International Law

What's Going On With China Labor?

By Dan

Taikongren's Advice Blog has a nice post setting forth and commenting on many of the various issues swirling about these days on labor in China. The post is entitled,"Taikongren's definitive 'What's happening with Chinese Labor' post," and it does a very good job setting out China's labor situation and raising some interesting issues attached to that. If you want to know more about China's current labor situation, I recommend you read it.

Taikongren asserts the following: 

1. Wages in primary manufacturing areas are rising.  

2. Wages are rising due to a shortage of workers.

3. Wages rising in China's interior are causing coastal wages to rise. 

4. Foreign investment should be headed to second-tier cities and to the interior, but this is not really happening much. 

5. Some capital-heavy manufacturing companies have decided to move back to the US. NOTE: I am NOT aware of this happening.  

6. China should start making higher end products to fit its more-expensive industrial base.  

7. The strikes of the Honda Factory and Foxconn suicides are often linked in the news but they are not really related. 

8. The government is promoting higher wages. 

9. China's Labor Law is empowering China's workers. 

10. What is going on with strikes and other labor issues at the State Owned Entities?  NOTE: I have been wondering the same thing and I asked this question over at the China Law Blog Linkedin Group. 

11. Chinese workers are using the internet and cell phone text messages to organize their labor protests.

In an unfortunate bit of pique that mars an otherwise thoughtful post, Taikongren pokes fun at Rebecca MacKinnon, for having told the New York Times that "QQ is not secure" and for having been described by the New York Times as 'a China specialist." I do not believe the average New York Times reader knows what QQ even is, much less that the Chinese government monitors it. I also feel I must note that Ms. MacKinnon is widely considered (by me too) as one of the most knowledgeable Westerners on China's Internet.

Full post as published by China Law Blog on June 27, 2010 (boomark / email).