ACFTU and Trade Unions

ACFTU 14th Congress: The Stalemate Continues

“From a very simple labour relationship during the planned economy period, trade unions are being pushed to the frontline to defend worker’ interests in a market economy with multiple interest groups.”[1]

There is no doubt that this opinion from the editor of the official China Daily accurately reflects the dilemma facing the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). On the one hand, the Chinese working class is divided, volatile, angry, and has next to no faith in the ACFTU’s ability to defend its interests. On the other hand, the organisation is under huge pressure from the authorities to contain working class militancy, which they correctly regard as a threat to the current political order.

Historically, the ACFTU’s five-yearly congresses have hardly been the best source of information for those looking for an indication as to how the organisation is meeting the challenges before it. Way back in the early days of the republic, the ACFTU held its seventh congress in 1953. After much debate that at times spilled over into the official media, the “union” reaffirmed its total submission to the Communist Party of China (CPC), a decision that disappointed many workers. Some wrote to the union’s newspaper, the Workers’ Daily, saying the union had “lost its guts”.

The most recent congress, held in Beijing between September 21-26, 2003, followed the usual stage-managed formula of recent times. A new chairman, the former governor of Fujian province Wang Zhaoguo, was “elected” and appropriate speeches made. At least in public, the recent 14th Congress appears to have been a largely uncritical summary of successes since the 13th Congress combined with the presentation of a previously agreed blueprint for the future, perhaps already foreshadowing its own reproduction with the onset of the next Congress. This formula does not always please those following the Congress via media reports. Widespread frustration was expressed in the messages sent to various state media publishing on the Internet.[2] One comment pleaded that “This isn’t the 60s or the Maoist era! Why won’t the conference delegates face up to this and stop talking empty talk and slogans?”

In this light, it might be said that ACFTU Congresses are largely insignificant for their members as well as for foreign trade unionists trying to gain a better understanding of the organisation. Yet it is possible to read between the lines.

The Congress acknowledged membership growth and efforts to expand the ACFTU network. Official statistics claim that the organisation now has 134 million members – a sharp increase from the 90 million it claimed in 1998/99 – in 1.71million trade union branches. However, it should be noted that the recruitment campaign launched in 1998 has essentially been a paper campaign. The legal procedure for registering a union office in an enterprise can be completed without trade union officials even entering the workplace, and union branches are set up in some enterprises by carrying out administrative procedures rather than active recruiting. There have been signs of attempts at street-level recruitment in recent years via “recruitment days” launched in newer industrial parks mostly aimed at private enterprises.

The Congress also confirmed that the category known as peasant workers (nongmingong), who make up the vast majority of China’s internal migrants workers, is indeed a formal section of the working class. The implication to be drawn from this is that the ACFTU will make greater efforts to recruit them in the coming years – and perhaps even alleviate the severe financial crisis via increased membership dues.

Yet the reality behind the dramatic rise in membership was never far away from the conference hall. In the preceding weeks, a laid-off worker set fire to himself in Tiananmen Square to protest against forced housing relocation, linked to the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Work-related fatalities in the mines had gone through another increase throughout the summer – following a rise in the price of coal – and workers’ lack of access to medical services continued to be a major cause of labour protests. Migrant workers in particular also faced rising wage arrears of over 800 million USD, and severe problems in the area of occupational safety and health.

Frustration at the ACFTU’s public declarations to continue to serve as an organ of the state rather than work to transform itself into an independent trade union is evident in the responses to the media reports on the Congress. The main gist of over 600 comments on the 14th Congress sent to official news websites (Xinlang, Souhu, and Xinhua) centred on the practical failures of the ACFTU to effectively organise and act in the face of huge economic changes. One migrant worker from Guangdong, for example, asked why some companies were allowed to get away with preventing employees from unionising. Others highlighted specific instances in which the ACFTU had failed to uphold the rights of workers, including one worker who commented: “My bastard of a boss here in Heilongjiang makes illegal deductions from my wages and the so-called union isn’t interested in helping me!” Others pointed to the gulf between union officials and rank-and-file workers: “The trade union chairperson here enjoys the status of a top manager. All the union officials here are at least supervisors or above. And you’re telling me this organisation can represent the employees? What a joke.”

Juxtaposed against this disappointment is the propaganda that surrounded the conference. On the eve of the Congress, the Workers’ Daily ran an editorial arguing that the working class must increase its efforts to develop the economy and ensure stability. As the only representative of the working class, the editorial continued, the ACFTU must play a key role in development and stability. The “isms” or tools that the ACFTU must employ to complete this task, the article concluded, were “patriotism, collectivism and socialism” – as defined by the CPC. Moreover, the ACFTU must concentrate its efforts to complete the tasks laid out by both the 16th Party Congress and the government, namely to combat lingering support for egalitarianism while avoiding the worst excesses of a growing income gap that now rivals Bangladesh.

The editorial also stressed that the ACFTU needs to “improve capacity to represent workers, get closer to workers, speak for workers, tap into workers’ positive and creative energy and represent the demands and interests of the working class”. Some union cadres reading will see a tacit recognition that despite an increase in members, nothing much has changed since Wei Jianxing, the former national chairman, lambasted trade union officials for failing to protect worker’s rights, in a speech in 2001.

The congress did cover – and, behind closed doors, debated – some issues relevant to workers. The social insurance reforms were praised, but the official proceedings did not reflect the fact that there are serious problems with reforms to social security and welfare, including embezzlement of social security contributions by officials (especially from retired workers), claims exceeding social security funds, lack of cover for migrant workers, and enterprises refusing to pay contributions.

The sensitive issue of union elections was also on the agenda. The experiments in the provinces of Zhejiang and Shandong at making union officers more accountable via the election of branch chairpersons was discussed and, according to some insiders, fiercely debated. However, the experiment’s limitations were not openly highlighted - including the fact that those elected are subject to approval by the provincial-level ACFTU committees. Indeed, of the 10,000 or more elections claimed, only two have been observed by independent monitors. While even such flawed elections are welcome, there has been no objective process to seriously assess their structure, outcome and future possibilities. Nevertheless, the process is set to be expanded nationwide following the Congress.

The theme of change and a shift in the ACFTU’s role was discussed, to some extent, in a paper presented by senior official An Yuanzhao, in which he termed the transformation of the economic system as a shift from “allocated employment, wage standards and cradle-to-grave-welfare to market-driven employment, productivity-related wages and social insurance”. While the ACFTU had also changed, he said, it was nowhere near being able to meet the new challenges. An said that more work was needed in the area of collective bargaining, and also mentioned the “tripartite system for governing labour relations”.

There is currently no law governing collective bargaining procedures, only regulations on collective contracts. However there are pilot projects in five big cities, which an ILO mission investigated in 2002. The mission’s assessment was negative: no tradition of bargaining, collective contracts were usually nothing more than a repeat of legal minimum standards; employers’ organisations weak and not interested in collective bargaining.

In conclusion, the Congress leaves us little room for optimism. Labour unrest is forcing the ACFTU to take up some of the issues that are important to Chinese workers, but even if we ignore the overwhelming flaw that freedom of association is banned in China, the lack of public debate and assessment of issues is depressing, especially for the working class.

Workers and their supporters are the key source for analysis of the failures of the ACFTU and, of course, the primary force for change. One lengthy comment to the official Xinhua media website gave detailed suggestions after the congress agreed to changes in the ACFTU’s constitution.

“The Constitution has been changed at this congress to stress that its main task is to represent workers, i.e. not just pass on government policy. But the union constitution has always stressed that it must uphold our rights. What has it done to look after the jobs and rights of SOE workers since the restructuring began? It’s all very well changing the constitution, but these are just words. What needs to be done is:

“Recognise that things have changed and redefine the role and function of the union. It must genuinely represent workers and their demands. Enterprise-level trade unions in some sectors are particularly subject to the demands of management and are very weak. This has to change fast as the very survival of trade unionism in China is at stake. Most union officials in enterprises are middle managers or even top management and as such relate to the interests of the company, not the workers. This should not be allowed. How can a manager represent his or her workers’ interests? Many trade union officials at all levels are just failed managers who have been reallocated by management to the union office. They are destroying the union’s reputation and capacity.”

Unfortunately, the Congress displayed no open signs of listening to these suggestions and move in the direction of genuine independent trade unionism.

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[1] China Daily, September 19, 2003

[2] A collection of such responses is available in Chinese at http://gb.china-labour.org.hk/gate/gb/big5.china-labour.org.hk/big5/article.adp?article_id=5019