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WORKERS' CONDITION IN CHINA
(Clean Clothes Campaign - August 1997)
China's labour law in itself isn't bad. It stipulates that the maximum workinghours is 44 a week (48 is common elsewhere). The minimumwage is different in each region. For all Chinese workers the law is that women workers who are pregnant for 7 months or longer, or have a child younger than one year, are not allowed to work during night hours. Overwork for women is limitted to one hour a day. Pregnancyleave is 90 days, with wages fully paid by the company. Before and after giving birth it's forbidden to lay off the worker. There are rules for childcare. Women and men have to be treated equally, for the protection of women workers against sexual violence, however, no laws have been drawn up.The government is responsible for punishment of companies who violate the laborlaw, and for the payment of compensation to laid off workers. In the fall of 1996 the Chinese government stipulated that all employers in the country have to draw up labor contracts with their employees. In a circular the Ministry of Labor threatens with severe punishment for not complying with the new rules. The Ministry stated that this process had to be finished by the end of this year. Apart from the Chinese labor law a lot of companies did draw up extra regulations, like the right to 2 days menstruation leave. Despite the relatively good laws the rights of workers in joint-ventures and private companies are under constant pressure. In state-owned companies labor rights are usually better protected.
The right to collective bargaining is part of the 1995 labor law. But what means this right in a country where it is forbidden to setup an independent trade union? The right to strike is no part of this law. To strike, and the organisation of a strike, is illegal and is punnished with imprisonment. In the country of workers the ACFTU is the only trade union allowed. This union mainly conducts research and is hardly able to do something for the workers. In practice, the working conditions are bad, which results in severe problems and laborconflicts.
In 1996 research was done on the working conditions in Shenzen. Of the 547 foreign investors in Shenzen only 29.6% took any safety measures for the work with machines. It became clear that the enforcement of the law fails severely. Warnings by the police, fire-brigade, health bureau and labor bureaus aren't taken seriously by the management of factories. The ACFTU fails in compelling improvements and often doesn't do more than research (AMRC; Pearl River Delta Labour Rights Report, 1996).
In Guangdong more than 1000 laborconflicts have been reported in 1994. In
april 1996 the ACFTU, the
state union, conducted research amongst workers of 20 joint ventures in 10
cities in Guangdong. Their
conclusions are:
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