Guo Jun, the deputy director of the All-China Federation of
Trade Unions (ACFTU) Legislative Affairs Bureau, called on
foreign and private enterprises in China to respect their
employees' legal right to establish trade unions.
He made the call after the Legal Daily newspaper
reported that many private and foreign firms ban employees from
unionizing. "All enterprises investing in China should abide by
Trade Union Law," said Guo.
Many well-known multinationals operating in China, such as
Wal-Mart, Kodak, Dell and Samsung, do not allow unions to be
established amongst their workforces.
According to a survey released by the ACFTU, there were 743,000
private enterprises in China with 25 million employees by the end
of last year. However, the number of trade unions does not match
the growing number of employees.
The Legal Daily reports that Wal-Mart, the world's
largest supermarket chain, has 19,000 Chinese employees at 37
stores in 18 cities across China including Beijing, Shenzhen,
Dalian and Kunming, but no trade union organizations.
Wal-Mart has no trade unions at any of its global affiliates and
local branches in China have worked hard to stop the establishment
of unions. The Shenzhen Municipal Trade Union has been unable to
even contact Wal-Mart's China headquarters, where managers are
apparently always absent when they call.
Random interviews showed that many Wal-Mart employees only have
a vague idea of what a trade union is or how it could benefit
them.
Huang Mingrui, who worked at the Jilin Wal-Mart Qianjin branch
for more than two years, said that Wal-Mart annually convenes a
"grass-roots meeting." All employees are encouraged to attend and
write down suggestions on anonymous questionnaires that are then
sent to the company's headquarters.
"Some of the demands we made were later met," she added. "Most
Wal-Mart employees are satisfied with the welfare services provided
by the company."
Between 30 and 50 percent of migrant workers would like to
organize trade unions, although 20 percent have only a vague idea
of what they are and 30 percent said they would establish one if
their bosses agreed, according to an ACFTU survey.
The ACFTU plans to popularize trade unions among workers and to
raise awareness of the benefits of organizing their own. ACFTU
official Yang Honglin said trade unions should assume the
responsibility of speaking out on behalf of workers and seek the
best solutions for them.
(China Daily October 26, 2004)