The recent labour unrest in China and the politics of handling collective mobilisation by the Party-state

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of ECRAN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. Since the mid-2000s, there has been a continuous increase in the number of labour conflicts in China. The 2010 waves of labour unrest are unprecedented, with more than 100 strikes occurring in the car and electronics industry in the Pearl River Delta, following the May-June strike at a Honda Factory in Foshan. Since the adoption of the much debated Labour Contract and labour dispute Conciliation and Arbitration Laws in 2008, workplace unions have become increasingly subordinate and subservient to the local governments, the Party committees and tribunals or other judicial institutions. From the mid-2000s, there has been an increasing radicalisation of workers' demands. The recent unprecedented waves of mobilisation have not brought about any kind of institutionalisation of genuine independent representation of workers in the workplace. The Party-state is not likely to allow the existence of independent unions or even to fundamentally release its grip on the organisation and representation of workers in enterprises in the near future. The Party-state is very much likely to do its best to channel, control and co-opt any grassroots organisation within factories that emerge. The EU can help to institutionalise some of the results of the recent labour mobilisations in China by: 1. urging European companies with plants in China to implement workers' training programmes, improve workers' representation, and run genuine collective bargaining processes. 2. drawing on novel ways of collaboration with the Chinese government, ACFTU and (when possible) the growing network of NGOs providing services to workers. Main points: • Since the mid-2000s, China has witnessed an increase in " mass incidents " • These collective movements have started to radicalise as protestors have become more articulate and better educated. Protestors now have greater capacity to externalise their actions among the wider public and increasingly mobilise across class lines • The Party-state's reaction to such collective action is highly influenced by its desire to maintain a high pace of economic growth while also preserving social stability • The passing of the Labour Contract and labour dispute Conciliation and Arbitrations laws in 2008 have done little to work in workers' favour. They have made workplace unions increasingly subordinate to local governments • The demand for democratically-elected …