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ACFTU and Trade UnionsSome thoughts on the 2006 ACFTU Year PlanOn 10 January 2006, in a well publicized press conference, the ACFTU announced its work-plan for 2006. The work-plan contains four main sections; - To improve the quality of the workforce Although much of the press conference contained vague promises and propaganda some useful statistics were given out and some general trends revealed. Lost in Statistics In the wake of the massive SOE restructuring, the ACFTU lost several million members and a significant proportion of its income. In 2001 and then again in 2003 it announced that union organizing in the private sector was a priority as was the garnering of migrant worker members to replace the lost SOE workers. [NOTE 1] The language of rights-defending has become common terminology in ACFTU reports and speeches. Since 2003, when migrant workers, for the first time, were allowed to become union-members, ACFTU has promoted several models for recruiting and maintaining their membership. Official media has been heavily promoting the ‘successes’ of the ACFTU membership drive and the People’ Daily reported that 34 million migrant workers had obtained union membership [NOTE 2], two weeks before the 14th National Congress of the ACFTU, when migrant workers were officially invited to join. [NOTE 3] In March 2004, ACFTU set a target of recruiting 6.6 million members per year over the period of 2004 to 2008 and at the same time announced the launch of a massive program to recruit migrant workers.[NOTE 4] In January 2006, the ACFTU announced that only 13.8% of the total migrant workforce (officially recorded) has been unionized. Although it did not give out the number of the total migrant workforce, the number of migrant workers is generally is believed to be around 120 million, a figure given out by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in 2004. This means that only some 16.56 million migrant workers are members of official AFTU unions. Disregarding the fact that the total migrant workforce is even higher in 2005, according to these figures it is impossible for the ACFTU to already have 34 million migrant worker-members in 2003 as reported by the people’s Daily, unless there was a significant drop of union coverage between 2003 and 2004. In other words, there was either a dramatic drop among the unionized migrant workers or the first announced number - 34 million - was a deliberately made error. No explanatory figures have been given. This is not an isolated case of misleading information. In the press release for the 14th National Congress of ACFTU on 11 September 2003, Zhang Junjiu, the vice-chairperson of ACFTU, announced that some 1,134,000 new unions with 42.89 million members had been established up in private enterprises by the end of 2002. [NOTE 5] However, another report issued by an investigating team from the National People’s Congress (NPC), whose aim was to evaluate the implementation of Trade Union Law, revealed and publicly criticized the fact that by the end of 2003, only some 321,000 unions with 29.6 million members had been established in the private sector. [NOTE 6] The difference between the reported unions and members is 813,000 fewer unions and 13.29 million fewer workers respectively. The ACFTU reportedly discussed the variance in statistics at a special panel held by the NPC. ACFTU’s motivation to set up migrant workers’ unions Migrant workers as a significant proportion of China’s working population, came into existence in the mid-1980s and it is puzzling why all in a sudden, the ACFTU, after ignoring them finally found it urgent to include them in their system – unless of course one looks at the falling membership and falling income of the ACFTU. In addition one needs to look at the fact that year on year workers’ protests, labour unrest and increased independent organizing is on the rise. The ACFTU is desperate to prove to the central government that it still has a valid role to play in China’s modern economy and changing society. In the face of increasing debate over the need for improved human resources management in the place of traditional unions the ACFTU is eager to improve its legitimacy and its economic power. The ACFTU is being forced to reevaluate its role and shift from exercising its party ‘transmission belt” and welfare functions to that of dealing with the complications of modern industrial relations in a capitalist economy – a difficult shift especially so for a “union” which is under the authority and guidance of the Communist party. In the second committee meeting of 14th National Congress of ACFTU, Zhang Junjiu stated that “the western hostile forces have never halted in westernizing and dividing us. They attempted to make use of the conflicts between social interests and labour relations, to damage the unity between working class and trade union (ACFTU).” [NOTE 7] Driven by this political assumption the ACFTU has been issuing a target figure to meet each year both for the formation of new ACFTYU branches and in terms of new membership figures, it has continued however to miss out on the very essence of union organizing. Paper Unions Given that each year there is a quota to meet, the ACFTU has been running full speed to increase its membership and that has recently included forcing the establishment of basic level unions, a fundamental violation of the trade union law. Article two states, “Trade unions are mass organizations of the working class formed by the workers and staff members on a voluntary basis”. Contrary to this for instance, in September 2003, the Beijing Municipal General Trade Union announced that foreign construction companies which have been registered in Beijing for more than one year, have to establish a trade union by June 2004. [NOTE 8] China Comment, a biweekly run by the official Xinhua News agency reported in July 2004 that most construction companies have been automatically assigned with unions in the past 12 months. In one case, 19 unions were formed within one construction firm. Yet, these unions have no stamps, no financial records, no name-list of members and even their chairpersons are often without a proper union membership card. One part-time union chairperson even commented, “All workers are becoming union members automatically. It doesn’t matter if they apply or not (to obtain union membership)." [NOTE 9] When the ACFTU targets enterprises to meet its self-set quota and when the majority of workers and especially migrant workers have little interest in forming a union themselves, the ACFTU must depend on the support of the enterprises to meet the quota. To gain support from the factory management when negotiating the establishment of a union, very often the ACFTU has to give favourable terms to the enterprise including giving the presidency of the union to the factory management. Sometimes the company is given an initial period where they do not have to pay the ACFTU the two percent union dues from the payroll. In a China Labour Bulletin interview with the general trade union chairperson in Nanhai City, Guangdong Province, the chair revealed that “the nomination of the representatives in the election of a union is based upon a negotiation between a trade union at a higher level and the employer of the enterprise. They first vote for the committee, and the committee then elects a chairman. The majority of workers are hardly ever allowed to nominate or even vote in the elections. Now in those 4,000 trade unions of Nanhai, most of the representatives are management staff. That means that the staff in charge of the workers are also the chairs of the trade unions. Eighty percent of the trade unions are like this. Other chairs can be the heads of a workstation or a department, depending on the size of the enterprise.” [NOTE 10] As a result, many of these newly formed trade unions are paper unions, simply a written record of their establishment usually existing in a filing cabinet in the enterprise office and with no active participation in factory governance. In blunt terms, through forcing enterprises to set up unions and luring them with the promise of senior positions inside the unions, the ACFTU violates the fundamental principles of trade unionism, namely their voluntarily establishment by workers and the representation of workers’ interests and rights. Powerless Union Chinese New Year in early spring is always a busy time for the ACFTU as it marks the time when many workers are paid their yearly wages – or in many instances not paid (the problem of missing and unpaid wages is a major concern for most migrants). Most migrant workers have only one wish to try to collect their wages and to return home for an annual holiday. Although the ACFTU has been vocal in the recent government led campaigns to help workers collect wage arrears around Chinese New Year it usually only provides practical help in welfare of mistreated workers. According to its own statistics, by 15 January 2006, the ACFTU had raised some 45 million Yuan for its “Giving Warmth” program. This program, instead of supporting union work in helping workers to claim back wages, is in fact, more of a publicity and charity program. Senior ACFTU officials travel to different parts of the country and make highly publicized trips to meet and greet ‘ordinary workers’; in 2005 this consisted of making seasonal dumplings for migrant workers (Beijing), sending workers a new year SMS greeting (Guangdong), or showing migrant workers a film (Nanjing) and in some cases a few train tickets have been bought for migrants unable to pay the cost of a trip home because their employer has defaulted on their payments. No case has been found of the ACFTU taking an enterprise to court for non payment of wages at Chinese New Year. On 13 January 2006, vice chairman of ACFTU Zhang Rongming visited ten migrant workers who were still waiting for their missing wages in Xian City and gave them 500 Yuan and some blankets as presents from the Giving Warmth program. Half an hour after his department, the cash and presents he brought were confiscated by the factory management. The workers outraged but helpless handed over the money and blankets but later rang a journalist. The journalist then made inquiries at the factory and the local ACFTU office and finally Zhang learned the news, the migrant workers got their money back.[NOTE11] But the question remains as to why a trade union is operating essentially as a charity, to give workers donations and presents in the same manner as a social relief agency? Where were the wages of these workers? According to news reports, the workers said that they were forced to hand over the money and blankets because if they didn’t, the factory said they would fire them and never return their overdue wages. Why didn’t the ACFTU vice Chair meet factory management and discuss the issue of the missing wages or support the workers in negotiating with the management instead of proving handouts to the “victims”. Why did the workers feel they needed to complain to a journalist and not to the ACFTU over the confiscated money and blankets? From such a simple yet glaring example, it is easy to see how the ACFTU is failing to act like a proper union. All in all, while annual work plans and quotas are useful tools for planning the ACFTU needs a serious rethink in order to prepare itself for any real role in the future. It has to realize that apart from boosting the number of paper members, the most important thing is to become the first port of call workers would contact when they are in need. For this they need to start to take proper action in defence of workers in need.
NOTES NOTE 1: The union membership dropped from 103 million to some
87 million between 1995 and 1999. http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2002-01/14/content_236653.htm
14 January, 2002. March 2006 |