Workers will be allowed to decide their work quotas and pay
rises, according to a district government.
Shanghai's Jing'an district government on Thursday issued a new
directive requiring all companies to establish standards on work
quotas and wages.
When disagreements occur, they must be resolved through
negotiations between management and representatives of
employees.
The district government's decision is to protect the city's
workers who in many cases are overworked and underpaid.
In May, the Shanghai municipal labor and social security bureau
released guidelines on salaries, urging companies to pay manual
workers a fair rate, with annual increases of at least 3
percent.
A survey of 250 Shanghai companies found that more than half of
their manual workers had not received an increment for at least
three years. Some, for up to six years.
The district government said special attention must be paid to
people employed in the manufacturing and service sectors.
Statistics show that 80 percent of people employed in these
sectors are on piecework, with the work quota being much too high
and the wages too low. In addition, they have no channels of
communication with their employers.
According to the directive, companies that base their wages on
piecework must ensure the task can be completed by 90 percent of
the workers within legitimate working hours.
Wages must be adjusted in line with a company's increasing
profits.
Any company that has not raised wages for more than two years
must discuss it with employees through their representatives or
union.
(China Daily July 17, 2007)