Labor Issues in China - Research Paper Example

Labor Issues in China The very fast change that is occurring in modern China has brought many benefits to the people there, including new opportunities for work in the expanding cities, and more access to the wider world outside China. There is a cost associated with this extremely rapid development, however, and there is widespread concern about the problems experienced by China’s many millions of workers. This paper outlines the major issues the facing the labor market in modern China, and examines the argument made by many external observers that only pressure from outside China can ensure that workers’ rights are adequately guaranteed. China’s economy has been very strongly government-led throughout the twentieth century, thanks to the Communist Party system and tight controls on all aspects of business operations. In the last quarter of the century, however, there has been increasing investment from multi-national companies, and this has brought about a significant clash of culture. Most international companies have well developed industrial relations traditions which include such systems as unions and all kinds of worker participation in company management. These outside companies want to benefit from the plentiful and low cost labor source that China offers, but at the same time they want to ensure that they do not suffer bad publicity because of the appalling working conditions which prevail in many factories across China. One of the biggest issues facing workers in China is this basic tension at the heart of relationships with outside investors and customers. How can China maintain its very competitive labor cost advantage while at the same time improving workers’ rights and meeting international welfare standards? Issues such as poor health and safety guarantees, lack of worker insurance, unfair wages and practices such as child labor and unreasonable working conditions are all expensive to resolve. The dilemma for Chinese bosses is that meeting the demands of these agendas raises the cost of their businesses, which in turn raises the price of their goods and services, and ultimately endangers the long term viability of their contracts. Part of the responsibility for this dilemma lies with the multinational companies which set such low price levels for their suppliers in the first place. In addition to this externally imposed tension, there is also a huge issue in China relating to the migration of workers from poor rural areas to the slums and dormitories of towns and cities. This creates many social problems as families become separated by long distances, since China is a huge country and people often travel many hundreds of miles to find work. Old people who may have been compelled through previous population control policies to restrict their family to one single child, may find themselves old or sick, living in very poor conditions, without any contact with that one precious child. The young people who leave their home villages find themselves in a cut-throat world of sweatshops and low pay, trapped in high cost accommodation which is prescribed by their boss, and unable to build a prosperous and happy life due to the heavy pressures of their job. This goes against all of China’s ancient social and moral traditions, and it causes untold misery to young and old alike. A recent study on these issues, which affect many countries, has been conducted by Jonathan Rosenblum in collaboration with the international organisation “AAAS Science and Human Rights Program.” This document is directed squarely at NGOs, in other words non-governmental organisations who are internationally funded and staffed, and who see themselves as a kind of watchdog. They aim to keep an eye on the labor issues that are emerging in different countries, setting standards for companies to follow, and monitoring compliance. Such bodies serve a useful role in gathering information and highlighting issues of concern, particularly in countries where there are few local unions or other bodies who can play this important role. Rosenblum’s report notes that NGOs like the United Nations (UN) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) have “succeeded brilliantly” (2010, p. 3) in clarifying problem areas, setting down international standards, and creating a roadmap to internationally comparable and fair labor practices which governments can both aim for and achieve, as they proceed to industrialize their economies to compete in the global marketplace. Unfortunately, however, there appears to be a problem in the implementation of these fine ideas: there is no way of enforcing compliance. The intervention of NGOs in China has undoubtedly brought about some very positive change in some selected areas. There is evidence, however, that the influence of NGOs in developing countries across the globe is not uniformly positive. There have been many situations, for example, where NGO contributions have caused actual harm to the workers concerned, especially when they display mixed or inappropriate motives, or when they intervene inexpertly and then depart, leaving a wake of negative reactions and increased distrust behind them. Rosenblum concedes that some NGO activities can be described as acting as a special interest with ulterior motives, parachuting into a situation but having no real understanding of the background, being over-eager and unrealistic in resolving problems, and seeking profit for themselves but not truly representing the rights of workers (Rosenblum, 2010, p. 6). Given this track record, then, it would seem unwise to rely on NGOs alone to regulate workers’ rights in China. There is a real difficulty in controlling the behavior of such entities, especially since they tend to be amorphous in nature, with multiple locations of operation, and very diverse funding arrangements. So long as this is the case, there is a strong possibility that special interests will be pursued, whether deliberately or unintentionally, and that mistakes will be made. There is no overall regulatory body for such organizations. They are very diligent in pointing out the ineffectiveness of recommendations, standards and norms without any mechanism to ensure compliance when it comes to the companies that they oversee, but there is a noticeable lack of these very same controls when it comes to their own operation. Another weakness of the NGO monitoring role is that it is always going to be partial and skewed towards particular sectors and particular regions. Rosenblum points out that “The most recent intensive NGO attention to conflict and capacity building for NGOs has been in the global apparel, textile and footwear industries… The names Nike and Adidas have been a lightning rod for attention” (Rosenblum, 2010, p. 4). The fact is that these big name companies have a huge amount of power, both in starting up new operations in China and other developing countries, and in attracting the attention of the world’s media. These big name companies have been the target of several media investigations due to instances of appalling work conditions. It is no coincidence that companies who act as suppliers in these industries are the first link in the long chain that leads to satisfaction of Western consumer capitalism. The brand name goods that drive the international fashion, leisure and accessories industries create much of the wealth on city high streets and so they are of interest mainly for what they provide to consumers. The interest in workers’ rights is secondary to this concern in most peoples’ minds. Many studies have illustrated the effect of companies like Adidas and Nike on China’s workforce. The China Labor Watch, an NGO which is based in New York, investigated a shoe factory, which supplies goods to multinational sportswear company Adidas, called the Yue Yuen Industrial Corporation. They visited in 2008, and again in 2010, to examine how well the factory was meeting internationally recognized standards of worker rights. It pointed out 28 serious issues, including pay, health and safety, conditions, and general worker welfare, and reported that in the second visit all but two of the areas of concern had been improved (China Labor Watch, 2010, p. 10). The authors note however, that this only occurred in the factory at Yue Yuen, and similar improvements were not found in other Adidas factories which were not exposed to external visits and consequent media attention. This case study of Adidas leads to the conclusion that “most corporations have not changed their core values in light of ethical business considerations. The codes of conduct of many multinational brand name companies are no more than a superficial window-dressing. At this time self-regulatory systems do not work without monitoring by the media and independent NGOs” (China Labor Watch, 2010, p. 13). It appears, then, that much of the positive reporting by NGOs on the impact of brand name companies, both positive and negative, is short lived and very selective. When global media attention fades, then conditions slip back into the usual desperate conditions that were there before the cameras and investigators arrived. This is further evidence that NGOs have a limited beneficial effect on labor issues in China. There is one interesting case, the Jiujiang Smartball factory in the West of China which is mentioned in passing in the report on Adidas in Yue Yuen corporation (China Labor Watch, 2010, p. 10). This factory initially escaped the attention of outsiders, largely because it was so distant from the industrial hubs of the East and South parts of China. The 7000 workers themselves staged a strike in 2010 to protest against outrageous working hours, conditions, and low pay, which then drew in media attention within China. This sparked interest from abroad, and NGOs initiated some monitoring visits, which had the effect of provoking a sudden improvement in standards. The initiative of the workers here was the catalyst that sparked the changes in procedures, and this is a promising sign in contemporary Chinese labor affairs. There are 308 further Adidas supplier companies in mainland China (China Labor Watch, 2010, p. 10), and many thousands more factories working for other multinational companies, most of whom have so far not attracted much national and international media attention. There is clearly great potential, then, for workers themselves to join together and work towards resolving their own issues, making use of press and NGOs as a supplementary tool to gain some support in that process. As workers become better educated in China, and more aware of worker rights and the various tools they can use to engage with bosses, there is every chance that they will gradually achieve a more uniform adherence to minimum standards in the short term, and higher minimums in the longer term. Relying on the leadership and intervention of NGOs in these factories is not effective, and a better strategy is for workers to take the initiative themselves. Already novelists such as Leslie Chang (2009) and pressure groups such as the Weiquan or “rights defence” movement (China Rights Forum, 2006) are beginning to change hearts and minds within China, despite opposition from some quarters and regular instances of government crackdowns. In conclusion, then, it is clear that the promises made by NGOs to monitor and guide China’s transition into global capitalist participation are not currently being fulfilled. If, as we have seen above, the situation is difficult for workers in industries which supply large multi-national companies, then we must conclude that it is considerably more difficult in areas such as agriculture and internal Chinese manufacturing and services. Here the issue is very often that workers lack even awareness of the possibility of change, since they are so much under the influence of their traditionally strict and often despotic managers. The social consequences of a very rigid and controlling communist regime casts a long shadow and clearly China will take many decades to develop a new culture which truly embraces enterprise on a global scale, along with all the cultural and legal change that comes with this new trading context. It will be impossible to maintain old and new style working practices operating in parallel, and so logic dictates that there will be a gradual convergence between traditional practices and new international standards and norms, including more unionization and increased guarantees for workers. China’s people themselves will have to rise to this challenge. NGOs have a role to play in providing benchmarks and stepping in, if invited, to assist worker groups to obtain better working conditions. Rosenblum’s report is useful, but nothing like a solution to China’s labor issues. If widespread and authentic transformation of labor conditions is to occur in China, then it will surely be driven by internal forces, and not imposed by NGOs, whose interest is at best ambivalent, and at worst, partial and ineffective. References Chang, Leslie T. (2009) Factory girls: from village to city in a changing China. New York: Spiegel and Grau. China Labor Watch. (2010) A Case Study: Adidas and YueYuen. New York. Available at: http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/upfile/2010_11_2/20101130143496.pdf China Rights Forum. (2006) Weiquan Online. Available at: http://hrichina.org/sites/default/files/oldsite/PDFs/CRF.3.2006/CRF-2006-3_Weiquan.pdf Rosenblum, J. (2004) Monitor Labor Rights: A Resource Manual for NGOs. New York: The AAS Science and Human Rights Program. Read More