International Solidarity (ICFTU, Union Statements)
Foul play in the race to top trade rankings: Two new ICFTU
reports on China
On 3 April the ICFTU released two reports on China to coincide
with the first WTO review of China's trade policies in Geneva on
4 and 6 of April 2006. One report summarises concerns on Core Labour
Standards in China while the second is on Trade, Employment and
Development in China. Both reports were submitted to the Trade Policy
Review of China in the WTO.
Foul play in the race to top trade rankings
As the political storm over the EU and US joining forces to challenge
China's trade policies at the WTO gathers momentum, the ICFTU today
released two reports reminding the WTO that China's own people are
one of the main victims of its unfair trade practices. According
to the reports, China's entry into the WTO has come
at a high cost to the country itself and its workers.
Released to coincide with a WTO review of China's trade policies
in Geneva on April 4 and 6, the reports expose the fact that China's
competitiveness is based on the exploitative wages paid to its workers
who are deprived of the right to organize freely, to form independent
trade unions, and to engage in collective bargaining.
Though Chinese minimum wages are already very low (44 US$ for one
of the most successful export regions), studies show that average
manufacturing wages are only between 38 % and 75 % of these minimums.
"Whilst world leaders cry foul play over China's tariffs on
this or that product, no one's got their eye on the main game: the
fact that its polices are first hurting its own people first and
foremost", said Guy Ryder, ICFTU General Secretary.
"When workers have no right to represent themselves, bargain
together and strike, they are left as an easy target for those aiming
to extract as much labour as possible at the lowest possible price.
This is the case in China - and it is the reason why cheap Chinese
exports are flooding the rest of the world. In the lingo of the
WTO, this practice is indeed 'trade distorting'," Ryder continued.
"This denial of worker's rights, which is a violation of one
of the basic notions of democracy, is only resulting in increased
social unrest. The government's use of anti-union tactics such as
crack downs on industrial actions and imprisonment of those fighting
for workers' rights is simply fanning the flames of what is emerging
to be a major threat to their own rule."
Despite the Chinese authorities' efforts to keep workers quiet,
labour disputes are on the rise. From 1995 to 2004, labour lawsuits
in Shanghai increased sevenfold to more than 18,000 cases, according
to government data. And a separate study shows that the number of
labour disputes nationwide shot up more than fivefold, from 33,000
cases involving 123,000 people in 1993 to 184,000 cases involving
608,000 people in 2002. ccording to figures from the Ministry of
Public Security "mass protests" or "mass incidents",
including riots, demonstrations, and collective petitions, rose
from 58,000 in 2003 to 74,000 in 2004.
Contrary to the common belief around the world, WTO membership
has left a bitter aftertaste for most Chinese people, with the World
Bank estimating that three quarters of rural households are experiencing
decreases in their living standards. The country has as many newly
unemployed people as the rest of the world put together and will
have to create up to 300 million new jobs in the next decade to
keep unemployment from rising to unbearable levels. Around 250 million
of its people, 16.6 percent of its population, still live on less
than US$ 1 a day and close to 700 million of its people, 47 percent
of the population, live on less than US$ 2 a day.
"Within just two decades, China has become one of the most
unequal countries in the world. China's experience shows that trade
liberalisation alone and success in export markets doesn't ensure
social progress and development. It reinforces our case that the
creation of decent work must be at the heart of the trade agenda,"
Ryder concluded.
The ICFTU report on Core Labour Standards in China, submitted
to the Trade Policy Review of China in the WTO, can be accessed
at
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991223619&Language=EN.
The ICFTU report on Trade, Employment and Development in
China, submitted to the Trade Policy Review of China in the WTO,
can be accessed at
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991223620&Language=EN.
A December 2005 ICFTU background report on China, "Whose
Miracle? How China's workers are paying the price for its economic
boom", can be accessed at
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991223214&Language=EN.
4 April 2006
054/060306
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