China Labour Net

Research Triangle Park, N.C. — Thousands of IBM workers in China - some carrying banners describing IBM as a "Sweat Shop" and "We are not merchandise" and many wearing blue lab coats - launched protests Monday that continued Tuesday in reaction to layoffs and the sale of IBM's low-end server business to Lenovo.

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.

Translated by China Labour Net This morning, workers from the Laosan plant (plant no. 3), who were the last batch of workers to hold the line, finally resumed work after the combined and…

The SA Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) salutes the brave 40 000 Chinese footwear workers who have been on strike since 14 April 2014. These workers are employees at footwear factories in the Chinese city of Dongguan. These factories belong to Hong Kong-based Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings, and workers there make shoes for premier international brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance, Converse, Timberland, and Asics.

Since 5 April 2014, workers from Yue Yuen Dongguan factory have gone on strike. Striker size flew up from 1,000 to 50,000 in only few days. Almost all factory workers have joined the strike. This shows the anger of workers towards government and the company has reached the limit. The dispute was triggered by the conspiracybetween the Yue Yuen factory and the local government– The factory did not fully pay social insurance for the workers and the local government officials did not observe this unlawful practice. Workers also discovered the work contracts they are holding are not legally valid. They request the factory to pay back pension and housing provident fundarrear payment, re-sign valid work contract and raise the wage.

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Seventeen independent worker unions released a joint statement on Saturday stating their belief that the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement provides no benefits to the working class, calling on all blue collar workers to hit the streets on May 1, Labor Day, to protest against the pact.

The protesters are accusing the shoemaker of deceiving staff by giving the same social security benefits to workers who have been with the company for more than 10 years as to casual staff and of signing void labor contracts. The factory has reportedly promised to give staff an official response by April 14 and claims that production has not been affected.

Editorial Note: In early March, 2014, workers at Walmart Changde began to fight for compensation when the management decided to close the shop. The workplace union there picketed the shop before they were forcefully removed. After this some workers at another Walmart branch wrote an appeal letter to the AFL-CIO for help

Since the March 18 occupation of the Legislative Yuan, with the exception of the trade union of the Cosmos Bank, which explicitly proposed to strike in support of the students, trade unions in general have been hestitating in relation to the students‘ action. The Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions regards the issue of the service trade agreement with China as a political issue, and thinks it not appropriate for trade unions to strike over this reason. The Labor Rights Association even led several trade unions to demand for the early implementation of the trade agreement. We, however, declare that trade unions should not be absent from this anti-service trade agreement movement, rather they should strike to defend their own labor rights. In doing this unions are not just expressing solidarity with the students, rather they are also acting to fight for their own rights. Therefore trade unions should not allow themselves to be restricted by the law governing the right to strike, rather they should decide in accordance to what is to the best interest of labor. We hereby propose:

Since March 18th, several hundred young students have been occupying the Taiwanese Parliament for more than 36 hours. They have been supported by 20,000 protestors outside the parliament. They are protesting due to the simple idea of defending common people’s livelihoods from the predatory nature of a trade agreement which is not just about the trading of goods but also allows the free flow of capital to Taiwan, and which may result in a further race to the bottom in terms of quality of life across the strait. The protestors also act because of their aspiration for democracy. The totally undemocratic way that the KMT government has handled the bill has driven many into rebellion.