China introduces some progressive labour laws

January 1, 2008

Happy New Year !

There are some positive things to report to kick off the new year. One of the common complaints about globalization is that it has promoted a race to the bottom in terms of workers' wages and working conditions.

But China has now implemented labour legislation that has begun the process of raising standards for working people in the world's fourth largest economy after the US, Japan and Germany ( In purchasing power parity estimates of the GDP used by Hutton he arrives at a figure of 11.6 trillion for the US in 2006 and 7.3 trillion for China.This would make it the world's second biggest economy.Japan had a 3.8 trillion $ economy in PPP terms in 2006.According to the CIA,   PPP GDPs are as follows: US 13.1 trillion, China 10.2 trillion, Japan 4.2 trillion, Germany 2.6 trillion , Canada1.2 trillion. See Will Hutton, The Writing on the Wall China and the West in the 21st Century, ch.1, note 7 p.362; and CIA   World-factbook , internet)
The article which describes the new measures appears in Bloomberg news and is by Mark Lee in Hong Kong and points out that workers will now be entitled to open contracts in other words a degree of job security after completing two fixed terms and it provides for one month of severance pay for each year worked.

These measures which were praised by The Fair Labour Association in Geneva which monitors working conditions in 60 countries shows that "China was making a concerted effort to protect workers' rights.

Some global companies to their discredit including Olympus the manufacturer of digital cameras and a shoe manufacturer which makes shoes for Nike have reacted by planning to shift production to Vietnam where wages and working conditions are less progressive.Other companies have tried to circumvent the new law by asking employees to resign prior to its introduction.(Lee, Bloomberg))

This progressive measure by China deserves both praise and recognition as it points the way to regulate the globalization process in the interests of all working people world wide.

There ought to be a special session of the ILO to promote measures like this and to open discussions on a world wide minimum wage adjusted in each country to reflect its GDP and developmental circumstances and basic worker rights.