The South China Morning Post reports today that a journalist for Oriental Outlook magazine, Sun Chunlong, was forced to suppress his reporting about a mine cover-up that killed at least 40 people in Shanxi. The accident occurred on August 1, 2008 at a mine owned by Tianyuan Iron and Steel, a key SOE that makes important for China’s military and space programs.
Danwei has translated an interesting article from Southern Window (南方窗) about Hu Xiaoyan- one of the migrant worker NPC representatives. The article discusses not only the mixed emotions and high expectations other migrant workers have towards Hu, but also about the personal stress that she has endured since becoming a delegate.
“From the hell that is
CLB whole heartedly endorses the Catch the Flame initiative launched today by Play Fair 2008.
Catch the Flame is a virtual torch relay supported by a global alliance of trade unions, non-governmental organizations, labour groups and concerned individuals, designed to draw attention to the maltreatment and exploitation of workers in the merchandise industry of the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008), Vancouver (Winter 2010) and London (2012).
The violent attack in November on Shenzhen labour activist Huang Qingnan focused international attention, albeit briefly, on the labour movement in southern
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Shenzhen labour regulations modified with some gains and some losses for workers |
| The Regulations on the Promotion of Harmonious Labour Relations in the Shenzhen SEZ, approved on 23 September 2008, contain some beneficial additions but some important clauses have been removed. Photo of Shenzhen factory workers by Chad Ingraham. | |
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Railway workers “retired” on medical grounds fight back |
| In the late 1990s, China’s state-run railways laid off hundreds of thousands of workers as part of economic rationalization drive. The Shenyang Railway Authority devised a novel scheme whereby workers were retired “on medical grounds” even though many had never taken a day’s sick leave in their lives. | |
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No Way Out: A report on the human cost of China’s economic miracle |
| A new report by CLB and Canada’s Rights and Democracy reveals how the lives of millions of workers were thrown into turmoil during the wholesale privatization of China’s state-owned enterprises in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Photo of abandoned SOE in Liaoning by Sonya@flickr.com | |
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CLB acts to help Sichuan Miner left alone to Die in Poverty |
| CLB is helping a retired miner in Sichuan with third-stage pneumoconiosis sue for work-related illness compensation after his boss, a local coal baron and parliamentarian, refused any payment. The trial began on 11 September 2008 at the Qu County People’s Court with the exchange of evidence. | |
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Union chair resigns over the imposition of collective contracts at Wal-Mart |
| One of the few union activists ever to stand-up to Wal-Mart management has resigned from his position as union chair at Wal-Mart’s Nanchang Bayi store after being by-passed in collective contract negotiations. - Photo by h.dot@flickr.com | |
