The Revised Trade Union Law in Mainland China: Progress or Regression for Worker and Trade Union Rights?

ICFTU/ITS/HKCTU/HKTUC Hong Kong Liaison Office (IHLO)
November 20, 2001

On October 27, 2001, the National People’s Congress (NPC) ratified amendments to the Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China. The law was first introduced in 1950, and was amended in 1992. Although it is sometimes referred to as the new Trade Union Law of 2001, it should be noted that technically this is not a new law, but set of amendments (Article 57 still refers to the promulgation of this law on June 29, 1950).

The 2001 amendments to the Trade Union Law were drafted by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, which has worked together with the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) since 1999 to revise the law. According to Zhang Chunsheng, Deputy Director of the Legislative Affairs Commission: “The trade union law must be revised accordingly to better protect the rights of workers and maintain social stability while promoting reform and economic development.” (Xinhua, August 22, 2001). Although the protection of workers’ rights is often presented as the primary aim of these amendments, the concern for social stability and political support for economic reform was a major theme in NPC discussions of the revisions. Referring to China’s entry into the WTO, NPC legislator, Li Yining asserted that: “After the accession, it is inevitable that the unemployment rate will rise, and trade unions can play a big role in maintaining social stability and creating new employment opportunities.” (China Daily, November 5, 2001.)

At the time of its introduction the official press presented the revisions to the trade union law as a significant achievement for workers and trade unions. For example, China Daily (October 25, 2001) reported that: “China will make mammoth changes to its decades-old Trade Union Law to further safeguard workers’ rights by enhancing the role of trade unions.” A week later the same newspaper quoted Dong Li from the ACFTU Legal Department: “The new trade union law has given unions at all levels a powerful weapon to use when protecting employee’s legal rights” (China Daily, November 5, 2001). Few would question the relationship between protecting worker rights and strengthening the role of trade unions. However, in a situation where the trade unions involved can only be those formed as part of the ACFTU, and where the ACFTU is – by its own constitution – subordinate to the Communist Party and Government, these revisions do not reflect an advancement of workers’ rights.

Several amendments to the law do appear to enhance the rights of workers, trade unions and trade union officials. For example, two new sections added to Article 6 strengthen the role of the union in undertaking “consultations on an equal footing”, to negotiate collective contracts and mediate in the employment relationship with a view to protecting workers’ legitimate rights. An addition to Article 10 guarantees representation of women workers, particularly in workplaces where the majority of the workers are women. The new section added to Article 11 establishes the right of higher-level unions to send in staff to help or instruct workers in forming a union, a process which should not be obstructed by employers. Other revisions include the protection of trade union officers from dismissal and the requirement that employers give the union prior notification before dismissing employees.

These changes reflect a degree of progress in the protection of worker and trade union rights, especially in the private sector. This partly explains why the new amendments to the Trade Union Law have been welcomed by some overseas trade unionists and observers as a sign of significant reform benefitting workers. In some cases these amendments are even seen as evidence that the ACFTU itself is reforming itself into a genuine trade union.

Given the importance attributed to these amendments to the law, it is clear that these changes must be subjected to more critical scrutiny. The key question is whether workers have the freedom to exercise their newly acquired rights, a guarantee contingent upon the right to freedom of association. A close reading of the 2001 amendments to the Trade Union Law shows that its systematic violation of the principle of freedom of association remains unchanged. More importantly, there are some key areas of regression.