Regularising Social Organisations as a Pre-Condition to Collective Negotiation and Mediation of Social Relations – Recent Social Governance Reforms in Guangdong Province

The recent promulgations of regulations and policies to relax the registration and administration of the civil society organizations (CSOs) in Guangdong province should be understood against the intensified social contradictions expressed in the ongoing wild cat strikes and a number of large-scale social unrests that broke out this year. If last year’s strikes, epitomized in the strike of Honda in Nanhai, Guangzhou city in June were labour struggles against low wages, an economic struggle as sophisticatedly interpreted by the government, the fundamental cause behind a number of major labour unrests this year is about fair treatment, brewed amidst the deep-seated frustration of the migrant working population against the migrant labour regime, under which low wages is only one manifestation. The solution to it necessitates not only a reform of the wage distribution mechanism at the workplace but reforms that could address inequality in the social relations. In September, the Provincial CCP Committee and the provincial government of Guangdong passed the Resolution of the CCPC and People’s Government of Guangdong on Strengthening Social Construction 《中共广东省委、广东省人民政府关于加强社会建设的决定》 (known as Resolution below) to systematically launch a number of social reforms under different aspects[NOTE1]. Besides the reiterated reforms such as unitary provision of public services to both the migrant and the local population, the Resolution made a few new ventures namely relaxation of the registration of civil society organisations (CSO) and delegation of certain public/social services to the CSOs. While reforming the administrative-led social governance system in the province, a more active role of the party to re-consolidate the political leadership and more inclusive political participation of migrant workers are called for.

Professed to be the poineer in reforms, the provincial and Shenzhen government took the lead in promulgating regulations launching pilots of social-administrative reforms since 2006 starting by out-sourcing some public and social services to the CSOs and promoting trade and social organisations. The move was supported by the State Council. In the agreement between the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Guangdong government made in 2009, this role of Guangdong to lead the pursuit in civil affairs reform in the country was recognized. The agreement supported more ventures in the Pearl River Delta area in Guangdong province, where the density of foreign investment and migrant population is the highest in the country. Guangdong province was chosen to officially pilot a new CSO administrative system to be replicated to the rest of the country[NOTE2]. Yet the impact of these early pilots was far from liberalising the social sector. CSOs were still subject to first and foremost legal, administrative restrictions, and some of them political harassment. To refrain from running into political risks, the administrative bureaucracy has been taking the pilots with suspicion, resistance and procrastination. It was not until President Hu and Premier Wen called for “new social governance” and the two migrant labour unrests broke out in the middle of the year in the province that a full-scale implementation was launched by the provincial government.

Policies and Regulations on Social Governance Reform in Guangdong Province

Avoiding the question of political reform, the Resolution on Strengthening Social Construction jointly passed by the CCPC and government of Guangdong starts with a confession of the province’s walking on two uneven legs referring to the gap between economic and social reform over the past thirty years. In the words of Zhu Guoming, the Vice-Secretary of the Provincial CCP and the coordinator behind the drafting of the Resolution, Guangdong province as the pioneer of economic reform is at the crossroad between development and social contradictions. Social contradictions are so diverse and highly explosive that “any small matter could blow up to shake the sky and the earth”[NOTE3]. Zhu mentioned the incident of the social unrest in Guxiang town in Chaozhou city where the claims of a migrant worker for his back wage from the employer triggered the unrest of the Sichuan migrant workers, running into physical clash with the local residents. Economically the province is also at the crossroad between losing competitiveness based on the low-wage migrant labour regime and repurcussions on the local interests at stake in the process of industrial re-structuring. Social stability in the province which has a migrant population of 260 million (registered population), one-tenth of the whole size of migrant population of the country, is regarded a mission of primary and urgent importance by the government.

The Resolution outlines three major directions in launching the social governance reform. The first one is the promotion of the CSOs and their inclusion in social administration through delivering services. Industrial and trade associations, as well as their inter-regional re-structuring are highlighted. Above all, the pre-condition to the promotion of effective CSOs is the reform of the registration and administrative system of social organisations. Zhu Guoming expects the reform would bring about a burgeoning of CSOs to achieve the government’s goal of setting up five CSOs per 10,000 civilians by the end of 2015.

Secondly, the Resolution pledges to enforce the delegation of certain government functions to civil society and transition to a smaller government. Seventeen types of government functions and 130 kinds of public/social services are categorized to be outsourced through public tender to the registered CSOs[NOTE4]. Zhu Guoming mentions in particular the inadequate number of social workers in the province which at the moment is 250,000 versus a population of more than 100 million. A mapping and assessment of the existing CSOs is going on at the moment and by now 185 social organizations have finished the appraisal whose results are basis to the government’s outsourcing of services. Standardized appraisal scheme is being developed for the social organizations and the trade associations. Meanwhile the CSO Incubation Centre has been set up in Guangzhou and Shenzhen municipality respectively[NOTE5].

The third direction, also the “most sensitive” area is the integration of the migrant population through guided civil society programs and open social-political participation channel to the migrant workers. Social integration of the migrant population is not a new agenda. The mode of integration has been largely one of extension of service coverage such as employment, legal aid and social security provision by means of promulgating ministerial regulations and directives. Actual entitlement by migrant workers is however undermined by bureaucratic practices and more importantly by the actual budget allocation of the local government. One of the challenges encountering real integration is whether or not to make use of the existent social organisations/groups formed by and amongst the migrant population. The question is not only geo-political involving legalizing cross-regional organizations but it inevitably touches on the issue of free association. Reconciliation comes in the Resolution by re-juvenating the party organization as the basis to organize the migrant population socially. Instead of integrating migrant workers into the local CCPC in Guangdong province, branch committees of the CCP of migrants from the same place of origin are allowed to form in the province and the place of work to take care of the interests and needs of the affiliates[NOTE6]. Organised under the party, the new venture is regarded as possibly, a chance to regularize the “brotherhood organisations” which operate either underground or in grey area to protect the interests of their affiliates in times of conflict with the local residents or migrants originated from other places. It should be noted that while the Resolution calls for the promotion of the CSOs, establishment of inter-regional and inter-provincial organisations is generally under strict control limited to a few organisations known as the “nexus organisations”. The nexus organisations, to be defined by the local government, are allowed to liaise, network and provide services to organisations of the same kind, in the same sector/area of work across region. The mass organisations ie the trade union, the women’s federation and the Communist Youth League, and of course the CCPC are the nexus organisations. They are expected to play a greater stabilising role in social organizing the migrant population.

Social governance over a vast migrant population includes also work over the migrant employers. Restructuring of the existing trade associations, referring to the dysfunctional or administrative-dependent ones, is encouraged and inter-regional trade associations are allowed to set up. “Foreign” trade and industrial organisations originated and registered in other provinces can set up branches and operate in Guangdong province to protect the interests of the entrepreneurs from the same place of origin. Indeed since 2006, the provincial and Shenzhen government had passed regulations about re-consolidating the trade and industrial associations. The stabilizing effect of functional and representative “foreign” trade and industrial associations is imaginable as a large number of small-medium-sized enterprises and family workshops are formed by both the local residents and migrants as well in regional clusters. The established trade associations are traditionally laden with administrative legacy rather than effective, representative membership organisations adequate to play the stabilizing role in labour relation and tripartite organisations; whereas the foreign trade associations prefer to exert their influence more effectively in the back room. Incubating new trade associations and regularising the existing ones is a hurdle to overcome in the comprehensive construction of the collective negotiation system the ACFTU has been pushing about. The government of Dongguan city for instance plans to budget program funds to support the trade and industrial associations, which includes supporting the founding of trade/industrial associations in eight core industries, namely the information technology industry, the machinery, textile and garment, furniture, toys, pulp and paper, beverage and petro-chemical industries. The financial support includes funding the activities of the associations, their social and public service programs, trade fairs and exhibitions, training, as well as services the government delegates and procures from the associations[NOTE7]. Guangzhou city where the outsourcing of government functions to the industrial associations is piloted, has initiated programs in six industrial associations under specific program funds. The contribution of the industrial associations is reflected in their having organised more than 300 investment promotion events, 12,000 training classes for their members, 1000 study delegations, 14000 trade fairs and exhibitions and handling of more than 19000 consumer dispute cases since the service procurement scheme has been piloted in the province[NOTE8].

Lastly, the political participation of migrant workers shall be promoted by expanding the civil servant recruitment to migrant workers, and including migrant workers in the grassroots community administration at the village committees. Indeed the speedy urbanization and industrialization of the province has rendered the grassroots administration system inadequate and unfair. Grassroots public administration has been anachronistic lagging behind the level of urbanization and economic development. The village committees formed by the local residents who have become the rentier class receiving dividends over the sales of communal land for industrial development, or renting out flats to migrant workers in the neighbourhood. They form the grassroots administrative body authorized to manage the reproductive and social relations of a migrant population ten times or so of its size. Economically and socially the migrant population finds itself in subordinate position[NOTE9]. The inclusion of migrant workers in grassroots public administration shall be explored under the new social governance reform. The seats of migrant workers in the CCP committees, People’s Congress and Political Consultative Conference will also be increased.

At the moment there are 28,509 CSOs in Guangdong province, amongst them 2,037 of them are social service and public interests organizations[NOTE10]. The number of CSOs is expanding by 8.8% year on year[NOTE11]. The number of registered “foreign” trade associations has increased since the provincial ministry had passed the directive in 2009 making it in total more than 200 “foreign” trade associations operating in the province[NOTE12]. On the separation of the trade associations from the administration, the province reports that 90.7% of the trade associations are chaired by the member enterprises rather than appointed government bureaucrats.

Policy Goals and Major Measures under the Resolution 2011-2015

 
IHLO

NOV 2011