China's top trade union body yesterday renewed its pledge to
protect workers' rights and interests with the release of a blue
paper.
The "2006 Blue Paper on Chinese Trade Unions Safeguarding the
Rights and Interests of All Workers," issued by the All-China
Federation of Trade Unions, said substantial progress had been made
in developing trade unions in China last year.
According to the paper, by September last year, China had 1.32
million grassroot trade unions, an increase of 12.7 percent over
2005.
It now has 170 million trade union members. Migrant workers
comprise 40.97 million.
Gu Changsheng, a spokesman with the federation, said at a press
conference in Beijing yesterday that some foreign companies, still
refusing or obstructing the establishment of trade unions, were an
obstacle to further development.
He said the case of some foreign fast-food restaurants
underpaying part-time workers in the southern city of Guangzhou
last month showed that trade unions must be strengthened in the
non-public economic sectors.
However, Gu said some major foreign companies had responded by
taking the initiative to set up trade unions.
For example, McDonald's had promised to set up trade unions at
all its outlets in South China's Guangdong Province by next month
and in East China's Zhejiang Province by the end of this year.
"This is another breakthrough. Fast-food companies have numerous
outlets and employ a large number of people," Gu said.
"Sound labor-management relations in foreign companies will
attract more foreign investment."
Gu said the federation and the Ministry of Labor and Social
Security would jointly carry out a nationwide check next month on
foreign enterprises' use of workers, involving wages, work quotas
and security.
The federation has set an ambitious target of having trade
unions set up in more than 70 percent of foreign-funded enterprises
this year.
More than 60 percent of foreign firms had already set up trade
unions by the end of last year.
Gu also announced at the meeting the start of the sixth national
survey on the situation of Chinese workers. The fifth survey was
done in 2002.
The survey will investigate 42,000 samples across the country,
including 12,000 migrant workers.
(China Daily May 16, 2007)