Well, given the week just past, what we want is a rundown of current strike activity in China, starting with this excellent overview from Labor Notes:
China faced its second wave of strikes in two years, as thousands of workers in industrial southern provinces—manufacturers for the world—walked out this fall. Workers making New Balance shoes, Apple and IBM keyboards, underwear, furniture, and Citizen watches struck over pay and overtime.
Elsewhere, they’re all out at Tesco in Zhejiang and binmen in Nanjing took things to the streets in graphic style. China Labour Bulletin has an in-depth report of how a long term industrial dispute at a Guangdong sports equipment manufacturer played out and a must read report on the new generation of worker activists.
China Briefing picks up on it, and summarises:
A recent CLB report listed a string of new characteristics the new generation of workers boast:
Better education;
Less experience doing agricultural work;
Higher recognition of an urban lifestyle;
Increased access to internet and mobile communications
With these characteristics, the new generation of workers – now taking up 60 percent of the total migrant worker population – is generally less tolerant of employer abuse, low pay and poor working conditions, and are more likely to stand up for their rights.
The improved access to the Internet – which makes instant information exchange possible – can sometimes expand one single protest into broader industrial actions. Last year, a wave of strikes in China’s northern city of Dalian hit 73 enterprises and involved over 70,000 workers demanding higher wages.
So there you go. A working class in formation, in real time. I really have been remiss in not covering this stuff more.
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