The amendment to the Constitution of China's Trade Unions, which
was adopted Friday by the just-concluded 14th National Congress of
Trade Unions, stipulates for the first time the protection of
members' rights as the most important task of trade unions.
The change in wording is similar to the country's revised law on
trade unions, which also set for the first time the task of
protecting the legitimate rights and interests of union members as
the basic role of trade unions.
The original version of the constitution and the law refer to
the task, however, only as a non-binding social function.
Guan Huai, a professor with China's prestigious People's
University of China, described the change as a "significant
breakthrough, which represents the will of the state law."
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Guan, also legal advisor
of the All-China
Federation of Trade Unions, said the change to the constitution
will enable trade unions to work for their members and unite
workers.
The professor explained that the fundamental role of trade
unions is safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of
employees, and the purpose of employees joining trade unions is
seeking protection of their rights and interests by unions.
Ye Guoliang, one of the 1,600 delegates to the five-day
congress, said the revised constitution "created a better policy
environment for trade unions as their role has been redefined in a
clear way."
Zhao Jianjie, professor with Labor Relations College of China,
called the change a historic return, and a natural development amid
increasingly complicated labor rations in the changing
situation.
China's transition from a planned economy in the 1970s to a
market economy resulted in fundamental changes to the country's
industrial relations, an end to the lifelong employment system, and
fast development of the private sector.
The non-state sector, which employs millions of workers in
overseas-funded firms and private companies, contributed to the
country's prosperity in the past two decades while industrial
relations became more complicated.
In his report to the congress, Wang Zhaoguo, chairman of the
federation, said relations between the employees and employers were
strained in some particular areas.
Professor Zhao said frequent incidents involving violation of
workers' rights in some areas had negative impacts on social
stability and economic development.
According to the results of a survey, payment of 36.6 billion
yuan (US$4.4 billion) in wages for urban workers was delayed by
employers across China in 2000, and the figure may exceed 40
billion yuan to date.
For migrant workers, mostly poor farmers, the situation is even
worse.
Experts put the delayed payment of wages for them at 100 billion
yuan annually, and it is not unusual for them to get no pay for
overtime.
Workshop safety remains a problem for many workers, mostly those
working for private or some overseas-funded plants.
In Leqing city of Zhejiang Province, east China, trade union
officials said about 5,000 migrant workers lost some of their
fingers last year while working at poor quality punches without
safety devices.
Those injured were kicked out of the plants by their bosses with
little financial compensation, which is against the law, the
officials said.
Professor Guan said the Chinese government has come to realize
the role of trade unions in improving industrial relations and
facilitating economic development in a market economy.
While addressing the opening session of the congress, Chinese
Vice President Zeng Qinghong urged trade unions to highlight their
role in safeguarding the rights and interest of workers.
Professor Zhao said the major channel for trade unions to
safeguard workers' rights is to participate in formulation of laws,
regulations and contracts, which requires improved ability of trade
union leaders.
Highlighting the role of protecting union members' rights and
interests does not mean support for confrontation, the professor
said.
The amendment to the union constitution was designed to make it
possible for trade unions to play a greater role in improving
industrial relations through protecting union members' rights, thus
facilitating social stability and economic development, said the
professor.
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions now represents 134
million members, a sharp increase from 90 million in 1998, in 1.71
million trade unions at the grass-roots level.
(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2003)