Comments on: Getting the Chinese to work hard http://www.froginawell.net/china/2006/10/getting-the-chinese-to-work-hard/ The China History Group Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:35:30 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Tre http://www.froginawell.net/china/2006/10/getting-the-chinese-to-work-hard/comment-page-1/#comment-11196 Tre Fri, 17 Nov 2006 07:57:46 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/china/2006/10/getting-the-chinese-to-work-hard/#comment-11196 Yeah, right...I find it hard to believe the author could honestly believe "unionizing" in China is there to help the worker. I wrote this when China's "labor laws" mandated Wal*Mart accept a "union". ************** Wal-Mart has struck another blow in the struggle to protect its workers from the perils of democracy and self-government by joining hands with that other warrior for personal freedom, the Chinese Communist Party. For the first time in its Glorious 25 Year History, Wal-Mart is allowing its employees to join a union. After tough negotiation and the involvement of the CCP, China’s Wal-Mart employees are now able to join that country’s largest labor union, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). After years of record-breaking profits and a hugely successful defense on all fronts against unions, Wal-Mart knows the difference between friend and foe. Democrats? Foe. The Bush Boys? Friend. The Chinese Communist Party? Definitely friend! And with the ACFTU, Wal-Mart will be getting lots of the warm fuzzies when is comes to dealing with employee issues. For instance, in order to streamline employee relations, most ACFTU union representatives are also company managers (and Communist Party members); managers in ACFTU unionized shops are essentially allowed to decide for themselves if they are mistreating their work force. It’s a real world example of the sound of one hand clapping. But is this all bad? Won't managers have a big-picture view that allows them to detect needless whining which causes fledgling companies like Wal-Mart so much heartbreak and might stifle China's growth? A review of disputes settled by the Union on behalf of its members shows that in most cases the Union came down on the side of the business to the detriment of the worker, even in cases of dangerous work conditions. And since union members are, by law, not allowed to strike, the whole arrangement is carte blanche from the Wal-Mart standpoint. Of course, with every huge and unanswered gain comes a slight risk; no doubt Wal-Mart will be subject to periodic bouts of demonstrations for “workers rights” whenever the Party thinks such a brouhaha will strengthen their image as a free society. But still, it’s good to have the law on your side if you need to put down an insurrection. Yeah, right…I find it hard to believe the author could honestly believe “unionizing” in China is there to help the worker. I wrote this when China’s “labor laws” mandated Wal*Mart accept a “union”.

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Wal-Mart has struck another blow in the struggle to protect its workers from the perils of democracy and self-government by joining hands with that other warrior for personal freedom, the Chinese Communist Party. For the first time in its Glorious 25 Year History, Wal-Mart is allowing its employees to join a union. After tough negotiation and the involvement of the CCP, China’s Wal-Mart employees are now able to join that country’s largest labor union, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).

After years of record-breaking profits and a hugely successful defense on all fronts against unions, Wal-Mart knows the difference between friend and foe. Democrats? Foe. The Bush Boys? Friend. The Chinese Communist Party? Definitely friend! And with the ACFTU, Wal-Mart will be getting lots of the warm fuzzies when is comes to dealing with employee issues. For instance, in order to streamline employee relations, most ACFTU union representatives are also company managers (and Communist Party members); managers in ACFTU unionized shops are essentially allowed to decide for themselves if they are mistreating their work force. It’s a real world example of the sound of one hand clapping.

But is this all bad? Won’t managers have a big-picture view that allows them to detect needless whining which causes fledgling companies like Wal-Mart so much heartbreak and might stifle China’s growth? A review of disputes settled by the Union on behalf of its members shows that in most cases the Union came down on the side of the business to the detriment of the worker, even in cases of dangerous work conditions. And since union members are, by law, not allowed to strike, the whole arrangement is carte blanche from the Wal-Mart standpoint.

Of course, with every huge and unanswered gain comes a slight risk; no doubt Wal-Mart will be subject to periodic bouts of demonstrations for “workers rights” whenever the Party thinks such a brouhaha will strengthen their image as a free society. But still, it’s good to have the law on your side if you need to put down an insurrection.

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