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How Weibo helped Dongguan factory workers get their voices heard
When the boss refuses to listen to workers’ grievances, those workers often have no option but to go on strike. But whether or not this tactic works sometimes depends on workers’ media advocacy...
View ArticleThe beginnings of workers’ culture on Weibo
Sun Heng, a migrant worker turned singer, prefers to call himself a “new worker” rather than a migrant worker. Together with his troupe, the New Worker Arts Group, Sun has been performing for more than...
View ArticleSome thoughts on the outlook for Chinese factories in 2012
Back in 2008 when the financial crisis first struck Asia, the Pearl River Delta witnessed a wave of factory closures. Today, China’s economic rebalancing has again raised concerns over the ability of...
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Stirrings of democracy at a Shenzhen factory
Workers at the Ohms electronics factory in Shenzhen got their first taste of democracy on 27 May when they voted for their own trade union chairman. The workers had demanded their own representative...
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Li Wangyang’s death and what it means for the labour movement in China
The suspicious death of Chinese labour activist Li Wangyang on 6 June has triggered a wave of anger and massive demonstrations here in Hong Kong, putting pressure on the Chinese government for a...
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Why raising the retirement age is a bad idea for workers
It was no surprise that when the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) announced in early June that raising the retirement age for workers in China was unavoidable due to people’s...
View ArticleThe long uphill struggle for migrant schools in Beijing continues
During his concert tour of Hong Kong last week, “New Worker” Sun Heng once again called the public’s attention to the threatened closure of the Tongxin Primary School for the children of migrant...
View ArticleThe tide turns in Sichuan: Rural labourers find opportunities closer to home
Sichuan, the Chinese province perhaps most synonymous with the export of rural labour, now has more rural labourers employed at home than in other provinces. In the first half this year, there were...
View ArticleIt was the best of times; it was the worst of times: China’s manufacturers...
For business leaders attending a “small and medium-sized enterprise summit” in Guangzhou last weekend, it was very much a tale of two business models, the traditional “made in China” model and the...
View ArticleWhen workers’ actions speak louder than words
Workers at Shiroki, a Japanese auto parts maker in Guangdong, had long been unhappy at the company’s practice of forcing them to work an additional 20 minutes each day to make up for their rest period,...
View ArticleMigrant worker deputies and migrant worker concerns at the National People’s...
The number of migrant worker deputies attending the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing has increased tenfold from just three last year to 31 deputies this year. However, that still represents...
View ArticleFor Chinese workers the right to strike is an academic issue
The right to strike came up again during the annual parliamentary gathering in Beijing last week. Ge Jianxiong, head of Fudan University Library, suggested that the right to strike be restored to the...
View ArticleChina’s trade union in dreamland
The Chinese Dream has been analysed and interpreted in many different ways since President Xi Jinping first floated the idea at this year’s National People’s Congress. But perhaps the biggest...
View ArticleJilin tragedy highlights lack of legal enforcement and lack of a proper trade...
China’s Work Safety Law stipulates that factories should make sure that fire exits are always ready to use and clearly signed. This was tragically not the case at the Baoyuanfeng poultry plant in the...
View ArticleThe desperate performance art of Ji Zhongxing
The Beijing airport bombing that shocked the nation on 20 June not only raised questions about the fairness of China’s legal system but also highlighted the lack of effective channels for migrant...
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