News, Analysis and Featured Articles

NewsCLB publishes news stories of particular relevance to our work in mainland China. New labour legislation and regulations, significant strikes and protests, breakthroughs in collective bargaining and union organizing, as well as news stories that affect our litigation work will be listed here.

Union chair resigns over the imposition of collective contracts at Wal-Mart
23 Sep 2008
Shanxi iron ore mine disaster – a tragically familiar story
18 Sep 2008
“Undercover” Migrant Worker Exposes Labour Violations
11 Sep 2008
CLB Calls for the Immediate Release of Political Activist Wang Guilan
05 Sep 2008

Analysis and CommentaryCLB provides detailed analysis and expert commentary on major labour rights issues in China. In this section, we aim to give readers a greater understanding of and insights into the stories behind the headlines, as well as highlight issues of concern for workers in China.

Shenzhen labour regulations modified with some gains and some losses for workers
08 Oct 2008
No Way Out: A report on the human cost of China’s economic miracle
25 Sep 2008
An alternative analysis of the Chinese government’s wage statistics
08 Sep 2008
A Turning Point for China’s Trade Unions
21 Aug 2008

Feature ArticlesHuman interest stories can provide a unique and penetrating insight into complex problems. In this section we publish features that focus more on the human scale, allowing readers to understand important and often confusing issues through the lives of ordinary workers in China.

Migrant workers worst hit by textile industry slowdown
09 Oct 2008
Is corporate “wolf-culture” devouring China’s over-worked employees?
27 May 2008
Migrant Workers start to win significant compensation awards in the courts
23 Nov 2007
Students exploited by both schools and employers in summer work programmes
20 Aug 2007


	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.


	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.


	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


	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.