Chinese and American unions shake hands

[Omaha Steve]

Chinese and American unions shake hands
Li Datong
30 - 5 - 2007
A form of solidarity between workers in China and the United States is beginning to take shape, says Li Datong.
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The third reading of the draft "labour-contract law" at the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on 5-16 March 2007 has set in motion some important changes. In particular, a law whose goal is further to protect workers' rights will affect the lives of millions upon millions of Chinese employees.

A decade or so ago, the passage of such a law would have been a relatively simple matter. A draft would have been drawn up by legal experts under the direction of the government, which would subsequently have been passed by the NPC; there would have been next to no real debate. Today such lax legislative practice is all but history, after the enactment of laws relating to every class and interest group in society, often accompanied by fierce debate and political infighting.
This change has come about due to China's early departure from the universally state-owned economy. As a result, private-sector, joint-venture and wholly owned foreign enterprises have come to hold a majority stake in the national economy and interest groups of every sort have sprung up. These developments have caused changes to Chinese legislative procedure with the NPC subsequently needing to make compromises with and appease such interest groups.

The formulation of the labour-contract law hasn't attracted as much lively media coverage as did the "property-rights law" passed on 16 March 2007. Nevertheless, following the public announcement of the draft, the National People's Congress received more than 190,000 replies. This figure far outnumbered that of the property-rights law. Even more significant is the fact that the formulation of this domestic Chinese law has brought American trade-union organisations and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions to shake hands for the very first time.

FULL story at link.