Author: Edward Cody
Publication: Washington Post
Date: April 26, 2005
URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/25/AR2005042501555.html
On the face of it, the 10,000 fired-up
workers at Uniden Electronic Products seemed to have a lot going for them
when they went on strike.
Their main demand, the formation
of a union, had long been guaranteed in China's labor law. And Uniden's
Japanese ownership, they reckoned, had little reason to expect sympathy
in China during an angry crisis between Tokyo and Beijing. Moreover, the
days had passed when another batch of eager workers could easily be found;
the assembly plants that form an endless expanse here in the Pearl River
Delta had started to experience a shortage of workers.
But by Saturday, eight days after
the strike began, Uniden started humming again with a full complement of
10,600 young men and women in pastel uniforms, their dexterous hands busily
assembling cordless phones for export to Wal-Mart stores and other destinations.
Several strike leaders had disappeared, probably to jail cells, their frightened
colleagues said. Pressure from local government officials, backed by police,
had forced the employees back to the assembly line, once again deferring
their dream of a worker-run union.
"The Japanese investors seem very
influential," said a young woman who participated in the strike and reluctantly
returned to work. "The government also listens to them," she added, declining
to give her name for fear of retribution. "Some labor officials told us
we had to cooperate or else the investors might withdraw and move to other
places to invest, and we would all get thrown out of work."
The short-lived walkout at Uniden
put on display the powerful economic forces at work in relations between
Japan and China despite a tense diplomatic feud over Japan's World War
II legacy and a strategic clash in the East China Sea north of Taiwan.
Chinese and Japanese officials estimate that their countries did $170 billion
in trade last year. More than a million Chinese have found employment in
factories owned by Japanese, who have invested $65 billion in China over
the past two decades.
The swift quashing of Uniden's labor
movement also illustrated the cooperation between China's Communist government
and foreign and local capitalists who rely on docile young workers to minimize
production costs and maximize profits. Workers interviewed in streets around
the Uniden complex said dozens of police cars pulled up immediately when
strike leaders organized a protest last Wednesday and tried to march outside
the factory compound. Police hit agitators with batons to break up the
demonstration, they said.
"Some workers shouted 'traitor'
and accused the police of helping the Japanese," said Shen Xianping, 22,
who came to Shenzhen from rural Hunan province to work at Uniden five years
ago. "There were some minor scuffles and, shortly after that, the policemen
backed away and just blocked the entrance. So we staged a sit-in."
In local jurisdictions where tax
revenue and reputations depend on flourishing foreign investment, such
cooperation has become the norm. Despite the governing party's origins
as a champion for peasants and workers, the government now accepts the
migration of millions of young Chinese who leave rural homes in search
of low-paid work in assembly plants in Shenzhen and elsewhere.
A young party member in Beijing,
asked recently about the irony, said that party officials and capitalists
naturally work together because they are both leaders in contemporary Chinese
society. As a result, he said, growing numbers of people are leading more
prosperous lives, particularly in big cities.
Labor relations have been tense
at Uniden since operations began here in 1987. At least four brief strikes
have been reported. The latest was precipitated by the firing of Chen Yongshun,
a would-be labor leader who worked in the wiring department. He was escorted
off the premises April 15 after several months of agitating for a union,
workers said.
About 3,000 workers walked off the
job in protest the next day. By April 18, the strike had grown to include
all but 600 workers, according to accounts from a number of them. Their
demands had expanded to include better shower and restroom facilities,
less overtime and an end to what the workers described as abuse from their
foremen.
"They scream at us, 'Go to hell'
and 'You pig,' " said Jia Yan, 20, a Henan province native who started
work here in January. "The stress level is very high."
Chen had been active since a strike
in December, which workers said was resolved by a pay raise and promises
from management that they would be allowed to form a labor union by this
July. The increase brought base pay to about $58 a month, workers said,
but with ample overtime, most bring in about $120 a month.
A new manager assigned by Tokyo
headquarters earlier this month, however, reneged on the union promise,
along with several other pledges dealing with overtime and dormitory conditions,
workers said. He also took a harder-line attitude than that of his predecessor,
they said.
Workers interviewed Sunday said
they would be happy with a union affiliated with the government-run All-China
Federation of Trade Unions, as required by law. "It looks like we will
get one pretty soon," said Hai Li, 24, who came to work here from Henan
five years ago.
But one worker who helped organize
the strike said the Uniden employees wanted to elect their own union leaders,
not just accept people named by management or the government. An official
at the Bao An District Labor Bureau, which has jurisdiction over the Uniden
complex on the western fringe of Shenzhen, said that sounded like a call
for an independent union, something China prohibits.
"These workers wanted to have their
own trade union and elect their own delegates," said the official, who
identified herself only as Wang. "You think this will work out? Of course
not. They tried to set up their trade union without instructions from the
upper-level trade union. It didn't follow the procedure."
The organizer, who declined to be
identified for fear of trouble with the police, said workers have been
promised that the original schedule for a union in July is back on track.
But a personnel executive at Uniden, reached by telephone, would not confirm
that. "We are doing everything according to the government," he repeated
several times without giving his name.
The government's policy was made
clear to Uniden workers on a large poster glued to a wall near the factory
entrance with "Public Notice" printed on top and the red star-shaped seal
of "Bao An District Labor Bureau" on the bottom. Workers should immediately
call off the strike in the interests of social harmony and stability, it
said, echoing President Hu Jintao's repeated appeals for a "harmonious
society."
"Those who fail to comply will be
subject to penalty as stated in the labor law," the poster warned.
"The strike is over," concluded
a worker who identified himself only as Liang, one of dozens strolling
down the dusty lanes lined with tiny shops that surround Uniden's landscaped
compound near the Shenzhen airport.
"But workers have gone back to work
reluctantly," he added. "The problems will not be really solved until the
company honors its promises. The company said we will get a pay rise in
July. I think many workers will be happy if this comes true."
Researcher Jin Ling in Beijing contributed
to this report.
