the ACFTU to protect the legal rights and
interests of workers while supporting the leadership of the
Party and the broader goals and interests of the Chinese
government.\22\ The ACFTU monopolizes many worker rights issues
in China, such as shop-floor organizing and formalistic
collective contract negotiations, but it does not consistently
or uniformly advance the rights of workers.\23\
At the shop-floor level, the ACFTU's unions remain weak and
marginalized. While the ACFTU and its affiliated unions at
lower administrative levels sometimes may play an important
role in legislative and regulatory development, this role is
not matched with power at the enterprise level. Generally
speaking, firm-level union branches are weak, non-democratic,
and subordinate to management.\24\ Despite an increase in
legislation and administrative regulations that grants the
ACFTU more power at the firm level to resolve disputes, the
structural weaknesses of the trade union branches make
improvements in trade union autonomy and worker advocacy
difficult and slow.\25\
collective contracting
Collective contracts and some process of collective
consultation and negotiation have been part of Chinese labor
relations since the 1990s, when state enterprise reform
deepened and labor conflict began to increase rapidly,
especially in the private sector. The ACFTU has championed
collective contracts and collective negotiations as important
foundations for trade union work at the enterprise level. In
recent years, the collective contract system has received more
Chinese government and Communist Party support as part of an
attempt to institutionalize a tripartite system of labor
relations at the local level between the government, the ACFTU,
and the employer associations.\26\ Moreover, some Chinese
officials have stated in public that collective consultation--
and, in the process, fostering more genuine representation for
workers--could be an effective way to defuse labor disputes and
develop ``harmonious labor relations.'' \27\
In January 2011, the ACFTU published a set of ``work
objectives'' for the new year, stating the organization's goal
to ``set up trade union organizations according to law to
unionize the vast majority of workers[.]'' \28\ More
specifically, some of the benchmarks that the ACFTU document
provided include the boosting of national unionization rates at
``businesses with corporate capacity to 65 [percent],'' and an
increase in ``the number of union memberships to make up more
than 80 [percent] by the end of 2011'' and ``over 90 [percent]
by the end of 2013.'' \29\ Even as the ACFTU supplied
quantifiable benchmarks, however, it is not clear how these
goals will be implemented in practice. It remains to be seen
whether such goals will facilitate the approval of local and
national regulations with specific implementation and follow-
through directives and measures, as well as the necessary
reforms to make unions more representative of workers'
interests.\30\
During this past year, the Commission continued to follow
developments concerning the Guangdong province draft
Regulations on Democratic Management of Enterprises
(Regulations). As the Commission reported last year,\31\ the
draft Regulations would extend to workers the right to ask for
collective wage consultations \32\ and allow worker members to
sit on the enterprise's board of directors and board of
supervisors,\33\ represent worker interests in the boards'
meetings,\34\ and take part in the enterprise's decisionmaking
processes.\35\ In September 2010, reportedly under heavy
lobbying by members of the Hong Kong industrial community, many
of whom operate factories in southern China and are concerned
with rising production costs, the Guangdong People's Congress
Standing Committee decided to suspend further deliberation of
the draft Regulations.\36\ In January 2011, a source in the
Hong Kong industrial community who had met with officials in
Guangdong province reported to the South China Morning Post
that the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress would ``very
likely'' approve the draft Regulations later that month.\37\
Other unofficial sources, however, suggest that the approval
process of the draft Regulations seemed to have stalled
indefinitely.\38\
Other localities in China also announced plans to establish
collective wage consultation systems in the coming years. In
Qingdao city, Shandong province, for example, the Qingdao City
Health Bureau announced in March 2011 goals to establish a
system of ``equal collective wage consultation'' for all
contract workers within three years.\39\ In a city with more
than 40,000 medical workers, the health bureau's plan
reportedly will only cover contracted workers, who number
around 5,000.\40\ At medical organizations where unions do not
yet exist, a government document suggests that workers may
choose their own representatives.\41\ This past year, other
cities that reported plans for collective wage consultation
initiatives included Changde city, Hunan province; \42\ Rizhao
city, Shandong province; \43\ Qinhuangdao city, Hebei province;
\44\ and Guanghaiwei city, Zhejiang province.\45\ The Shenzhen
Municipal Trade Union reportedly plans to sign collective wage
contracts at 550 enterprises in the next year.\46\
The extent to which the ACFTU's stated goals, if
materialized, and other local experiments with collective
consultation will expand the space for greater and more genuine
worker representation remains unclear. At present, the
collective contract and consultation system remains weak and
formalistic in many cases because enterprise-level trade union
leaders are not positioned to serve the interests of their
workers. Many collective contracts reportedly solely reflect
the basic legal standards in the locality and often are the
result of concerted government or Party work to encourage the
enterprise to enter into formalistic contracts rather than the
result of genuine bargaining between management and the
enterprise trade union.\47\ Finally, none of the aforementioned
actions taken by different localities and the ACFTU have
changed the fact that freedom of association does not exist in
China.
Migrant Workers
Migrants are generally characterized as rural residents who
have left their place of residence to seek non-agricultural
jobs in Chinese cities, sometimes in the same province and
sometimes far from home. Official Chinese government statistics
break down the total number of migrants into those who spent
less than half the year as migrants, i.e., those who spent less
than six months during the year away from their place of legal
residence (61 million in 2010), and those who spent more than
half the year as migrants (160 million in 2010).\48\ The
government estimates that over the next three decades, about
300 million people are expected to relocate to urban areas.\49\
As a marginalized urban group, migrant workers are often
abused, exploited, or placed in unsafe work conditions by
employers who take advantage of their insecure social position
and lower levels of education.\50\ Persistent discrimination
reportedly continues to adversely affect the social, civil, and
political rights of migrant workers.\51\
In 2011, migrant workers continued to face serious
challenges in the workplace, such as wage arrears and non-
payment of wages.\52\ They also lacked access to reliable
social insurance, specifically payments covering occupational
injuries and diseases.\53\ Many localities have expanded
efforts to provide migrants with social insurance coverage.
Figures from the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social
Security indicated that, by mid-2011, 838 counties in 27
provinces and autonomous regions, as well as the four directly
administered municipalities, had launched what the State
Council has called the ``new-type rural social old-age
insurance pilots,'' covering 24 percent of the population in
these areas.\54\ A 2009 State Council document also provided
details on ways to make social insurance accounts transferable
as migrants move around the country.\55\ There still appear to
be significant problems in terms of participation (for both
employers and employees), coverage, and portability between
rural and urban areas.\56\ Migrant workers generally are able
to withdraw funds only from their individual accounts, losing
the larger percentage of their pensions that is paid by their
employers. With migrant workers facing uncertainty about
whether they will return to the same locale from one year to
the next to look for new work, and with the portability of
pension accounts highly restricted, some have chosen to
withdraw their pensions.\57\
Law on Social Insurance
The National People's Congress approved the PRC Law on
Social Insurance in October 2010, and it went into effect on
July 1, 2011.\58\ The law states that the Chinese government
will establish \59\ a system of basic old-age insurance,\60\
medical insurance,\61\ work-related injury insurance,\62\
unemployment insurance,\63\ and maternity insurance.\64\ It
specifies the respective responsibilities of employees and
employers to fund contributions for different insurance
programs. Under the law, both the employee and the employer,
for example, are required to contribute toward the basic
insurance funds for old-age pensions, medical care, and
unemployment benefits.\65\ For work-related injury and
maternity insurance, however, only the employer is responsible
for the contributions.\66\ The law also requires employers to
register employees with social insurance agencies within 30
days of hire,\67\ delineates the legal penalties for an
employer who fails to contribute the required funds within the
specified time limit,\68\ and grants social insurance agencies
the right to seek help from government administrative units--at
the county level or above--to request the transfer of funds
equal to the amount of missed payments from the appropriate
banking and financial institutions.\69\
One of the law's stated aims is to make social insurance
coverage ``sustainable,'' \70\ and the law specifies that
workers may transfer their accounts as they move from one
region to another. It explicitly states that ``rural residents
entering cities to work may participate in social insurance.''
\71\ In the cases of old-age and medical insurance, the law
seeks to enable their portability by stating that, for an
individual who travels from one region to another for work, his
or her basic old-age and medical insurance records ``will
transfer along with the individual,'' and the calculation of
his or her contributions will be ``cumulative.'' \72\ Once the
individual reaches retirement age, basic old-age insurance
benefits will be calculated by taking into account work
performed in all localities, but payments will be made in a
``unified'' way (i.e., no distinction between work done in
rural and urban areas).\73\ The law, however, states only that
``national coordination'' of old-age insurance pools and
``provincial coordination'' of the other four insurance pools
will be ``gradually implemented,'' leaving the ``specific time
frame [and] steps'' for the State Council to decide.\74\
Moreover, one foreign law firm pointed out that since the law
does not provide ``national united social insurance
contribution rates . . . employers would still need to refer to
the local regulations for contribution rates of the social
insurance schemes.'' \75\ At this point, the law's
effectiveness and ability to standardize and expand China's
social safety net remain unclear and implementation regulations
have yet to be issued.\76\
Wages
By the end of 2010, 30 provinces had reportedly raised
minimum wage levels by an average of 22.8 percent.\77\ Some
localities continued to establish higher levels of increases
thereafter.\78\ On March 1, 2011, Guangdong province announced
a four-tier minimum wage level chart, categorizing minimum wage
levels by region within the province.\79\ Authorities assigned
Guangzhou city, the provincial capital, a level of 1,300 yuan
(US$200) per month. Dongguan city, where many foreign-invested
factories are located, fell into the second category, with a
new minimum wage level of 1,100 yuan (US$170) per month. In
Shenzhen, effective April 1, 2011, the government raised the
minimum wage level by 20 percent, to 1,320 yuan (US$204) per
month, the highest in China.\80\ Other localities, such as
Shanghai municipality and Shandong province, also established
further increases.\81\ Reports indicate that some cities
proceeded to raise minimum wages because they struggled to
attract workers.\82\ Despite rising minimum wage levels,
however, reports also indicate that inflationary pressure
continued: Inflation stood at 5.4 percent in March 2011 \83\
and 5.5 percent in May 2011, with food prices rising by 11.7
percent.\84\
The PRC 1994 Labor Law guarantees minimum wages for workers
and requires local governments to set wage standards for each
region.\85\ The PRC Labor Contract Law improves formal
monitoring requirements by tasking local labor bureaus to
monitor labor practices to ensure rates adhere to minimum wage
standards.\86\ The law also imposes legal liability on
employers who pay rates below minimum wage.\87\ In addition,
the law guarantees minimum hourly wages for part-time
workers.\88\
Illegal labor practices, however, continue to undermine
minimum wage guarantees. Wage arrears remain a serious problem,
especially for migrant workers.\89\ Subcontracting practices
within industry reportedly also exacerbate the problem of wage
arrearages. When investors and developers default on their
payments to construction companies, workers at the end of the
chain of labor subcontractors may lack the means to recover
wages from the original defaulters. Some subcontractors neglect
their own duties to pay laborers and leave workers without any
direct avenue to demand their salaries.\90\ The Ministry of
Human Resources and Social Security, in conjunction with other
government agencies--including the Ministry of Public Security
and the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration
Commission--reportedly formed a ``united investigative group''
and examined wage arrears problems in provincial-level areas
such as Tianjin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Zhejiang,
Jiangxi, Liaoning, Guangxi, Qinghai, and Xinjiang.\91\
draft regulation on wages
In part to address official concern over the unequal
distribution of wealth across China and its potential effects
on ``social unrest,'' Chinese media sources indicated that the
Chinese government reportedly has assembled a ``basic
framework'' for a national regulation on wages.\92\ The
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) began
formulating the regulation in 2007, and officials reportedly
started soliciting comments and suggestions for a completed
draft in early 2009.\93\ Some media reports indicated that the
regulation would be approved sometime in 2010, though one
MOHRSS official later said that was never the case.\94\ It
appears that deliberations surrounding the pending regulation
likely will continue throughout 2011.\95\
Based on media reporting, the draft contains 10 sections,
including provisions that delineate the ``parameters for
collective contracts, collective consultations, and minimum
wages.'' \96\ In addition, the draft reportedly lays out
standards to determine minimum wage level increases, and
mandates certain enterprises to ``periodically and publicly
release average wage levels, increases, and bonuses''; \97\
requires that overtime compensation, time off given on days
with extreme temperatures, as well as various kinds of state
subsidies may not be factored into the calculation of wage
levels; \98\ calls upon provinces to consider local consumer
price indexes in setting minimum wage levels; \99\ and
establishes a ``normal increase mechanism'' to ``create a
system'' of collective wage consultations and ``open a
scientifically logical space for wage increases.'' \100\
Labor experts cited in Chinese media reports also commented
that the draft lacks clarity on certain points. For example, it
reportedly does not delineate whether or not employers will be
required to answer workers' demands for collective wage
negotiations, nor does it lay out the consequences for failing
to do so.\101\ One labor expert also supported the idea to
``link wage increases to the growth of enterprises,'' which
apparently was introduced in an earlier version of the
draft.\102\
Reportedly, the draft regulation attempts to bridge the
wealth gap with additional provisions such as requiring the
disclosure to both the government and the public of plans to
adjust salary levels and benefits within what one state-run
publication called ``monopolized industries.'' \103\ These so-
called ``monopolized industries'' (longduan qiye) refer to
state-owned enterprises in industries such as electricity,
telecommunications, insurance, and finance.\104\ Another
provision reportedly also would require these enterprises to
seek approval from three different government departments
before issuing bonuses or raises.\105\ One media report
suggested that these provisions have contributed to the delay
in the regulation's approval.\106\ One academic cited in the
same report stated that the draft's proposed ``interference
with or even control of wages through administrative methods
are not compatible with the trends of market economics.'' \107\
pressure to examine wage policies
In 2011, three developments continued to exert pressure on
Chinese officials at all levels to examine their policies on
wages: Labor shortages in certain areas, growing income
inequality, and the central government's acknowledgement of the
need to rebalance China's economy. During this reporting year,
the Commission monitored reports of labor shortages surfacing
in China's manufacturing centers, particularly in the south and
coastal areas.\108\ As early as 2006, the PRC State Council
Development Research Center found that 75 percent of the 2,749
villages surveyed in China ``no longer have young laborers to
move'' outward,\109\ and other reports also suggest that more
migrant workers are opting to pursue opportunities in their
home provinces.\110\ Such developments reportedly have
contributed to the upward pressure on wage levels and, combined
with other factors, have made some factory owners consider
moving their operations further inland or to Southeast Asian
countries in order to keep production costs competitive.\111\
At the same time, it has been pointed out that ``improved
productivity can pay for more than half of these wage
increases, while the other half can be passed in the form of
higher customer prices.'' \112\ Moreover, despite moderate
increases, wages actually have fallen for 22 straight years in
proportion to China's gross domestic product.\113\
The unequal distribution of wealth received much attention
in recent years. The National People's Congress and the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference featured this issue
prominently during their March 2010 meetings.\114\ In 2011, the
Chinese media continued to report on the growing gap between
the rich and the poor.\115\ The current ``income ratio among
China's eastern, central, and western regions'' is roughly
1.52:1:0.68.\116\ Moreover, the distribution has grown more
unequal over time, with rural areas lagging far behind the
urban regions.\117\ According to a November 2010 Chinese
report, the ratio of ``urban to rural income'' was 2.9:1 in
2001, 3.22:1 in 2005, and 3.31:1 in 2008.\118\ The difference
between the top and bottom 10 percent of China's income earners
has increased from a multiple of 7.3 in 1988 to 23 in
2009.\119\
Chinese officials have appeared more willing to openly
acknowledge that a higher consumption rate within China is an
important part of the government's efforts to rebalance the
country's economic development. The PRC Outline of the 12th
Five-Year Plan on National Economic and Social Development, for
example, noted that Chinese officials ``must be soberly aware
of the fact that the problems of lack of balance, lack of
coordination, and lack of sustainability in China's development
remain prominent'' and that the imbalance in the ``investment
and consumption relationship'' poses a challenge to the
country's future growth.\120\ More pointedly, Premier Wen
Jiabao has also described China's current growth model as
``unbalanced, unstable, uncoordinated, and unsustainable.''
\121\ Although some experts have said that reforms can be done
in the short term via ``administrative fiat,'' such as
``mandatory wage hikes,'' any rebalancing efforts will be
difficult, as ``state-backed and private corporate sectors are
likely to protest reforms that threaten their margins, as will
these sectors' support bases associated with their interests,
such as the commerce ministry and the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology.'' \122\
Occupational Safety and Work Conditions
legal framework and developments
The PRC Law on Safe Production, which took effect in 2002,
delineates a set of guidelines to prevent workplace accidents
and to keep ``their occurrence at a lower level, ensuring the
safety of people's lives and property and promoting the
development of the economy.'' \123\ Specifically, the law
charges principal leading members of production and business
units to educate workers on safety issues and formulate rules
of operation; \124\ protects workers' right to have knowledge
of, speak up about, and address work safety issues; \125\ sets
forth trade unions' rights to pursue workers' complaints over
safety issues; \126\ tasks local governments at the county
level or above to inspect and handle violations and potential
dangers in a timely manner; \127\ and lays out the consequences
for non-compliance.\128\
Workers in China, however, continued to face persistent
occupational safety issues, especially those working in the
mining industry. On November 9, 2010, Zhang Mingqi, the Vice
Chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, spoke to
reporters at the National Mining Industry Health and Safety
Experience Exchange Conference and stated that China had 18,128
reported cases of occupational-related illnesses in 2009, which
represented a 32 percent increase from the previous year.\129\
Of the 2009 cases, 14,495--about 80 percent--involved the lung
disease pneumoconiosis.\130\ The People's Daily has reported
that a total of 57,000 Chinese coal miners suffer from
pneumoconiosis annually, and more than 6,000 of them die from
the disease each year.\131\ Reportedly, ``pneumoconiosis is now
responsible for nearly three times as many deaths each year as
mine accidents.'' \132\
Miners are limited in their ability to promote safer
working conditions in part due to legal obstacles to
independent organizing. Collusion between mine operators and
local government officials reportedly remains widespread.\133\
Chinese authorities reportedly closed 1,600 small coal mines
with ``outdated facilities'' during the first 10 months of
2010.\134\ The State Administration of Work Safety issued a
directive in September 2010 requiring mine managers to spend
time in the shafts with workers in an effort to focus their
attention on safety issues; the directive also laid out
specific fines for managers who refused to do so.\135\ The
China Daily, however, reported that some managers skirted the
new requirements by handpicking ``people to be promoted to
`assistants to managers' and to accompany the miners'' in their
place.\136\
working conditions
Workplace abuses and poor working conditions remained a
persistent problem this reporting year. Allegations of unsafe
working environments, for example, continued to surface at
factories operated by Foxconn, a Taiwanese-owned company that
manufactures electronic products. In July, a worker died after
falling from his dormitory at one of Foxconn's factory
complexes in southern China.\137\ The Commission reported last
year that more than 10 employees committed suicide in 2010,
reportedly as a result of the harsh working conditions at the
company's production plants.\138\ Workers often cited low
wages, forced overtime, military-style management, and social
isolation as some of the major problems that they face.\139\
Reports also indicated that some workers are also exposed to
chemicals known to be harmful.\140\ In May 2011, a blast at
Foxconn's factory in Chengdu city killed 3 people and injured
16 others; the families of the factory's workers complained at
the time that Foxconn management ``turned down'' their demand
for ``a list of dead and injured.'' \141\ Poor conditions and
other workplace abuses also surfaced at other factories,
including ``routine excessive overtime'' that averaged 120
hours per month, use of harmful chemicals, poor ventilation,
arbitrary calculation of wages, and mistreatment by
management.\142\ The Commission also observed one recently
published report detailing a past case involving Chinese
prisoners who, in addition to doing hard labor during the day,
were ``forced to play online games'' at night ``to build up
credits that prison guards would then trade for real money.''
\143\
workers compensation
One major problem facing injured workers or their family
members seeking to receive timely compensation is China's
``complicated and incredibly time consuming'' work-related
injury compensation procedure.\144\ Some cases reportedly can
last for decades.\145\ It is difficult to determine the total
number of cases in part because many cases never are reported
due to the complicated nature of the compensation process.\146\
Moreover, Chinese courts and doctors do not routinely recognize
some occupational diseases. While traumatic work injuries and
deaths have been widely recognized and reported, experts on
workers compensation litigation in China report failure to
diagnose diseases like silicosis and failure to recognize that
the condition may be caused by exposure to chemicals at
work.\147\ As a result, the extent of work-related diseases
like silicosis remains difficult to measure and report on and,
therefore, in many cases goes largely unrecognized.\148\
In January 2011, the State Council's revisions to the
Regulations on Work-Related Injury Insurance (Work Injury
Regulations) became effective.\149\ The revisions made 24
changes to the old Regulations, clarifying the definitions of
what constituted ``occupational injuries''; \150\ adding law
firms and accounting firms, among others, to the list of
contributors to the occupational injury insurance fund; \151\
and stating that in applications where ``the facts are clear''
and ``rights and obligations are apparent,'' the social
insurance administrative department shall render a decision
within 15 days of accepting the applications.\152\
In addition to the aforementioned Work Injury Regulations,
the PRC Law on Social Insurance, which went into effect in July
2011, also addressed the topic of work-related injury
insurance.\153\ It clarifies that the ``employing unit,'' not
the worker, is responsible for contributing to the work-related
injury insurance fund.\154\ The law states that the
contribution rates will be determined by the ``risk level'' of
each industry, as well as the number of workplace injury cases
that occur in that industry, and leaves the task of setting the
specific rate figures to the State Council.\155\ Though the
law's language maintains that workers are entitled to receive
work-related injury insurance benefits if their injuries or
illnesses are certified as work related and that certification
of such injuries should be ``straight-forward [and]
convenient,'' it does not provide a specific time requirement
for the certification process.\156\ The law does, however,
detail the types of expenses that may be paid with money from
the insurance fund. These may include, for example, a worker's
medical treatment and rehabilitation fees as well as food and
travel allowances if the worker obtains treatment outside of
the area where the injury took place.\157\
At this point, it is not clear to what extent the revisions
to the Work Injury Regulations or the new PRC Law on Social
Insurance will streamline the complicated and time-consuming
compensation processes for injured workers. Central government
directives have, in previous years, encouraged local
governments to pressure bereaved families into signing
compensation agreements and to condition out-of-court
compensation settlements on forfeiture by bereaved families of
their rights to seek further compensation through the court
system.\158\ Moreover, there have been reports of local
officials preempting class actions by prohibiting contact among
members of bereaved families in order to forestall
coordination.\159\
Child Labor
Child labor remained a problem in China during this
reporting year.\160\ As a member of the International Labour
Organization (ILO), China has ratified the two core conventions
on the elimination of child labor.\161\ The PRC Labor Law and
related legislation prohibit the employment of minors under 16
years old.\162\ Both national and local legal provisions
prohibiting child labor stipulate fines for employing
children.\163\ Under the PRC Criminal Law, employers and
supervisors face prison sentences of up to seven years for
forcing children to work under conditions of extreme
danger.\164\ Systemic problems in enforcement, however, have
dulled the effects of these legal measures. The extent of child
labor in China is unclear in part because the government does
not release data on child labor despite frequent requests by
the U.S. Government, other foreign governments, and
international organizations. One recent report by a global
risks advisory firm, however, suggests that China is rated as
``amongst those with the most widespread abuses of child
workers'' and estimates that there are ``between 10 to 20
million underage workers.'' \165\
Child laborers reportedly work in low-skill service sectors
as well as small workshops and businesses, including textile,
toy, and shoe manufacturing enterprises.\166\ Many underage
laborers reportedly are in their teens, typically ranging from
13 to 15 years old, a phenomenon exacerbated by problems in the
education system and labor shortages of adult workers.\167\ In
March 2011, a Hong Kong newspaper reported that authorities in
Longgang district, Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, rescued 40
children who were found working at a factory that manufactured
electronics.\168\ The children were reportedly between the ages
of 12 and 14, holders of ``fake identity cards'' that
apparently demonstrated that they were of legal working age,
and had worked there for at least three months for about five
yuan (US$0.77) an hour.\169\ In another case reflective of the
child labor problem, Apple acknowledged in February 2011 that,
in 2010, it had discovered 91 children under 16 years old
working in 10 ``Chinese factories owned by its suppliers''; in
contrast, in 2009, the company discovered only 11 such
cases.\170\ In the case of one factory that reportedly hired 42
of the children, Apple learned that the ``vocational school
involved in hiring the underage workers had falsified student
IDs and threatened retaliation against students who revealed
their ages during [Apple's] audits.'' \171\
The Chinese government, which has condemned the use of
child labor and pledged to take stronger measures to combat
it,\172\ permits ``work-study'' programs and activities that in
practical terms perpetuate the practice of child labor and are
tantamount to official endorsement of it.\173\ National
provisions prohibiting child labor provide that ``education
practice labor'' and vocational skills training labor organized
by schools and other educational and vocational institutes do
not constitute use of child labor when such activities do not
adversely affect the safety and health of the students.\174\
The PRC Education Law supports schools that establish work-
study and other programs, provided that the programs do not
negatively affect normal studies.\175\ These provisions
contravene China's obligations as a Member State to ILO
conventions prohibiting child labor.\176\ In 2006, the ILO's
Committee of Experts on the Applications of Conventions and
Recommendations ``expresse[d] . . . concern at the situation of
children under 18 years performing forced labor not only in the
framework of re-educational and reformative measures, but also
in regular work programs at school.'' \177\
Endnotes
\1\ See, e.g., All-China Federation of Trade Unions, ``The
Conditions of New Generation Migrant Workers in Enterprises: A 2010
Study and Policy Recommendations'' [2010 nian qiye xinshengdai
nongmingong zhuangkuang diaocha ji duice jianyi], 21 February 11; Qian
Yanfeng, ``Migrant Workers Can Earn Degrees,'' China Daily, 7 December
10; ``Unhappy Rural Workers `Threaten Social Stability,' '' Reuters,
reprinted in South China Morning Post, 15 June 11; ``Riots Highlight
Migrant Rights,'' Radio Free Asia, 14 June 11; Jeremy Page, ``China
Stamps Out Southern Unrest,'' Wall Street Journal, 15 June 11;
Katherine Ryder, ``China's Labor Market: Valuable Asset or Economic
Albatross? '' Fortune, reprinted in CNN Money, 17 December 10; Li Li,
``Battling for Workers: China's Labor Pool Is Not Running Dry, but
Migrant Workers Are Expecting More From Cities,'' Beijing Review, 8
March 11; ``Crimes Committed by Young Migrant Workers Spark Public
Concern,'' Xinhua, 25 February 11.
\2\ All-China Federation of Trade Unions, ``The Conditions of New
Generation Migrant Workers in Enterprises: A 2010 Study and Policy
Recommendations'' [2010 nian qiye xinshengdai nongmingong zhuangkuang
diaocha ji duice jianyi], 21 February 11; Zhang Jieping and Zhu Yixin,
``Labor Movement's Demand for the Establishment of Independent Unions
Will Change the Country's Trajectory'' [Zhongguo gong yun yaoqiu
chengli duli gonghui gaibian guoyun guiji], Asia Week, 13 June 10.
\3\ All-China Federation of Trade Unions, ``The Conditions of New
Generation Migrant Workers in Enterprises: A 2010 Study and Policy
Recommendations'' [2010 nian qiye xinshengdai nongmingong zhuangkuang
diaocha ji duice jianyi], 21 February 11.
\4\ Ibid.
\5\ Ibid.
\6\ Ibid.
\7\ Ibid.
\8\ ``Agricultural Minister Han Changfu Discusses `Post-1990s'
Migrant Workers'' [Nongyebu buzhang han changfu tan ``90 hou''
nongmingong], China Review News, 1 February 10. See also ``Joint
Editorial Calling for Hukou Reform Removed From Internet Hours After
Publication, Co-Author Fired,'' CECC China Human Rights and Rule of Law
Update, No. 4, 21 April 10, 1-2.
\9\ See, e.g., James Pomfret and Chris Buckley, ``Special Report:
China Migrant Unrest Exposes Generation Faultline,'' Reuters, 28 June
11; Zhang Jieping and Zhu Yixin, ``Labor Movement's Demand for the
Establishment of Independent Unions Will Change the Country's
Trajectory'' [Zhongguo gong yun yaoqiu chengli duli gonghui gaibian
guoyun guiji], Asia Week, 13 June 10.
\10\ For more information, see the Web site ``China Strikes:
Mapping Labor Unrest Across China.'' According to the site's founder,
Manfred Elfstrom, China Strikes is dedicated to tracking ``strikes,
protests and other collective actions taken by Chinese workers to
defend their rights and interests.'' News reports of worker actions are
regularly uploaded onto the site, and they are classified into
different categories, such as apparel and textile, bus and truck
drivers, machinery and appliance, mines, etc. Data may also be viewed
in a map format, showing the number of worker actions that took place
in various regions across China. China Strikes, last visited June 2,
2011.
\11\ James Pomfret, ``Police Stem S. China Riots but Migrant
Workers' Anger Runs Deep,'' Reuters, reprinted in Yahoo!, 14 June 11.
See also ``Zengcheng Riot: China Forces Quell Migrant Unrest,'' BBC, 14
June 11; Jeremy Page, ``China Stamps Out Southern Unrest,'' Wall Street
Journal, 15 June 11; ``Security Reported Tight in Riot-Torn South China
City as Unofficial Curfew Imposed,'' Associated Press, reprinted in
Washington Post, 13 June 11.
\12\ ``Workers Occupied Front Gate of Guizhou Liquor Factory;
Restructuring Revealed Protests With Tears of Blood'' [Guizhou chunjiu
chang damen bei gongren zhanling, gaizhi jiekai xuelei kangyi], Workers
Forum, 27 April 11.
\13\ China Labour Bulletin, ``Migrant Worker Union Negotiates Pay
Deal for Tianjin Cleaners,'' 1 April 11.
\14\ James Pomfret, ``More Problems for China's Foxconn Over
Workers' Pay,'' Reuters, 19 November 10; China Labour Bulletin,
``Foxconn Workers in Foshan Strike Over Low Pay,'' 19 November 10.
\15\ China Labour Net, ``Workers of Guangzhou INPEX Metal Product
Company Limited Call for Support From Japanese Trade Union,'' 13
November 10.
\16\ ``Assembly of Private Teachers in Ten-Some Counties and
Municipalities in Hubei Province Calls for Release of Yang Huanqing,
Who Was Sent to Reeducation Through Labor'' [Hubei shiyu xian shi
minshi jihui yaoqiu jiefang bei laogai de yang huanqing], Boxun, 28
March 11.
\17\ ``Labor Lawyer Imprisoned in Xi'an for Organizing Against
Corrupt Privatization of State Enterprises,'' China Labor News
Translations, 10 January 11; ``Xi'an Rights Defender Zhao Dongmin
Detained; Applied for the Establishment of `Workers Defense Congress'
'' [Shenqing chengli ``gongwei hui'' xi'an weiquan renshi zhao dongmin
bei xingju], Radio Free Asia, 27 August 09; ``No Trial for Labor
Activist,'' Radio Free Asia, 8 September 10.
\18\ ``Labor Lawyer Imprisoned in Xi'an for Organizing Against
Corrupt Privatization of State Enterprises,'' China Labor News
Translations, 10 January 11; China Study Group, ``Zhao Dongmin
Sentenced to Three Years,'' 25 October 10. See also Utopia, ``A
Discussion With the Compatriots Who Care for and Love Zhao Dongmin''
[Yu guanxin he aihu zhao dongmin de tongzhimen shangque], 23 October
10.
\19\ Utopia, ``Sunshine Is the Best Disinfectant and Antiseptic''
[Yangguang shi zuihao de shajun fangfuji], 26 October 10.
\20\ PRC Constitution, issued 4 December 82, amended 12 April 88,
29 March 93, 15 March 99, 14 March 04, art. 35.
\21\ Bill Taylor and Qi Li, ``Is the ACFTU a Union and Does It
Matter? '' Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 49, No. 5 (2007), 701-
15.
\22\ PRC Trade Union Law, enacted and effective 3 April 92, amended
27 October 01; Constitution of the Chinese Trade Unions, adopted 26
September 03, amended 21 October 08.
\23\ See, e.g., Qiu Liben, ``The Silent Lambs Are No Longer
Silent'' [Chenmo de gaoyang buzai chenmo], Asiaweek, 13 June 10; Keith
Bradsher, ``A Labor Movement Stirs in China,'' New York Times, 10 June
10; Yu Jianrong, ``No Social Stability Without Labor Protection,''
China Media Project, 15 June 10; Mingwei Liu, ``Chinese Employment
Relations and Trade Unions in Transition,'' Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell
University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, January 2009;
China Labour Bulletin, ``Protecting Workers' Rights or Serving the
Party: The Way Forward for China's Trade Union,'' March 2009.
\24\ Han Dongfang, ``China's Main Union Is Yet To Earn Its Job,''
Guardian, 26 June 11; Anita Chan, ``Labor Unrest and Role of Unions,''
China Daily, 18 June 10; China Labour Bulletin, ``Protecting Workers'
Rights or Serving the Party: The Way Forward for China's Trade Union,''
March 2009.
\25\ International Trade Union Confederation, ``China,'' in Asia
and the Pacific, an Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights
(2009).
\26\ Simon Clarke et al., ``Collective Consultation and Industrial
Relations in China,'' British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 42,
No. 2 (2004), 235, 240.
\27\ Yang Lin, ``Grasp the Opportunity To Reevaluate the Structure
of Labor and Management, Eliminate Contradictions and Hidden Dangers in
Labor and Management, and Adjust Policy'' [Zhua zhu chongxin shenshi
laozi geju, xiaochu laozi maodun yinhuan, tiaozheng laogong zhengce de
jihui], Outlook, 16 December 09.
\28\ All-China Federation of Trade Unions, ``Chinese Trade Unions
Make Progress in 2010,'' 31 January 11.
\29\ Ibid.
\30\ Ibid.
\31\ CECC, 2010 Annual Report, 10 October 10, 76-77.
\32\ Guangdong Province People's Congress Standing Committee,
``Opinions From the Public Openly Sought for `Guangdong Province's
Regulations on Enterprise Democratic Management (Third Draft for Public
Comment)' '' [Guangdong sheng qiye minzhu guanli tiaoli cao'an xiugai
(san gao zhengqiu yijian gao) xiang shehui gongkai zhengqiu yijian], 23
August 10, art. 36.
\33\ Ibid., art. 34.
\34\ Ibid., art. 32.
\35\ Ibid.
\36\ ``Guangdong Decides To Delay `Regulations on Democratic
Management of Enterprises' '' [Guangdong jue huan shen qiye minzhu
guanli tiaoli], Wen Wei Po, 18 September 10.
\37\ Denise Tsang, ``Collective Wage Bargaining Plan To Start Next
Month,'' South China Morning Post, 15 January 11.
\38\ CECC Staff Interview.
\39\ Qingdao Public Health Bureau, ``The Wages of Contract Nurses
in Qingdao Can Be Settled Through Collective Consultation'' [Qingdao
hetongzhi hushi gongzi ke jiti xieshang], 18 April 11; China Labour
Bulletin, ``The Wages of Health Contract Workers in Qingdao Can Be
Settled Through Collective Consultation'' [Qingdao weisheng hetonggong
gongzi ke jiti xieshang], 22 March 11.
\40\ Ibid.
\41\ Qingdao Public Health Bureau, ``The Wages of Contract Nurses
in Qingdao Can Be Settled Through Collective Consultation'' [Qingdao
hetongzhi hushi gongzi ke jiti xieshang], 18 April 11.
\42\ ``Changde City, Hunan Province's `Spring Contract Action' on
Collective Wage Consultation Commences'' [Hunan sheng changde gongzi
jiti xieshang chunji yaoyue xingdong qidong], Changde Evening News, 29
March 11; China Labour Bulletin, ``Cities Across China Roll Out
Collective Wage Initiatives,'' 25 March 11.
\43\ Rizhao City People's Government, `` `Rizhao City Worker
Collective Wage Consultation Trial Methods' Is Released'' [``Rizhao shi
zhigong gongzi jiti xieshang shixing banfa'' chutai], 9 March 11; China
Labour Bulletin, ``Cities Across China Roll Out Collective Wage
Initiatives,'' 25 March 11.
\44\ ``Qinhuangdao Year of Collective Wage Consultations Hundred-
Day Action Commences'' [Qinhuangdao gongzi jiti xieshang tuijin nian
huodong qidong], Hebei News Net, reprinted in China Worker Net, 12
April 11; China Labour Bulletin, ``Cities Across China Roll Out
Collective Wage Initiatives,'' 25 March 11.
\45\ China Labour Bulletin, ``Lighter Enterprise in Guanhaiwei Town
in Cixi Experiments With Collective Consultation'' [Cixi guanhaiwei
zhen huo ji hangye shixing gongzi jiti xieshang], 24 March 11.
\46\ China Labour Bulletin, ``Shenzhen Trade Union Announces Major
Push for Collective Wage Negotiations,'' 24 March 11.
\47\ Stanley Lubman, ``Are Strikes the Beginning of a New
Challenge? '' Wall Street Journal, 25 June 10; Simon Clarke et al.,
``Collective Consultation and Industrial Relations in China,'' British
Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 42, No. 2 (2004), 235, 240.
\48\ ``China's `Floating Population' Exceeds 221 Million,'' Xinhua,
reprinted in China Daily, 28 February 11.
\49\ ``Migrant Population To Grow to 350 Million: Report,'' China
Daily, 31 May 11; ``China's `Floating Population' Exceeds 221
Million,'' Xinhua, reprinted in China Daily, 28 February 11.
\50\ Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Topic Paper:
China's Household Registration System: Sustained Reform Needed To
Protect China's Rural Migrants, 7 October 05. See also China Labour
Bulletin, ``17 Migrant Workers Die in Fire at Illegally-Built
Workshop,'' 26 April 11; Zhang Yan and Li Jiabao, ``17 Perish as
Inferno Razes Illegal Plant,'' China Daily, 26 April 11; Shenzhen
Dagongzhe Migrant Worker Centre, ``New Ongoing Violations After the
Implementation of Labor Contract Law in China,'' 12 June 09; Jeffrey
Becker and Manfred Elfstrom, International Labor Rights Forum, ``The
Impact of China's Labor Contract Law on Workers,'' 23 February 10, 7-
10, 18.
\51\ For additional information, see, e.g., Kam Wing Chan, ``The
Chinese Hukou System at 50,'' Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol.
50, No. 2 (2009), 197-221.
\52\ Zhou Pingxiang, ``Ten Thugs Brandishing Steel Pipes Beat 100
Migrant Workers Over Wage Dispute; Eight People Were Injured and
Hospitalized'' [Nongmin gong shangmen taoxin zaojin bairen weiou 8 ren
shoushang jin yiyuan], Yunnan Net, 1 February 11.
\53\ ``Migrants `Losing Out on Benefits,' '' Shanghai Daily, 28
March 11; Wang Wen, ``The Woes of Injury at Work,'' China Daily, 14
March 11.
\54\ Liu Conglong, Department of Rural Social Insurances, Ministry
of Human Resources and Social Security, ``Latest Developments of the
Old-Age Insurance System for Urban and Rural Residents in China,'' 11
May 11; State Council, Guiding Opinion Regarding the Initiation of New-
Type Rural Social Old-Age Insurance Pilots [Guowuyuan guanyu kaizhan
xinxing nongcun shehui yanglao baoxian shidian de zhidao yijian],
issued 1 September 09, art. 1.
\55\ State Council Circular Regarding the Interim Method To
Transfer and Continue the Old-Age Insurance Relationship of Urban
Enterprise Workers [Chengzhen qiye zhigong jiben yanglao baoxian guanxi
zhuanyi jiexu zanxing banfa de tongzhi], 28 December 09.
\56\ ``NPC Standing Committee Passes Social Insurance Law by Wide
Margin'' [Renda changweihui gaopiao tongguo shehui baoxian fa], Xinhua,
28 October 10.
\57\ Ibid.
\58\ PRC Social Insurance Law, enacted 28 October 10, effective 1
July 11; Hong Kong Trade Development Council, ``China Enacts Social
Insurance Law,'' 3 May 11; ``NPC Standing Committee Passes Social
Insurance Law by Wide Margin'' [Renda changweihui gaopiao tongguo
shehui baoxian fa], Xinhua, 28 October 10; ``Social Insurance Law
Becomes Effective Next July; May Receive Retirement Benefits in Less
Than 15 Years'' [Shebao fa mingnian 7 yue shixing buman 15 nian ke bu
jiao lingqu yanglao jin], Guangzhou Daily, reprinted in Sina, 29
October 10; ``Social Insurance Law Clearly States That Retirement
Insurance and Benefits Will Be Gradually Coordinated Nationwide''
[Shebao fa mingque yanglao xian zhubu shixing quanguo tongchou],
Beijing News, 29 October 10.
\59\ PRC Social Insurance Law, issued 28 October 10, effective 1
July 11, art. 2.
\60\ Ibid., arts. 10-22.
\61\ Ibid., arts. 23-32.
\62\ Ibid., arts. 33-43.
\63\ Ibid., arts. 44-52.
\64\ Ibid., arts. 53-56.
\65\ Ibid., arts. 10, 23, 44.
\66\ Ibid., arts. 33, 53.
\67\ Ibid., art. 58.
\68\ Ibid., art. 62.
\69\ Ibid., art. 63.
\70\ Ibid., art. 3.
\71\ Ibid., art. 95. For more information, see ``China's Top
Legislature Adopts Social Insurance Law To Safeguard Social Security
Funds,'' Xinhua, 28 October 10; ``NPC Standing Committee Passes Social
Insurance Law by Wide Margin'' [Renda changweihui gaopiao tongguo
shehui baoxian fa], Xinhua, 28 October 10.
\72\ PRC Social Insurance Law, issued 28 October 10, effective 1
July 11, art. 19.
\73\ Ibid.
\74\ PRC Social Insurance Law, issued 28 October 10, effective 1
July 11, art. 64; Laney Zhang, ``China: Law on Social Insurance
Passed,'' Library of Congress, 4 November 10; ``Social Insurance Law
Clearly States That Retirement Insurance and Benefits Will Be Gradually
Coordinated at the National Level'' [Shebao fa mingque yanglao xian
zhubu shixing quanguo tongchou], Beijing News, 29 October 10.
\75\ Susan Deng, ``Changes Introduced by the New PRC Social
Insurance Law,'' Mayer Brown JSM Legal Update, 1 December 10.
\76\ Laney Zhang, ``China: Law on Social Insurance Passed,''
Library of Congress, 4 November 10.
\77\ ``Another Round of Minimum Wage Adjustment; Shenzhen Is Moved
to Highest in the Nation'' [Zuidi gongzi biaozhun xin yi lun tiaozheng
shenzhen tiao zhi quanguo zuigao], China Business Network, reprinted in
Hexun, 4 March 11.
\78\ Ibid.
\79\ Guangdong Province People's Government, Circular Regarding the
Adjustment of Minimum Wage Standards for Guangdong Province's
Enterprise Workers [Guanyu tiaozheng wo sheng qiye zhigong zuidi gongzi
biaozhun de tongzhi], 18 January 11; ``Another Round of Minimum Wage
Adjustment; Shenzhen Is Moved to Highest in the Nation'' [Zuidi gongzi
biaozhun xin yi lun tiaozheng shenzhen diao zhi quanguo zuigao], China
Business Network, 4 March 11; Fang Zhenbin, ``Pearl River Delta Region
Faces Difficulties in Finding and Retaining Workers'' [Zhu sanjiao diqu
mianlin zhaogong nan he liu gong nan kunrao], Southern Daily, reprinted
in CNFOL.com, 23 February 11.
\80\ ``Another Round of Minimum Wage Adjustment; Shenzhen Is Moved
to Highest in the Nation'' [Zuidi gongzi biaozhun xin yi lun tiaozheng
shenzhen diao zhi quanguo zuigao], China Business Network, 4 March 11.
\81\ Ibid.
\82\ Denise Tang, ``Guangdong Pay Pledge To Drive Out HK
Factories,'' South China Morning Post, 18 January 11; China Labour
Bulletin, ``Minimum Wage Set To Increase in Cities Across China,'' 5
February 10.
\83\ Zheng Lifei et al., ``Zhou Pledges More Tightening as China
Raises Reserve Ratios,'' Bloomberg, 17 April 11; China Labour Bulletin,
``Guangdong Raises Minimum Wage as Inflation Hurts Workers,'' 28
February 11.
\84\ National Bureau of Statistics of China, ``China's Major
Economic Indicators in May,'' 14 June 11.
\85\ PRC Labor Law, enacted 5 July 94, effective 1 January 95, art.
48.
\86\ PRC Labor Contract Law, issued 29 June 07, effective 1 January
08, art. 74(5).
\87\ Ibid., art. 85.
\88\ Ibid., art. 72.
\89\ ``Over 100 Migrant Workers Kneel in Front of the Zunhua City,
Hubei Province, Government Building To Talk Wages'' [Bai yu nongmin
gong zai hebei zun hua shi zhengfu menkou xia gui tao xin], Sichuan
Daily, 13 January 11; Su Dake, ``If I Were the Boss I'd Fail To Pay
Wages Too'' [Ruguo wo shi laoban ye hui qian xin, you qian cai shi ye
mei laingxin suan ge sha], Southern Daily, 5 January 11; Zhou
Pingxiang, ``Ten Thugs Brandishing Steel Pipes Beat 100 Migrant Workers
Over Wage Dispute; Eight People Were Injured and Hospitalized''
[Nongmin gong shangmen tao xin zao jin bairen wei ou 8 ren shoushang
jin yuyuan], Yunnan Net, 1 February 11.
\90\ CECC, 2010 Annual Report, 10 October 10, 80.
\91\ ``Over 100 Migrant Workers Kneel in Front of the Zunhua City,
Hubei Province, Government Building To Talk Wages'' [Bai yu nongmin
gong zai hebei zun hua shi zhengfu menkou xia gui tao xin], Sichuan
Daily, 13 January 11.
\92\ Suo Han, `` `Wage Regulations' Framework Basically Solidified,
but Difficult To Roll Out by Year's End'' [``Gongzi tiaoli'' kuangjia
chu ding niannei nan chutai], China Business Network, 19 November 10.
\93\ ``Draft of Wage Regulation Faces Pressure From Ministry
Committees; Accused of Interfering With Internal Management of
Monopolized Industries'' [Gongzi tiaoli cao'an zaoyu buwei yali bei zhi
ganshe longduan qi ye neibu guanli], First Financial, reprinted in
People's Daily, 1 September 10.
\94\ Ibid.
\95\ Ibid.
\96\ Suo Han, `` `Wage Regulations' Framework Basically Solidified,
but Difficult To Roll Out by Year's End'' [``Gongzi tiaoli'' kuangjia
chu ding niannei nan chutai], China Business Network, 19 November 10.
\97\ Zhao Peng, ``Draft of Wage Regulation To Be Reported to State
Council; Intended To Publicize Wages of Monopolized Industries''
[Gongzi tiaoli cao'an jiang bao guowuyuan ni gongbu longduan hangye
gongzi], Beijing Times, reprinted in Sina, 29 July 10.
\98\ Ibid.
\99\ Ibid.
\100\ `` `Enterprise Wage Regulations' Draft Revisions Near End;
Industry Insiders Reveal Draft's Brightest Spot'' [``Qiye gongzi
tiaoli'' cao'an xiugai jiejin weisheng yenei renshi toulu gai cao'an
zuida liang], Lanzhou Morning Post, reprinted in Sina, 5 August 10.
\101\ Ibid.
\102\ Ibid.
\103\ Lai Fang, ``Will Publicizing Monopolized Industries' Salaries
Bring More Equal Wage Distribution? '' [Gongshi longduan hangye gongzi
neng fou dailai gongzi de gongping fenpei?], Southern Weekend, 23
November 10; ``Draft of Wage Regulation Faces Pressure From Ministry
Committees; Accused of Interfering With Internal Management of
Monopolized Industries'' [Gongzi tiaoli cao'an zaoyu buwei yali pi zhi
ganshe longduan qi ye neibu guanli], First Financial, reprinted in
People's Daily, 1 September 10; Chen Chen, China Internet Information
Center, ``Social Status, Industrial Monopolies Cause Widening Income
Gap,'' 26 May 10; `` `Enterprise Wage Regulations' Draft Revisions Near
End; Industry Insiders Reveal Draft's Brightest Spot'' [``Qiye gongzi
tiaoli'' cao'an xiugai jiejin weisheng yenei renshi toulu gai cao'an
zuida liangdian], Lanzhou Morning Post, reprinted in Sina, 5 August 10.
\104\ Chen Chen, China Internet Information Center, ``Social
Status, Industrial Monopolies Cause Widening Income Gap,'' 26 May 10.
\105\ `` `Enterprise Wage Regulations' Draft Revisions Near End;
Industry Insiders Reveal Draft's Brightest Spot'' [``Qiye gongzi
tiaoli'' cao'an xiugai jiejin weisheng yenei renshi toulu gai cao'an
zuida liangdian], Lanzhou Morning Post, reprinted in Sina, 5 August 10.
\106\ Lai Fang, ``Will Publicizing Monopolized Industries' Salaries
Bring More Equal Wage Distribution? '' [Gongshi longduan hangye gongzi
neng fou dai lai gongzi de gongping fenpei?] Southern Weekend, 23
November 10.
\107\ Ibid.
\108\ Willy Lam, Jamestown Foundation, ``2010 Census Exposes Fault
Lines in China's Demographic Shifts,'' 6 May 11; Olivia Chung, ``China
Labor Shortage Spreads,'' Asia Times, 29 January 11; Jui-te Shih,
``Labor Shortages Spread to More Regions, Industries in China,'' Want
China Times, 17 June 11; Edward Wong, ``Chinese Export Regions Face
Labor Shortages,'' New York Times, 29 November 10; Jianmin Li,
Jamestown Foundation, ``China's Looming Labor Supply Challenge? '' 8
April 11; Ma Jiantang, ``National Labor Shortage Looms on Horizon,''
Global Times, 3 May 11; Mark MacKinnon and Carolynne Wheeler, ``China's
Future: Growing Old Before It Grows Rich,'' Globe and Mail, 28 April
11. For a long-range perspective on wages in China, see Dennis Tao
Yang, Vivian Chen, and Ryan Monarch, Institute for the Study of Labor,
``Rising Wages: Has China Lost Its Global Labor Advantage? ''
Discussion Paper No. 5008, June 2010.
\109\ ``2010 First Quarter Analysis on Economic Conditions and
Yearly Outlook'' [2010 nian yi jidu jingji xingshi fenshi yu quannian
zhanwang], China Economic Net, 28 April 10.
\110\ Kathrin Hille, ``China's Inner Landscape Changes,'' Financial
Times, 3 March 11.
\111\ Federation of Hong Kong Industries, ``Survey Report on Labour
Issues Faced by HK Manufacturing Companies in the PRD,'' 28 July 10.
See also Dennis Tao Yang, Vivian Chen, and Ryan Monarch, The Institute
for the Study of Labor, ``Rising Wages: Has China Lost Its Global Labor
Advantage? '' Discussion Paper No. 5008, June 2010.
\112\ Andy Xie, ``Sweet Spot for China's Blue-Collar Revolution,''
Caixin Net, reprinted in Market Watch, 28 June 10.
\113\ Hou Lei, ``Official: Wage Share Decreases 22 Years in a
Row,'' China Daily, 12 May 10.
\114\ Suo Han, `` `Wage Regulations' Framework Basically
Solidified, Difficult To Roll Out by Year's End'' [``Gongzi tiaoli''
kuangjia chu ding niannei nan chutai], China Business Network, 19
November 10; ``Draft of Wage Regulation Faces Pressure From Ministry
Committees; Accused of Interfering With Internal Management of
Monopolized Industries'' [Gongzi tiaoli cao'an zaoyu buwei yali bei zhi
ganshe longduan qiye neibu guanli], First Financial, reprinted in
People's Daily, 1 September 10.
\115\ Suo Han, `` `Wage Regulations' Framework Basically
Solidified, but Difficult To Roll Out by Year's End'' [``Gongzi
tiaoli'' kuangjia chu ding niannei nan chutai], China Business Network,
19 November 10.
\116\ Ibid.
\117\ Ibid.
\118\ Ibid.
\119\ Ibid.
\120\ National People's Congress, PRC Outline of the 12th Five-Year
Plan on National Economic and Social Development [Zhonghua renmin
gongheguo guomin jingji he shehui fazhan di shier ge wunian guihua
gangyao], passed 14 March 11, issued 16 March 11, chap. 1.
\121\ Ray Kwong, ``What China's 12th Five-Year Plan Means to the
Average Zhou,'' 31 August 11.
\122\ Nicholas Consonery et al., Eurasia Group, ``China's Great
Rebalancing,'' 18 August 11. See also, Ray Kwong ``What China's 12th
Five-Year Plan Means to the Average Zhou,'' 31 August 11.
\123\ PRC Safe Production Law, issued 29 June 02, effective 1
November 02, arts. 1, 2.
\124\ Ibid., arts. 17, 21.
\125\ Ibid., art. 45.
\126\ Ibid., art. 52.
\127\ Ibid., art. 53.
\128\ Ibid., art. 82.
\129\ Yuan Junbao, ``Great Progress in Preventing Pneumoconiosis in
China's Coal Mines; Situation Is Still Grim'' [Woguo meikuang chenfei
bing fangzhi qude jiao da jinzhan xingshi yiran yanjun], Xinhua,
reprinted in PRC People's Central Government, 9 November 10.
\130\ Ibid. See also China Labour Bulletin, ``Time To Overhaul Coal
Mine Safety in China,'' 19 November 10.
\131\ ``57,000 Chinese Coal Miners Suffer From Lung Disease
Annually,'' People's Daily, 11 November 10.
\132\ China Labour Bulletin, ``Time To Overhaul Coal Mine Safety in
China,'' 19 November 10.
\133\ China Labour Bulletin, ``Injured Coal Miner Struggles for
Compensation,'' 24 February 11.
\134\ ``Mainland Closes 1,600 Illegal Coal Mines,'' Associated
Press, reprinted in South China Morning Post, 15 October 10.
\135\ ``Bosses Who Don't Enter China's Mines May Be Fined,''
Associated Press, reprinted in Washington Post, 7 October 10.
\136\ Wang Huazhong, ``Mine Leaders To Send Substitutes
Underground,'' China Daily, 21 September 10.
\137\ ``Another Foxconn Worker `Falls to Death,' '' South China
Morning Post, 20 July 11.
\138\ CECC, 2010 Annual Report, 10 October 10, 80; Cary Huang,
``Foxconn Worker in Chengdu Suicide,'' South China Morning Post, 27 May
11. See also ``Military-Style Management,'' Global Times, 24 May 11.
\139\ Chloe Albanesius, ``Foxconn Factories: How Bad Is It? '' PC
Magazine, 6 May 11; ``Military-Style Management,'' Global Times, 24 May
11.
\140\ Chloe Albanesius, ``Foxconn Factories: How Bad Is It? '' PC
Magazine, 6 May 11.
\141\ Liu Linlin, ``Families Say Foxconn Not Cooperating,'' Global
Times, 23 May 11; Tim Culpan and Joshua Fellman, ``Foxconn's Plant in
China Has Fire, Killing Two,'' Bloomberg, 20 May 11.
\142\ Gethin Chamberlain, ``Disney Factory Faces Probe Into
Sweatshop Suicide Claims,'' Guardian, 27 August 11. See also China
Labour Bulletin, ``Waking From a Ten-Year Dream,'' 21 February 11;
Chloe Albanesius, ``Foxconn Factories: How Bad Is It? '' PC Magazine, 6
May 11.
\143\ Danny Vincent, ``China Used Prisoners in Lucrative Internet
Gaming Work,'' Guardian, 25 May 11.
\144\ Kathleen E. McLaughlin, ``Silicon Sweatshops: What's a Worker
Worth? The Cold Calculus of Supply Chain Economics,'' Global Post, 17
March 10.
\145\ Ibid.
\146\ Ibid.
\147\ CECC Staff Interview.
\148\ Ibid.
\149\ State Council Decision Regarding Amendments to ``Regulations
on Occupational Injury Insurance'' [Guowuyuan guanyu xiupai ``gongshang
baoxian tiaoli'' de jueding], 20 December 10, effective 1 January 11.
\150\ Ibid., art. 8.
\151\ State Council Decision Regarding Amendments to ``Regulations
on Occupational Injury Insurance [Guowuyuan guanyu xiupai ``gongshang
baoxian tiaoli'' de jueding], 20 December 10, effective 1 January 11;
PRC State Council, ``PRC State Council Notice 586 `State Council
Decision Regarding Amendments to Regulations on Occupational Injury
Insurance' '' [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo guowuyuan ling di 586 hao
``guowuyuan guanyu xiugai `gongshang baoxian tiaoli' de jueding''],''
20 December 10, art. 1.
\152\ State Council Decision Regarding Amendments to ``Regulation
on Occupational Injury Insurance [Guowuyuan guanyu xiupai ``gongshang
baoxian tiaoli'' de jueding], 20 December 10, effective 1 January 11,
art. 9.
\153\ PRC Social Insurance Law, issued 28 October 10, effective 1
July 11, arts. 33-43.
\154\ Ibid., art. 33.
\155\ Ibid., art. 34.
\156\ Ibid., art. 36.
\157\ Ibid., arts. 38(1)-38(9).
\158\ CECC, 2008 Annual Report, 31 October 08, 52; China Labour
Bulletin, ``Bone and Blood: The Price of Coal in China,'' 17 March 08.
\159\ Ibid.
\160\ See, e.g., He Huifeng, ``40 Children Rescued From Shenzhen
Plant,'' South China Morning Post, 26 March 11; Malcolm Moore,
``Apple's Child Labour Issues Worsen,'' Telegraph, 15 February 11;
William Foreman, ``China Factories Break Labor Rules,'' Associated
Press, 20 April 10; National Labor Committee, ``China's Youth Meet
Microsoft: KYE Factory in China Produces for Microsoft and Other U.S.
Companies,'' 13 April 10.
\161\ ILO Convention (No. 138) Concerning Minimum Age for Admission
to Employment, 26 June 73, 1015 U.N.T.S. 297; ILO Convention (No. 182)
Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of
the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 17 June 99, 2133 U.N.T.S. 161.
\162\ PRC Labor Law, issued 5 July 94, effective 1 January 95,
amended 10 October 01, art. 15. See also PRC Law on the Protection of
Minors, issued 4 September 91, effective 1 January 92, art. 28. See
generally Provisions on Prohibiting the Use of Child Labor [Jinzhi
shiyong tonggong guiding], issued 1 October 02, effective 1 December
02.
\163\ Provisions on Prohibiting the Use of Child Labor [Jinzhi
shiyong tonggong guiding], issued 1 October 02, effective 1 December
02, art. 6. See also ``Legal Announcement--Zhejiang Determines Four
Circumstances That Define Use of Child Labor'' [Fazhi bobao: zhejiang
jieding shiyong tonggong si zhong qingxing], China Woman, 26 July 08.
\164\ This provision was added into the fourth amendment to the
Criminal Law in 2002. Fourth Amendment to the PRC Criminal Law
[Zhonghua renmin gonghe guo xingfa xiuzheng an (si)], issued 28
December 02. See also PRC Criminal Law, issued 1 July 79, amended 14
March 97, effective 1 October 97, amended 25 December 99, 31 August 01,
29 December 01, 28 December 02, 28 February 05, 29 June 06, 28 February
09, art. 244.
\165\ Maplecroft, ``Child Labour Most Widespread in the Key
Emerging Economies; Climate Change Will Push More Children Into Work,''
12 January 10.
\166\ China Labour Bulletin, ``Small Hands: A Survey Report on
Child Labor in China,'' September 2007, 7, 8; He Huifeng, ``40 Children
Rescued From Shenzhen Plant,'' South China Morning Post, 26 March 11.
\167\ ``Disney Factory Faces Probe Into Sweatshop Suicide Claims,''
Guardian, 27 August 11; China Labour Bulletin, ``Small Hands: A Survey
Report on Child Labor in China,'' September 2007, 15, 22, 25-32.
\168\ He Huifeng, ``40 Children Rescued From Shenzhen Plant,''
South China Morning Post, 26 March 11.
\169\ Ibid.
\170\ Malcolm Moore, ``Apple's Child Labour Issues Worsen,''
Telegraph, 15 February 11.
\171\ Apple, ``Apple Supplier Responsibility 2011 Progress
Report,'' 15 February 11, 9.
\172\ For the government response to forced labor in brick kilns,
including child labor, see, e.g., Zhang Pinghui, ``Crackdown on Slave
Labor Nationwide--State Council Vows To End Enslavement,'' South China
Morning Post, 21 June 07.
\173\ Ji Beibei, ``Students Say Schools Require Them To Do
Internships at Foxconn Factory,'' Global Times, 12 October 10; Ben
Blanchard, ``China Urged To End `Child Labor' in Schools,'' Reuters, 3
December 07; Human Rights Watch, ``China: End Child Labor in State
Schools,'' 3 December 07.
\174\ Provisions on Prohibiting the Use of Child Labor [Jinzhi
shiyong tonggong guiding], issued 1 October 02, effective 1 December
02, art. 13.
\175\ PRC Education Law, issued 18 March 95, effective 1 September
95, amended 27 August 09, art. 58.
\176\ ILO Convention 138 permits vocational education for underage
minors only where it is an ``integral part'' of a course of study or
training course. ILO Convention 182 obligates Member States to
eliminate the ``worst forms of child labor,'' including ``forced or
compulsory labor.'' ILO Convention (No. 138) Concerning Minimum Age for
Admission to Employment, 26 June 73, 1015 U.N.T.S. 297; ILO Convention
(No. 182) Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 17 June 99, 2133
U.N.T.S. 161.
\177\ ILO Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of
Conventions and Recommendations, Worst Forms of Child Labour
Convention, 1999 (No. 182) China (ratification: 2002) Observation,
CEACR 2006/77th Session, International Labour Organization, 2006.