ACFTU
August 31st, 2011
Currently, the Fujian province People’s Hall formulated and sent out The 2011 Correction of Illegal Harm to Migrant Workers Rights Program. This is set up to defend migrant workers’ jobs and lawful benefits. This new program will implement rules on priority to go to court, priority on reaching a verdict, and the guarantee of a speedy and efficient trial.
http://acftu.people.com.cn/GB/67574/15550086.html
August 26th, 2011
On August 10th, the Liaoning Labor Union conference released The Push for Harmonious Work Relations and the Construction and Defense of Worker’s Rights and Benefits Plan. This agenda sets out to develop agreeable working relationships, a legislation policy support system, and a supervision and execution program. Other aspects of the plan include a hazard evaluation system, and consultation and negotiation measures. Lastly, this agenda will guarantee fair salary distribution, allow equal participation in labor unions, ensure democratic factory supervision, and provide health and safety rights.
http://acftu.people.com.cn/GB/67579/15514164.html
August 4th, 2011
Qingdaorecently revised its regulations on occupational injury, implementing an expedited injury report system. Through this system, workers will be able to report and hear within 15 days whether or not their case will be taken to court. The new measure says that for special or unavoidable situations, workers must report their claim and will hear within 30 days of the incident. If the immediate injury is obvious, the process of hearing back has been shortened from 60 days to 15 days. These new measures will begin on August 1st.
http://acftu.people.com.cn/GB/67579/15325761.html
July 19th, 2011
Shanghaihas recently began a new investigation into cafeteria and food safety. The Shanghai Labor Union will join forces with the city Food and Drug Administration to reform school and factory cafeterias on four aspects: implement food safety training programs, publicize any bad situations, ensure the safety of food stuffs, and organize self-inspections. This program will discover all food stuff safety hazards and supervise food conditions daily. These policies will be implemented in over 500 dining halls across the region, including hospital, school, and construction cafeterias.
http://acftu.people.com.cn/GB/67579/15189131.html
Financial Post
August 30th, 2011
China’s three-decade-old, one-child policy will accelerate declines in the workforce, forcing companies to upgrade to higher-value products in the way Japan did in the 1960s and 70s. China may have as little as five years to make the transition to avoid a slump in economic growth, according to Sun Mingchun, an analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets in Hong Kong and former economist at China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, part of the central bank. The pool of 15 to 24-year-olds, a mainstay for factories making cheap clothes, toys and electronic products, will fall by almost 62 million people to a total of 164 million in the 15 years through 2025, United Nations projections show. The demographic shift is a result of the one-child policy implemented in 1979.
ZY News
August 30th, 2011
The Shenyang Migrant Workers Leadership Group News publicized a new policy for Shenyang to build and repair over 360,000 homes as well as help the low income community afford housing. After consulting over and over with the local government, the group managed to negotiate a decent result. The government will target 10% of the poor quality homes as well as provide homes for and help integrate 3,600 migrant workers into the city.
http://news.zynews.com/2011-08/30/content_1149269.htm
Talking Union
August 28th, 2011
Workers poisoned Wintek, an Apple supplier factory in Suzhou, have been awaiting a response from Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, about restitution for the health damage sustained. Regrettably, he had not responded before his resignation. The poisoned workers hope the new Apple CEO, Tim Cook, will live up to its claim of corporate social responsibility and provide them remedies. In 2010, over 200 workers were poisoned by a chemical called n-hexane, and although initially treated, workers are still suffering from relapse symptoms.
Guardian UK
August 27th, 2011
Disney’s best-selling Cars toys are being made in a factory in China that uses child labor and forces staff to do three times the amount of overtime allowed by law, according to an investigation. Sturdy Products, located in Shenzhen, makes toys for Mattel and Walmart. In May of this year, a worker reportedly committed suicide after being repeatedly shouted at by bosses. It is claimed some of the 6,000 employees have to work an extra 120 hours every month to meet demand from western shops for the latest toys. Undercover investigations were carried out with the help of the human rights group SACOM (Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/aug/27/disney-factory-sweatshop-suicide-claims
BBC
August 24th, 2011
Chinese Carmaker BYD, backed by Warren Buffet, experienced more than a quarter decrease of its market value after its net income fell 89%. The Shenzhen based company fears another possible drop in profits amidst foreign competition from carmakers like Volkswagen and General Motors. Some experts have said that this decrease in market value is due to the inability for BYD to execute on its electric car models.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14642476
Want China Times
August 24th, 2011
Chinais set to take over the United States as the worlds largest PC producer. China’s PC shipments surpassed those of the US in Quarter Two. The country is likely to become the world’s largest PC market on a full-year basis by 2012.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/238628/china_overtakes_us_in_pc_sales_earlier_than_expected.html
August 23rd, 2011
There are fears in the United States that the soaring unemployment rates are in direct correlation with the rising dependency on China’s manufacturing. Between 2001 and 2008, of the 2.4 million manufacturing jobs lost in America, China represented 70% of those displaced jobs. By taking over many companies’ product innovation and manufacturing, China is now able to support many more middle class jobs that are being eradicated in the US. After 1997, significant numbers of manufacturing jobs collapsed due to the competitive advantage of cheap labor in China.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1102&;MainCatID=&id=20110823000042
ChinaLabour Bulletin
August 22nd, 2011
The University of Hong Kong will hold a conference next week tackling the problem of pneumoconiosis, the single greatest threat to the health and lives of Chinese factory workers. The conference, to be held August 28th and 29th, will examine the deadly lung disease and the devastating impact it has wrought on the lives of more than one million workers in China and their families. The Prevention and Relief of Pneumoconiosis will invite medical experts, lawyers, scholars, labour activists and victims of pneumoconiosis, together with the Chinese media, to discuss legal reform and seek the most effective ways to both prevent the disease and assist its victims.
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/101124
ChinaDaily
August 19th, 2011
A recent directive issued by the State Administration of Work Safety is requiring Chinese employers to keep health records of employees exposed to health hazards at their workplace. The directive, which was released on August 5th, also called on authorities to investigate all serious work place accidents. Workers exposed to hazardous conditions daily will soon be able to access better physical examinations in addition to the ones required by the work contract
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-08/19/content_13145822.htm
Reuters
August 12th, 2011
Multinational conglomerates such as Emerson Electric, Mattel, and Dell are experiencing higher production costs due to double-digit wage increases in China. There are a number of options for companies trying to fight cost increases and labor inflation, including moving to China’s less-developed interior or embracing automated manufacturing. The main reason for wage increases is to keep civil unrest at a minimum.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/12/us-usa-manufacturing-china-idUSTRE77B2IV20110812
GX News
August 3rd, 2011
Recently, Guangxi province released numbers that show the average salary for a worker in the has risen. Over the past six months, the average salary for city and town positions has risen 9.98% to 16,0523 Yuan. If the price of commodities is deducted, the average workers salary has risen 3.2%. Further, the numbers show the average salary for health and sanitation jobs has risen substantially. The salaries for workers in monopolized industries and technology sectors is still relatively high, further expanding the ever-growing income gap.
http://news.gxnews.com.cn/staticpages/20110803/newgx4e387ee8-3988604.shtml
ChinaNews
July 28th, 2011
The Macao government discovered that the Taipa Island seaport expansion project hired 35 illegal workers to work on the construction. The construction company, Zhenhua Gulf Engineering Co., is under heavy criticism for these actions. The construction was ordered to a halt, delaying the completion of the project.
http://www.chinanews.com/ga/2011/07-28/3216199.shtml
Xinhua Net
August 10th, 2011
The Tianjin labor union set in motion a new directive education directive focusing on the legal system. From 2011 to 2015, the city labor union will set up over 100 district program bases and hire over 10,000 volunteers to teach at the bases. There will be extensive instruction on law while creating a dynamic and enthusiastic teaching/learning environment.
http://www.tj.xinhuanet.com/2011-08/10/content_23427631.htm
YZ News
August 10th, 2011
On August 9th the Shanghai People’s Society, Labor Union, and city Trade Council had a conference to officially launch the How to Improve the Mediation, Prevention, and Resolution of Labor Disputes plan. The conference revealed that, this July, 47 different companies will be go through this program, actively discerning the effectiveness of this program, and upgrade enterprises’ ability to resolve disputes on its own.
http://www.yznews.com.cn/news/csjxw/2011-08/10/content_3686171.htm
Workers’ Daily
August 9th, 2011
On August 5th, a young boy in Wuhan, Hubei sliced his finger while working. After he received stitches at the hospital, because he could not pay the hospital fee, the doctor tore the boy’s stitches out. This incident grabbed the attention of the Wuhan Labor Union. They visited the boy and expressed great sympathy. Presently, the hospital decided that the doctor, He Mo, will be transferred out of the surgery department and will have a permanent mark on his employee record.
http://media.workercn.cn/grrb/2011_08/09/GR0108.htm
Law Time
July 5th, 2011
The Liugong Group Corporation labor union in Guangxi opened up a legal service for defending workers rights. Two lawyers from a Liuzhou law firm began work there on July 5th. Their main focus is to provide on the spot consultation and help workers resolve their labor right violation issues. The lawyers can also be reached by phone or e-mail and will answer any questions people may have. This is the first company in Guangxi to establish this sort of service, and shows that companies are beginning to take new steps towards fulfilling social responsibility.
http://www.lawtime.cn/info/laodong/ldxw/20110714107175.html
ChinaNews
July 4th, 2011
Recently, a number of Beijing districts established the “Nanzhang County Migrant Worker Support and Defense Relief Agency”. The Nanzhang Labor Union believes that this organization, stationed in Beijing, will spread its influence and establish a good cooperative relationship with the Beijing district. This agency hopes to provide more fast and convenient help for migrant workers in the area while promoting protection of labor rights.
http://www.chinanews.com/fz/2011/07-04/3153697.shtml
iFeng
June 6th, 2011
The Chinese Labor Union Representative, Jiang Guangping, was elected as the secretary to the International Labor Union at the 100th conference in Geneva on June 6, 2011. Since China first began participating in these International conferences, this is the first time a Chinese representative has been elected to serve as a council member.
http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/detail_2011_06/07/6862401_0.shtml