China Labour Net

This article by Labour Vision Taiwan looks at the Hong Kong democracy movement from an observer’s point of view. The article discusses the background to the Hong Kong movement and relates the struggle for universal suffrage in Hong Kong to the situation in Taiwan, which despite having universal suffrage continues to pass legislation which is not in the interest of the working class. The article also addresses the role that Hong Kong’s working class has played in the Umbrella Movement and argues that we can learn from the current Hong Kong struggle that the labour and the democracy movement are inseparable.

Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions(HKCTU) strongly condemns the police for their violent attack on unarmed students and people. We strongly condemn the government for suppressing the freedom of speech and the freedom of assembly in Hong Kong. HKCTU calls for all workers in Hong Kong to strike tomorrow, in protest of the ruling of the National People’s Congress, as well as the brutal suppression of peaceful protest by the Hong Kong government. Workers and students must unite to force the totalitarian government to hand state power back to the people.

Hundreds of lifeguards have been demonstrating both in, and along the shoreline of, Victoria Harbour as part of a one-day strike over pay and conditions.

The Next TV Workers’ Union yesterday threatened to go on strike as it accused the network of trying to curtail reporters’ benefits in order to reduce company losses. The network, which was previously owned by Next Media, was purchased by ERA Communications last year. Saying ERA had canceled many of the workers’ benefits, the union passed a resolution last week making it legitimate to go on strike. It became the first television network whose workers had approved the legal right to strike.

China Labour Net Editorial Note: On August 21st more than 200 striking sanitation workers from Guangzhou University Town gathered at GOGO Xintiandi protesting against the termination of their labour contracts by their employer, a property services company, and its refusal to pay compensation according to the workers’ years of service.

Today (18 July 2014), SACOM and other local labour groups in Hong Kong answer the call from The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) to launch an international solidarity action to demand Lionsgate to start constructive dialogues with musicians now.

A letter which claims to be from a Foxconn worker at Foxconn’s Longhua plant addressed to the Foxconn trade union has recently appeared online. The worker, who says that they are an ordinary level employee and union member, writes that they were surprised to recently have seen a banner at the plant announcing a union election, due to the announcement being so sudden. Having been a Foxconn employee for many years, the worker says that they know that many employees only know very little about the union and are unaware of the importance of democratic elections.

Today (6 June 2014), Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) and Hong Kong Labor Organizations stage a demonstration at the Annual General Meeting of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce to protest against Hong Kong business groups regarding on the Regulations of Guangdong Province on the Collective Contracts of Enterprises (the “Revised Draft”). The business groups have been continuously opposed the enactment of the “Revised Draft” and trampled the basic labor rights of Chinese workers. We urge them to change mind immediately and support the “Revised Draft” in the light of achieving a healthy relationship among workers and employers. HKCTU teased Hong Kong business groups suffering phobia and are very resistant to collective negotiation. The representative of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce initially refused to accept the letter, and left with a bad temper. Protest in progress around an hour after, Malcolm Ainsworth, the Assistant Director of the Chamber eventually come out and accepted the letter. CTU requested to meet the six chambers of commerce, Malcolm Ainsworth promised to respond within a week. Enclosed please find the statement of the labour groups.

On 19 November 2013, 3000 workers at a Nokia factory in southern China went on strike after the company terminated the contracts of 59 employees for failing to return to work. Hundreds of employees stopped work, complaining of changes, in the wake of Nokia's sale of its mobile phones business  to U.S. software  giant Microsoft. The striking workers said they were being forced to sign new contracts with worse terms of employment.

1200 workers from 101 factories signed an appeal calling for the full implementation of the social security fund. The appeal points out that what had happened to the Dongguan Yue Yuen workers’…