Guangdong’s new labour regulations open the door to worker participation in collective bargaining

中文版见下

The Guangdong provincial government is currently debating the latest draft of its Regulations on the Democratic Management of Enterprises (广东省企业民主管理条例 (草案修改二稿)), regulations that could, if implemented, finally open the door to genuine worker participation in collective bargaining in China.

According to Chinese media reports, these regulations will create a legally-binding mechanism whereby workers can demand and negotiate for pay increases. They state that if more than one fifth of the workforce at a particular factory asks for wage negotiations with management, the trade union at that enterprise must organize the democratic election of worker representatives to engage in such negotiations. If the enterprise does not have a union, the nearest district union is obliged to organize such elections.

This will give enterprise employees the legal right to democratically elect their own representatives to engage in collective wage negotiations with management. As China Labour Bulletin Executive Director Han Dongfang noted:

These regulations could turn out to be of great historical significance, both in terms of protecting workers' rights and in the transformation and smooth development of labour relations in China.

The Guangdong government first drafted its Regulations on the Democratic Management of Enterprises back in 2008. But the global economic crisis in the latter half of that year put an end to those deliberations. In the first half of this year, after nearly a dozen suicides of young workers at Foxconn, and a wave of strikes across the province, the provincial legislature hastened its revision of the regulations and shoehorned them into this year's legislative program. As the chairman of the standing committee of Guangdong's People's Congress, Ou Guangyuan, said, "These regulations have been substantially revised based on discussions with all interested parties in the wake of the problems manifest at Foxconn and Honda."

In response, Han Dongfang said:

It is obvious that the pressure of low pay, long working hours and poor working conditions that gave rise to the wave of strikes across Guangdong have elicited a timely and positive response from the government. The fact that, on this occasion, the government has not simply politicized workers' use of strike action, but rather used legislative means to steer unnecessary strikes towards collective consultations, shows that there has been an important change in the government's attitude towards workers' reasonable economic demands.

The collective consultation system has been in place for two decades now, but Guangdong's new regulations provide two very important additions to the existing framework. Firstly, the starting point for collective consultations is now very clear - a demand from 20 percent of the workforce - making collective consultations at last a viable proposition. Secondly, once the requisite number of workers request collective consultations, the trade union must organize the democratic election of delegates to engage in collective consultations, thereby confirming the key role of workers in wage negotiations, and encouraging district trade unions to finally get off the fence and actually stand on the side of workers.

Han Dongfang pointed out:

Both in terms of protecting workers' rights, and in raising domestic consumption and boosting sustainable economic development, China has no option but to establish a system of collective bargaining. It may take a long time to achieve, but at least now we have a good starting point. The deliberations of the Guangdong legislature could really press the start button for collective bargaining in China, especially since these new regulations establish the central role of workers in the system. As such, these regulations could be a landmark achievement.

2010年7月21日，广东省十一届人大常委会开始审议《广东省企业民主管理条例(草案修改二稿)》(下称《条例草案》)。据媒体报道，该《条例草案》将建立职工一方要求调整工资的法定机制。《条例草案》提出，当企业有五分之一以上的职工向工会提出工资集体协商要求时，工会就应组织全体职工民主推选协商代表，并向企业提出工资集体协商要求；未建立工会的企业有五分之一以上职工提出工资协商要求的，可以要求地方总工会予以指导，民主推选协商代表。

就《条例草案》提出的有关职工民主选举集体协商代表的权利等条款，中国劳工通讯主任韩东方认为：

这个条例一经通过，将对中国工人权利的保障和中国劳动关系的社会转型与和谐发展，产生重大的历史意义。

据媒体报道，早在两年前，广东省人大常委会就对《广东省企业民主管理条例》的草案进行了审议，但由于2008年下半年发生的金融危机，使广东省人大常委会中止了对这一条例的审议工作。今年上半年，在广东省境内出现一系列罢工事件和深圳富士康公司员工连续“跳楼”事件之后，广东省委要求加快制订《广东省企业民主管理条例》，为此，广东省人大常委会按程序将该条例补充列入今年的立法计划。媒体还引述了广东省人大常委会主任欧广源的说法，这次立法是"根据富士康、南海本田等地出现的问题，相关方面广泛召开了座谈会，听取各方面意见，在条例的几个方面作了重大修改。"

对此，中国劳工通讯主任韩东方表示：

很明显，在高劳动强度和低工资的巨大压力下，在广东省的罢工潮，得到了来自政府的积极、正面的回应。 广东省政府这次没有简单地将工人为争取经济利益而采取的罢工行动政治化，而是通过立法手段将一些本来就没有必要发生的罢工行动导向集体协商，表明了政府在对待工人合理经济诉求的态度方面发生了重要的转变。

集体协商制度在中国已有将近20年历史，此次广东省人大常委会审议的《条例草案》对现有制度做出了两点重大突破：一是明确了集体协商过程的启动点是“五分之一的工人提出集体协商要求”，这就使得集体协商具有了可操作性；二是规定了在工人提出集体协商要求之后，工会必须组织工人民主推选集体协商代表，这一规定明确了工人在集体协商中的主体地位，有助于改变目前地方工会普遍存在的“不作为”现状。

对此，韩东方认为：

无论是从劳工权利保障的角度看，还是从提高内需促进国民经济可持续性发展的角度看，中国都必须建立企业层面的集体谈判制度。尽管建立这个制度可能是一个漫长的过程，但有一个良好的开端是至关重要的。广东省人大常委会对《企业民主管理条例》的审议工作，可以说是以立法的形式按下了建立中国集体谈判制度的启动键，尤其是确立了工人在这一制度中的主体地位，使这个《条例》的出台更具有划时代的意义。

For more information, please contact:
Geoffrey Crothall
Director of Communications, China Labour Bulletin.
Tel. 852 2780 2187.
Email. gcrothall@clb.org.hk