Employees of a McDonald's outlet convened a trade union
conference in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, Friday morning, forming the
first union branch in the fast-food giant's stores in northeast
China.
Yang Saidan, 26, deputy manager assistant of the Pengli outlet
adjacent to a commercial street in downtown Shenyang was elected
chairwoman of the trade union committee during the low-key
meeting.
"It is a good start for the company. I'll try my best to protect
workers' rights and interests according to law," said Yang, who has
been working in the outlet for six years.
So far, 13 out of the 41 employees have joined the union
organization.
Guo Jing, a college student who works part-time in the outlet,
said she was happy to be a member of the union.
"I'm considering to work here after my graduation," said
Guo.
After about a month's negotiation with local trade union
authorities, McDonald's agreed to have trade union organization in
each of its 16 outlets in the city, according to Li Jinsheng,
director of the organizing committee with Shenyang Federation of
Trade Unions (SFTU).
The remaining 15 outlets are expected to set up trade unions by
early July, according to Li.
Union branches have been founded in McDonald's stores in Guangdong Province. More are expected to be
set up in Zhejiang Province by the end of the year.
More than 98 percent of Shenyang's foreign-invested companies
have established trade union organizations so far, statistics from
SFTU show.
The move will promote harmonious labor relations and sound
business growth for the company, said Ju Xiuli, chairman of
SFTU.
Each company with more than 25 employees must have individual
trade union organization, according to China's trade union law.
Some of KFC's outlets in the city's Dadong District are expected
to set up trade unions in the near future, according to Li.
The fast-food giants have been criticized for underpaying their
part-time employees in Guangzhou by up to 40 percent below the
local legal minimum wage of nearly US$1 an hour.
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions have been trying to
lobby foreign companies to allow the establishment of union
branches in their China operations in an effort to prevent
confrontations in worker-management.
Wal-Mart, which had refused to establish a trade union in its
Chinese branches, founded its first trade union in Shanghai in
August last year.
Apart from Wal-Mart, KFC, McDonald's, Pepsi and French bank BNP
have all founded trade unions in China.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2007)