Strikes put China on spot over labor unrest
June 10, 2010 Taiwanese and Japanese companies including Honda Motor Co. have
been scrambling to defuse labor disputes that have paralyzed
production and sometimes erupted into violent clashes between
workers and state-backed union officials.
Meanwhile, a spate of worker suicides at the mammoth factory
complex operated by iPhone maker Foxconn in the southern city of
Shenzhen has drawn attention to the intolerable stresses many young
workers face on factory floors run with military-style discipline.
Analysts said the recent labor actions were related specifically
to job conditions and wages rather than any wider issues such as
friction with Japan, which has at times prompted public outbursts
against the Japanese in China. A widening gap between China's
wealthy cities and the still developing countryside has added to
frustrations among young migrants who move to the city in search of
a better life and find the cost of living prohibitively high.
Younger Chinese now seeking work in factories were raised in an
era of relative plenty and have less tolerance for highly
regimented factory living than older generations familiar with
hunger, political unrest and poverty. Those changing expectations
represent a thorny challenge for China's communist leadership,
which seeks to legitimize its monopoly on power with a promise of
continually rising living standards.
"Today's youth are more concerned about what will happen to
them in the future. They want to settle down in large cities and
have interesting and well-paying jobs ... just like their
counterparts in other countries. The current factory system isn't
set up to realize their dreams," Andy Xie, an independent
economist, wrote in a recent essay outlining the broad scale of
China's labor challenges.
After getting battered by recession last year, Japanese
companies are increasingly shifting production to China to tap its
lower labor costs and get closer to its fast-growing market. But
companies that rely on China for cheap labor increasingly are
finding it hard to attract and keep workers, who want better pay
and working conditions.
"To be honest, the wages most Japanese factories offer are
lower than those paid by Western factories, and the management is
stricter," said Liu Kaiming, executive director of The Institute
of Contemporary Observation, in the southern city of Shenzhen.
Both Japanese and Taiwan-invested factories - the focus of many
recent protests - tend to have weaker ties to local authorities and
trade unions than local employers. That can hinder efforts to
broker an agreement or force striking workers to get back to work.
Japanese factories also often hire groups of young workers from
a particular school or community, perhaps for the sake of
efficiency, Liu said. But that means the workers may be more likely
to join together against an employer if they are dissatisfied.
That appeared to be a factor in a strike this week at Honda
affiliate Foshan Fengfu Autoparts Co., many of whose workers
reportedly were recruited from a local vocational school.
"For them, it's much easier to communicate with each other, to
unite as a group, and to call for the strike. The Internet is a
tool for sharing information very quickly via chatting on MSN, or
QQ," said Liu, whose institute focuses on corporate governance
issues.
Honda Motor Co. said it was preparing to resume production at
two car assembly plants Friday after resolving a three-day strike
at one of its parts suppliers. But another supplier, Honda Lock
(Guangdong) Co., was still working to resolve a strike after its
workers walked off the job Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Japan's Brother Industries Ltd. said a weeklong
strike that had stalled production at its industrial sewing machine
factory in the central city of Xi'an had ended. Another strike, at
a Taiwan-run rubber products plant west of Shanghai, also ended
earlier this week after workers took to the streets demanding wage
hikes.
China's communist leaders, who have ruled since the 1949
revolution, are acutely aware of the power of worker unity given
their own origins in the labor movements of the early 20th century.
Fearing challenges to their own hold on power, they ban
unauthorized organizations and public dissent by labor or
otherwise. Those who violate those bans face harassment and
prosecution.
But the authorities have long tolerated limited, local protests
by workers unhappy over wages or other issues, perhaps recognizing
the need for an outlet for such frustrations.
In an unusually frank commentary Wednesday, the People's Daily
exhorted the government-affiliated labor umbrella, the All-China
Federation of Trade Unions, to do a better job as a mediator.
"Labor relations are increasingly complex and important today,
but unions lack the talent needed to gain workers' trust and do
their jobs well," it said.
"There is no shortage of enthusiastic, diligent cadres but
there is a lack of professional personnel qualified to deal with
new challenges and tasks."
Labor disputes gained greater public attention in China
following an outcry recently over 11 suicides and three suicide
attempts - mostly by jumping off tall buildings - at Taiwan's
Foxconn Technology Group, a contract manufacturer in China of
iPhones and other name-brand electronics.
Labor activists accuse Foxconn of having a rigid management
style, an excessively fast assembly line and forced overwork. The
company denies the allegations, but has announced two raises for
its Chinese workers that will boost monthly wages by nearly two
thirds.
Minimum wages are due to rise between 15 percent to 20 percent
across the country this year, and shortages of skilled labor in
some areas will put further pressure on employers struggling to
contain costs, UBS economist Tao Wang wrote in a report this week.
While the latest strikes have drawn open acknowledgement of the
need for better management of labor relations, China's leaders are
unlikely to allow trade unions - or any other group - to gain much
influence, said Zhou Xiaozheng, a well-known sociologist and
professor at Renmin University.
"It's hardly possible for labor unions to be effective, and for
the party it is absolutely taboo," Zhou said. "No group can
represent our people, except the Communist Party."