Conditions of work in China Monina Wong ITUC/GUF Hong Kong Liaison Office November 2010.
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Transcript of Conditions of work in China Monina Wong ITUC/GUF Hong Kong Liaison Office November 2010.
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Conditions of work in China
Monina WongITUC/GUF Hong Kong Liaison Office
November 2010
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Foxconn Suicides and Alienation
• Foxconn Technology Group is a Taiwanese company.• World’s biggest manufacturer of telecommunication and computer p
arts eg. Apple iphones, Dell, HP, Sony, Nokia…
• 13 young migrant workers had jumped from the factory buildings to commit suicide in one of the Shenzhen plants from January to the end of May.
• Foxconn announced a general monthly pay rise to (Euro 222) RMB2000 for production line workers after the 13th jump.
“Confronted with loneliness, death is not so horrible.”
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Honda Strike and Power of Labour
• China Honda Auto Manufacturing Co. Ltd is located in Foshan city of Guangdong province.
• Honda subsidiary producing transmissions that supplies to all the Honda subsidiaries in China.
• Regular workers received low wages of Euro150 (RMB1500); 70% of the workers are vocational students received a lower wage of Euro100 (RMB900);
• It takes a regular worker 15 years to promote to the next wage grade.• 2000 workers went on strike from 17 May for 4 day.• They demanded for a general wage increase of Euro90 (RMB800) fo
r all production line workers to catch up with inflation.
• The production halt of 4 Honda assembly factories in China were stopped. It caused Euro 20million to the company.
• The workers put up 90 demands to the Japanese management, including the public demand of reforming the plant union.
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• Both Foxconn and Honda are making enormous profit in China.
• The Foxconn plants in Shenzhen alone contributed 22% of the city’s total export value in 2009;
• While the global auto sales dropped by 10% in 2009, China is the only regional market of Honda that reported a 22.5% growth in revenue.
• Yet Foshan Honda parts workers are receiving Euro 1,500 a year, not more than 2% of that of an auto worker in the US, half of the average monthly salary in Europe.
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• Labour unrest against run-away capital after the financial crisis
• 251 cases of migrant workers unrests caused by sudden factory closures and back wage claims (Oct 2008); 92% increase from 2007 .
• 4.85 million migrant workers originated from 10 provinces lost jobs and had to return to the place of origin.
• Shenzhen Labour Bureau paid Euro1 million from the insolvency fund in settling the back wage claims caused by the factory closures (Oct, 2008)
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Stagnation in the Minimum wages in Guangdong province
Increase rate in minimum wage and GDP
2002* 2004 2006 2008
Shenzhen Municipality 8.8% (Euro59.5)
2.5% (Euro61)
32.8% (Euro81)
23.5% (Euro100)
Guangdong GDP (in 100million)
25.7% (1,350))
39.7% (1,886)
38.7% (2,616)
40.7%(3,680)
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Impact of Labour Struggles in China
• State intervention to increase wages • General rise in statutory minimum wage levels - by June
2010, 10 provinces have adjusted the 2009 minimum wage from 14 to 25%.
• Official trade union is pressured by spontaneous strikes, urgent need for increasing unionising rate
• Government initiates collective wage negotiation legislation
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Government Promoting Collective Contracts and Collective Negotiation
• Labour Law (1994) • Minimum Wage Ordinance (2004)• Tripartite mechanism - Ministry of Labour, ACFTU and
the China Enterprise Confederation/China Enterprise Directors Confederation (CEC/CEDA) to review minimum wage bi-annually
• Provincial regulations on minimum wage levels
• Collective Contract Ordinance in 2001, and the Interim Provision on Collective Wage Negotiation in 2004.
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• By 2007, ACFTU claimed to have signed:
• Enterprise collective contracts: 975,000 contracts, in 1.7 million enterprises, covered 128million workers.
• Regional collective contracts: 100,300 contracts, covered 744,000 enterprises and 31.65 million workers;
• Sectoral collective contracts: 55,000 contracts, covered 212,000 enterprises and 13.2 million workers.
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Recent Legislations on Collective Wage Negotiations in Guangdong Province
• Ordinance on Democratic Management in Enterprises of Guangdong Province – 1/3 of whole workforce can put demand for wage negotiation to plant
level union or upper level union; – union must put demand to employer; employer must react and have
negotiation;– Union as the negotiation subject + Upper level union assistance +
invitation of experts in negotiation;– No strike, no lockouts, no provocative actions from both sides;– Not clear about consultation and approval procedure of the draft
contract with wokrers; – Not clear about disputes in negotiation on mediation and right to strike.
• Ordinance on Collective Wage Negotiation in Shenzhen City– 1/5 of whole workforce can demand for wage negotiation.– When no result is reached, workers can demand for application of the
sectoral collective contract in the enterprise.