La Cina sta preparando una legge per dare maggior potere
ai sindacati e porre fine agli abusi contro i lavoratori
DAVID BARBOZA
Se applicata essa modificherebbe il grande mercato del
lavoro cinese e farebbe aumentare i salari, dando per la prima volta poteri reali
ai sindacati [di Stato] da quando è stato introdotto il mercato nel decennio 1980;
dovrebbe decorrere dal prossimo maggio, riguardare tutte le imprese, ma in particolare
quelle in cui i proprietari sono stranieri e i loro fornitori.
Un avvocato della società legale Baker & McKenzie in
Cina: le nuove regole darebbero ai sindacati un potere di contrattazione collettiva
e il controllo su certi regolamenti aziendali; renderebbe difficile il licenziamento
di lavoratori che rendono poco.
Il progetto, dettato dalle preoccupazioni del governo per il
crescente divario nei redditi e il rischio di disordini sociali, apre uno
scontro con i gruppi americani ed in generali stranieri che vi si oppongono
minacciando di costruire meno fabbriche in Cina; essa copierebbe fortemente dalla
legislazione del lavoro francese e tedesca (maggiori difficoltà di licenziamento).
In realtà rimangono molti vantaggi, anche con l’introduzione
di restrizioni e costi del lavoro più alti. Il conflitto con i gruppi esteri
giunge in una fase in cui stanno crescendo i costi del lavoro, dell’energia e
dei terreni.
In corso un lavoro di lobby da parte di rappresentanti di
alcuni gruppi americani per far rivedere o abbandonare il progetto; c’è uno
scontro in atto tra la Camera di commercio americana – che rappresenta tra gli
altri Dell, Ford, GE, Microsoft e Nike – contro gli attivisti operai e la
All-China Federation of trade Unions, l’organizzazione ufficiale del PCC.
- L’americano Global Labor Strategies,
un gruppo che appoggia le politiche per i diritti dei lavoratori, dovrebbe
pubblicare a NY e Boston un rapporto di denuncia le società americane che si
oppongono a questo progetto di legge; Costello, funzionario del gruppo: il
fatto che i grandi gruppi si oppongono a minime riforme contraddice l’idea che
la globalizzazione e le multinazionali contribuiranno ad innalzare gli standard
nel mondo.
Finora i funzionari locali hanno per lo più ignorato o sfuggito
le direttive centrali, occorrerà vedere se anche questa legge avrà la stesa
sorte.
Con il sistema dela “legge di ferro della tazza di riso” negli
anni 1950 e ’60 tutti i lavoratori erano protetti dal governo o da società
statali, che spesso fornivano anche l’abitazione e l’assistenza sanitaria
locale.
Negli anni 1980, con la ristrutturazione economica e l’enfasi
sulle forze di mercato, la Cina ha iniziato ad eliminare molte di queste
tutele, con licenziamenti di massa, disoccupazione, forti divari di reddito e
diffusi abusi sulla forza lavoro.
La condizione peggiore era quella degli emigrati dalle
province più povere; molti emigranti denunciano abusi come la mancata
corresponsione del salario, o la costrizione a lavorare senza contratto.
Il progetto di legge è in discussione dopo che i grandi magazzini
Wal-Mart, il maggior gruppo mondiale di commerci al dettaglio, è stato costretto
ad accettare i sindacati nei suoi negozi in Cina.
Il governo cinese ha fatto un sondaggio sulla proposta
dilegge tra i cittadini, ricevendo oltre 190 000 risposte; hanno espresso
il loro parere anche la Camera di commercio americana e quella europea
Nyt 061013
China Drafts Law to Empower Unions and End Labor Abuse
By DAVID
BARBOZA
SHANGHAI, Oct. 12 — China
is planning to adopt a new law that seeks to crack down on sweatshops and
protect workers’ rights by giving
labor unions real power for the first time since it introduced market forces in
the 1980’s.
– The move, which
underscores the government’s growing concern about the widening income gap and
threats of social unrest, is setting off a battle with American and other
foreign corporations that have lobbied against it by hinting that they may
build fewer factories here.
The proposed rules are being considered after
the Chinese Communist Party endorsed a new doctrine that will put greater
emphasis on tackling the severe side effects of the country’s remarkable
growth.
Whether the foreign corporations will follow
through on their warnings is unclear because of the many advantages of being in
China
— even with restrictions
and higher costs that may stem from the new law. It could go into effect as early as next May.
It would apply to all companies in China, but its emphasis is on
foreign-owned companies and the suppliers to those companies.
The conflict with the foreign corporations is significant partly because it
comes at a time when labor, energy and land costs are rising in this country,
all indications that doing business in China is likely to get much more
expensive in the coming years.
– But it is not
clear how effectively such a new labor law would be carried out through this vast land
because local officials
have tended to ignore directives from the central government or seek ways
around them.
China’s
economy has become one of the most robust in the world since the emphasis on
free markets in the 80’s encouraged millions of young workers to labor for low
wages at companies that made cheap exports. As a result, foreign investment has
poured into China.
Some of the world’s big companies have
expressed concern that the new rules would revive some aspects of socialism and
borrow too heavily from
labor laws in union-friendly countries like France
and Germany.
The Chinese government proposal, for example, would make it more difficult to
lay off workers, a condition that some companies contend would be so
onerous that they might slow their investments in China.
– “This is really
two steps backward after three steps forward,” said Kenneth Tung,
Asia-Pacific director of legal affairs at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Hong
Kong and a legal adviser to the American Chamber of
Commerce here.
– The proposed law is being
debated after Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s biggest retailer, was forced to
accept unions in its Chinese outlets.
State-controlled unions here have not wielded much
power in the past, but after years of reports of worker abuse, the government seems determined
to give its union new powers to negotiate worker contracts, safety protection
and workplace ground rules.
Hoping to head off some of the rules, representatives of some American
companies are waging an intense lobbying campaign to persuade the Chinese
government to revise or abandon the proposed law.
– The skirmish has pitted the American Chamber of Commerce — which
represents corporations including Dell, Ford, General Electric, Microsoft and
Nike — against labor activists and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions,
the Communist Party’s official union organization.
The workers’ advocates say that the proposed
labor rules — and more important, enforcement powers — are long overdue, and
they accuse the American businesses of favoring a system that has led to
widespread labor abuse.
– On Friday, Global Labor Strategies, a group that supports labor
rights policies, is expected to release a report in New
York and Boston
denouncing American corporations for opposing legislation that would give
Chinese workers stronger rights.
– “You have big
corporations opposing basically modest reforms,” said Tim Costello, an
official of the group and a longtime labor union advocate. “This flies in the face of the
idea that globalization and corporations will raise standards around the
world.”
–
China’s
Labor Ministry declined to comment Thursday, saying the law is still in the
drafting stages. Several American corporations also declined to comment on the
case, saying it was a delicate matter and referring calls to the American
Chamber of Commerce.
But Andreas Lauffs, a Hong Kong-based lawyer
who runs the China
employment-law practice at the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie,
said some American companies considered the proposed rules too costly and
restrictive.
–
Mr. Lauffs said the new rules would give unions
collective-bargaining power and control over certain factory rules, and they
would also make it difficult to fire employees for poor performance.
“You could hire a sales manager, give him a
quota and he doesn’t sell anything, and you couldn’t get rid of him,” Mr.
Lauffs said. “It’s not easy to get rid of someone now, but under these rules it
would be impossible.”
It is not clear what the final law will look
like, and only an updated draft is expected soon. But specialists say the trend
suggests that there may be new challenges ahead for foreign companies doing
business in this country.
– Under China’s
“iron rice bowl” system of the 1950’s and 60’s, all workers were protected by
the government or by state-owned companies, which often supplied housing and
local health coverage.
–
But by the 1980’s, when the old Maoist model had given
way to economic restructuring and the beginning of an emphasis on market
forces, China began eliminating many of those protections — giving rise to mass
layoffs, unemployment, huge gaps in income and pervasive labor abuse.
– The worst off have been migrant workers, most of them exiles from
the poorest provinces who travel far from home to live in cramped company
dormitories while working long hours under poor conditions.
– Migrant workers in virtually every city complain about abuses like
having their pay withheld or being forced to work without a contract.
“I don’t know about the labor law,” said Zhang
Yin, an 18-year-old migrant who washes dishes in Shanghai. “During the three months I’ve been
here, my boss has delayed the salary payment twice. I want to quit.”
Having grown increasingly concerned about the
nation’s widening income gap and fearing social unrest, officials in Beijing now seem
determined to improve worker protection. In recent years, more and more factory
workers have gone to court or taken to the streets to protest poor working
conditions and overdue pay.
“The government is concerned because social
turmoil can happen at any moment,” says Liu Cheng, a professor of law at Shanghai Normal University
and an adviser to the authorities on drafting the proposed law. “The government stresses social
stability, so it needs to solve existing problems in the society.”
– In a surprisingly democratic move, China asked for public comment on
the draft law last spring and received more than 190,000 responses, mostly from
labor activists. The American Chamber of Commerce sent in a lengthy response
with objections to the proposals. The European Chamber of Commerce also responded.
The law would impose heavy fines on companies
that do not comply. And the state-controlled union — the only legal union in China
— would gain greater power through new collective-bargaining rights or pursuing
worker grievances and establishing work rules. One provision in the proposed
law reads, “Labor unions
or employee representatives have the right, following bargaining conducted on
an equal basis, to execute with employers collective contracts on such matters
as labor compensation, working hours, rest, leave, work safety and hygiene,
insurance, benefits, etc.”
– If approved and strictly enforced, specialists say the new laws
would strikingly alter the country’s vast labor market and significantly push
up the wages of everyday workers.
“If you really abide by the Chinese labor
laws,” said Anita Chan, an expert on labor issues in this country and a
visiting fellow at the Australian
National University,
“migrant-worker wages would go up by 50 percent or more.”
Until now, though, existing Chinese labor laws
have gone largely unenforced, which has further complicated the debate here.
Opponents of the proposed law argue that enforcing existing labor laws would be
enough to solve the country’s nagging problems. Advocates respond that adopting
new laws would set the stage for stricter enforcement.
Even lawyers working for multinational
corporations seem to agree that there is an epidemic of cheating.
Mr. Liu, the Shanghai lawyer who advised the government on
the draft proposal, says many companies avoid existing laws by using employment
agencies to hire workers. He says the new law will do more to protect workers
from such abuse by holding companies accountable.
“The principle is not to raise the labor
standard dramatically,” he said, “but to raise the cost of violating the law.
The current labor law is a paper tiger and is a disadvantage to those who obey
it. If you don’t obey the law, you won’t be punished.”
New York Times