Overseas firms must unionize - trade union official
By Guan Xiaofeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-08 07:13
All foreign-funded companies in China will be unionized by the end of next year, an official with China's top trade union body said Tuesday.
Wang Ying, a division chief of the grassroots organizations and capacity building department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), said more than 4,100 major foreign companies run by the Fortune 500 are doing business in China.
She said 82 percent of the companies have formed trade unions to date, and the figure would reach 90 percent by the end of this year. As of July, workers had been able to form trade unions in less than 50 percent of the Fortune 500 firms.
Wang said the dramatic shift resulted from a three-month national unionization campaign that began in June.
The ACFTU is directly responsible for supervising the formation of trade unions in 10 of the Fortune 500 companies.
Currently, Maersk Logistics, Lotus, IKEA, TNT, Kodak, FedEx, Home Depot, Emerson, Canon, Sony and ABB have trade unions.
"Most of the foreign companies have been cooperative, as they know they must abide by China's laws if they do business in China," she said.
She said the ACFTU had also met "tremendous resistance" from some foreign firms, especially American companies.
"Some US companies, such as Wyeth, Microsoft, 3M, AstraZeneca and PwC, have been quite uncooperative and have used various means to delay the establishment of trade unions," she said.
"Workers do not need the approval of their employers to form trade unions, because the Trade Union Law, promulgated in 1992, gives them that right," she said.
"However, it is still very important in practice for workers to gain support from the employers in forming unions."
She said both the American Chamber of Commerce in China and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China have shown support for the ACFTU over the issue.
By law, employers must allocate 2 percent of workers' pay for trade union funds. Wang explained 40 percent of the funds go to the superior trade union and 60 percent remains in the company.
Senior ACFTU official Yang Honglin said some foreign companies still have misconceptions about trade unions.
"Trade unions in China not only safeguard workers' rights and interests but also contribute to a company's development," he said.
ACFTU vice-chairman Sun Chunlan told a press conference Tuesday in Beijing that the ACFTU is leading another nationwide push for collective wage negotiations.
She said all the 108 Wal-Marts in China had signed collective contracts with their employees through negotiations by September 16.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-10/08/content_7085922.htm
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China's trade union official upholds labor contract law, denying cost rise
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-08 13:30
BEIJING -- China's senior trade union official said Saturday the Labor Contract Law will not increase the cost of law-abiding employers.
"According to our investigation, employers will see very slight increase of cost when following the law," said Zhang Mingqi, deputy president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and member of the top political advisory body.
But those that had minimized the cost through illegal employment practice, such as refusing to pay for employees' social insurance, will now "cost much more," said Zhang at a plenary meeting of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) currently in its first annual full session. "This is what the offenders should have paid."
The law protects not only employees but also the interests of law-abiding employers, helping form a fair play in the market economy, he said.
The Labor Contract Law, taking effect on January 1, includes new regulations such as entitling staff with more than 10 years of service at a company the right to sign contracts without specific time limits that would protect them from dismissal without cause.
Some companies complain that such items will reduce labor flow and weaken enterprise vitality.
Zhang voiced his confidence in this regard by saying that a contract without specific time limits will help employees feel more attached to their companies and do no harm to employers.
But he admitted the implementation of law is facing resistance.
"Some employers misread the law and try to steer clear of it," he said.
The Guangdong-based Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., China's telecom network equipment giant, hit media headline for its controversial "voluntary resignation" scheme late last year.
Zhang suggested the government list the implementation of the law in its agenda and enhance the supervision from the labor departments and media.
"We also expect a detailed code on implementing the law to come out as soon as possible as well as relevant judicial explanations and government supplement regulations," he said.
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