1. Editor's Note
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Editor's Note
In this Issue:
1. Editor's Note
2. Tieshu Textile Workers Protests continue
3. Four Years after Restructuring – No Justice for Jilin Oil Workers
4. 1000 Winery Workers in Anhui Protest at restructuring policies
5. Worker protests at the Suizhou Fuel Pump and Nozzle Factory, Hubei Province
6. Liaoyang Two: Xiao Yunliang transferred to Shenyang Municipal Dabei Prison
7. More than 10 Workers Detained after Rowdy Protest Against Unfair Overtime by Several Hundred Guangdong Shoe Factory Employees
8. Coal mining deaths continue to escalate
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9. Two new Books available from China Labour Bulletin
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Editor's Note
On the occasion of Labour Day, China Labour Bulletin presents a series of recent worker protests and strikes that illustrate both the extent of government repression towards worker struggles and the growth of organised and collective actions by workers in defence of their rights. In the face of continued government inaction against corrupt factory management and the intransigence of factory officials in resolving pressing labour disputes, workers are increasingly utilizing a range of means -- including civil and administrative lawsuits -- in an attempt to get their voices heard and their demands met.
China Labour Bulletin is committed to campaigning for the right of all workers in China to dignity at work and the freedom to exercise their fundamental right to freedom of association.
[Please click on the individual links (underlined) below to go to our website and read the reports]
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Tieshu Textile Workers – Historic first hearing of workers’ collective lawsuit against the Suizhou Social Insurance Bureau
On the morning of 29 April, 2004, the Suizhou City Intermediate People's Court held the first hearing of an administrative lawsuit filed by around 1,000 retired workers from the now bankrupt Tieshu Textile Factory. The appellant in the case, which is being pursued under China’s Administrative Litigation Law, is the Suizhou City Social Insurance Bureau (SIB).
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Four Years after Restructuring – No Justice for Jilin Oil Workers
On 22 April 2004, more than 500 retrenched workers from the Jilin branch of the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.) in Songyuan City, Jilin Province, gathered together outside the local Petroleum Administration Bureau (PAB) in their most recent protest against what they regard as the dishonest and abusive retrenchment policies employed by the corporation.
This most recent protest was held to commemorate the second anniversary of their initial mass protests on 22 April 2002, when several workers were detained and one, Zhou Zhenhua, was later formally arrested and reportedly assigned to an unspecified term of ‘re-education through labour”. Zhou Zhenhua is now dead, having committed suicide in response to the ongoing failure of the government to address their concerns.
Interviews with workers and officials
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1000 Winery Workers in Anhui Protest at restructuring policies
On 2 March 2004, more than 1,000 workers, mainly ex-farmers, from the China Anhui Gujing Distillery Company Ltd, a member of the Anhui Gujing Group Company, staged a public protest, blocking the Bozhou Section of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway. The protests were against recent company restructuring which had raised fears of widespread layoffs and broken pledges by management.
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Worker protests at the Suizhou Fuel Pump and Nozzle Factory, Hubei Province
“A Trade Union of Two”
On 20 August 2003, 500 to 600 workers from the now defunct Suizhou Fuel Pump and Nozzle Factory in Hubei Province, protested outside the Suizhou Municipal Government to demand a legal and fair policy in resolving the problems faced by workers affected by the factory's bankruptcy. On 2 September, more than 700 workers took the same marching route to the government offices carrying banners, slogans and singing songs of protest.
This articles gives an overview of the local union's role in the protest.
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Xiao Yunliang transferred to Shenyang Municipal Dabei Prison
Updates on the Liaoyang detainees
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More than 10 Workers Detained after Rowdy Protest Against Unfair Overtime by Several Hundred Guangdong Shoe Factory Employees
Starting on 21 April 2004, workers at the “Stella” and “Selena” production facilities of the Xinxiong Shoe Factory in Dalingshan Town in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, held a strike in protest at new overtime policies announced by the factory management. According to sources the strike lasted until 23 April, and was in response to the factory’s decision to change the workers’ overtime shift from the weekend to weekdays – a plan which would result in a reduced salary for the majority of the workers.
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Reported Coal Mine Accidents in March 2004
Reported Coal Mine Accidents in April 2004
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Two new Books available from China Labour Bulletin
These new books mark an exciting new step for China Labour Bulletin in the provision of practical and theoretical trade union materials for Chinese workers in the mainland:
An Action Manual for defending and promoting labour rights
Why China Needs Independent Trade Unions: An Introduction and Analysis
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