Globalisation, ‘Chinese Walls’ and Industrial Labour

Summaries This article analyses how globalisation — in particular China's integration into global trade and investment flows — has affected industrial labour. It is argued that globalisation has led to discernible pressures as a result of the concentration of world market production in the coastal areas and the heavy reliance on reprocessing exports. These pressures have been mediated by the Chinese institutional structure which includes social rules, the institutional legacy of state socialism and the interests and autonomy of governments. The implications for industrial labour of the combination of the pressures from globalisation and the Chinese institutional structure are examined

The "Rights Awakening" of Chinese Migrant Workers: Beyond the Generational Perspective

In the spring of 2010, the strike of the Honda workers in Nanhai instigated an on-going discourse on the rights awakening of the new generation of migrant workers. Since then, much has been written about these young workers, generally described as more pro-active and ready to stand up against their employers than the older and more subservient generation. Drawing from statistical findings from two factory-gate surveys in the metal mechanics and garment sectors in Shenzhen, this paper tests two hypotheses: (a) that workers of the younger generation are more cognizant of their legal rights than older workers; (b) that the younger generation wants to work fewer hours and to enjoy life more. We argue that this popular image of the younger generation of migrant workers is one-dimensional and reductive, as it focuses only on generational differences as an explanatory factor for worker activism, while ignoring other issues such as types of industries and payment systems. In this paper, we purport that these elements play important roles in shaping the attitude of this younger generation toward their work and rights

Condition of Workers in the Midst of Reform

>i>Weidinggao>/i> editors' note: Not long ago, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions conducted a nationwide survey on the subject of "The Condition of Workers in the Midst of Reform." On the basis of this survey, an analytical research report of some 700,000 words was written up. Starting with this issue, this publication will carry excerpts of the key parts of this research report. The report is divided into seven parts. We plan to publish these excerpts in serial form in consecutive issues of this publication. This issue includes excerpts from parts 1 and 2.

The Conditions of Women Workers

The number of women workers in the country has reached 45 million, accounting for 36 percent of the entire work force and representing approximately a seventy-five-fold increase over those employed in the early days of the Republic. In Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Liaoning, women workers all exceed 40 percent of the local work force. In Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hubei, Guangdong, Sichuan, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang, women workers have exceeded two million. During the thirty-some years since the founding of the Republic, remarkable changes have taken place among women workers; they are playing a significant role in the reform movement and in realizing the four modernizations.