After reading Mathew Chan’s post -“The Iphone 5: Behing the Scenes”– I was interested in the amount of power trade unions had in China, especially since it’s a relevant to the trade union strikes taking place at UBC. I assumed that there were no trade unions in China, or they had non-existent or negligible power, as I usually hear about chinese workers being exploited in the media. I was surprised to find out that the laws protecting trade unions in China are actually better than most countries. In China, 25 worker signatures constitute a trade union, and the employer must pay 2% of the payroll to the union, whilst employees pay 0.5%1. Unions such as the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) actually have enough power to take on huge corporations like Walmart. However, the trade unions still aren’t widespread enough considering China’s huge job sectors, and they must grow in order for the majority of employees to be represented. I think that the expansion of trade unions in countries where workers are known to be exploited (China, India, Vietnam, etc) will be great for more international trade and globalization, as the people of the host countries will actually benefit.
Reference:
1http://www.socialistproject.ca/relay/relay21_unions.pdf
Mathen Chan’s Blog
https://blogs.ubc.ca/matthewchan1/2012/10/07/the-iphone-5-behind-the-scenes/#content
Picture
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/var/news/storage/images/world/china-drives-to-boost-trade-union-role/1577715-1-eng-GB/China-drives-to-boost-trade-union-role_large.jpg