China’s Workers Restive And On Strike
As companies from Wal-Mart to the world’s largest shoe-maker, Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings, face disgruntled employees, Alexandra Harney at Reuters describes a growing restlessness in China’s...
View ArticleShoe Factory Strikes Spread To Jiangxi (Updated)
Jonathan Kaiman at The Guardian reports that the ongoing Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Ltd.’s shoe factory strikes in Guangdong have spread to thousands of workers protesting “unfair pay and benefits”...
View ArticleLabor Activist Charged After Yue Yuen Strike
The BBC reports that police in China have formally charged a labor activist with disturbing public order following the unprecedented Yue Yuen shoe factory strikes which led a local government to vouch...
View ArticleChinese Workers Grow Bolder in Exerting Clout
Dan Levin at the New York Times looks at how workers at the Yue Yuen shoe factory in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, organized themselves to strike over the past two weeks, forcing the owners into...
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Word of the Week: Thoracotomy
The Occupational Illness and Prevention Center insists, “What needs to be made clear is that our initial diagnosis was not tuberculosis.” (NetEase) 开胸验肺 (kāixiōng yànfèi): thoracotomy Incision into the...
View ArticleMeng Han: A Labor Activist Forged in Battle
China Labour Bulletin has posted a profile of Meng Han, a lifelong laborer who has devoted himself to fight for labor rights in China. Meng was the leader of the 12 Guangzhou Chinese Medicine...
View ArticleSamsung’s Handling of Child Labor Under Fire
Following a China Labor Watch report released last week alleging the use of child labor at a Dongguan factory that makes phone components for Samsung, the South Korean electronics firm announced on...
View ArticleCould Stronger Unions Make China More Democratic?
Earlier this month, an explosion at a metal works factory in Kunshan, Jiangsu, which makes car wheels for foreign automakers, killed at least 75 people. Lax enforcement of safety regulations was blamed...
View ArticleStrikes Surge as Workers Connect
According to the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin, the number of strikes and worker protests in the second quarter of 2014 increased 49% from the same period last year, and 180% from 2012. South...
View ArticleApple Supplier in China Accused of Labor Violations
At PC News, Stephanie Mlot reports that China Labor Watch and Green America, two US-based nonprofit labor watchdog organizations, claim to have uncovered safety and labor violations at an Apple...
View ArticleLabor Activists Report Unprecedented Intimidation
With labor strikes and protests in China surging—partly due to escalating pressure on the labor force caused by continued economic slowdown, and partly to the increased connectivity that social media...
View ArticleFour Views on Activism in China
A series of recent posts at the University of Nottingham’s China Policy Institute Blog describes various aspects of Chinese activism and official responses. Cornell University PhD candidate Manfred...
View ArticleChina’s Workers: Striking, Divided, Poisoned
The Associated Press’ Didi Tang describes the gathering momentum of worker strikes across China: More than three decades after Beijing began allowing market reforms, China’s 168 million migrant workers...
View ArticleThe Risks of Expanding Repression in China
At the Lowy Interpreter, Human Rights Watch’s Maya Wang examines planned regulations of Chinese NGOs which would subject them to supervision by the Ministry of Public Security using “tactics more...
View ArticleVisualizing China’s Strike Activity
On his Dart-Throwing Chimp blog, political scientist Jay Ulfelder presents a series of graphs illustrating strike activity across China since January 2011. The data comes from China Labour Bulletin’s...
View ArticleRights and Robots in Chinese Manufacturing
Kyodo reports allegations of continuing labor abuses at four Chinese factories supplying Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo: Four clothing factories manufacturing goods for the fashion chain were...
View ArticleLabor Activists Detained Amid Civil Society Crackdown
China Labour Bulletin reports that several workers’ rights leaders have recently been detained by authorities in Guangzhou: Two prominent labour activists have been formally detained by the Guangzhou...
View ArticleWorkers Are Fighting Back as Economic Dream Fades
In the eastern province of Jiangsu, a group of auto workers and their relatives clashed with police during a protest over compensation for injuries the workers suffered as a result of an explosion at...
View ArticleChina’s Latest Crackdown on Workers Is Unprecedented
China is experiencing a sharp increase in labor unrest as the country’s economy continues to slow. In response to growing labor protests over mass layoffs and factory closures, government authorities...
View ArticleWorkers Publicly Shamed for Protesting Unpaid Wages
A court in Langzhong, Sichuan this week held an outdoor, public mass trial for eight migrant workers who last year protested in demand of unpaid wages. Labor protests have been rising in China as the...
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