Top Biz News

Hotbed for rise of trade unions

By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-29 09:03

GUANGZHOU: To many foreign investors, a trade union in China can be a troublesome entity.

But that is not necessarily true in Guangzhou Development Zone.

About 60 per cent of the more than 1,000 foreign-invested enterprises there have set up trade unions.

That compares to 53.1 per cent in Guangdong Province and 25 per cent in the nation as a whole.

Several of the unions are invested in by some of the world's top 500 multinational companies. These include the P&G (China) Investment Co Ltd, Delphi Packard Electric (Guangzhou) Co Ltd, Amway China Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric (Guangzhou) Hualing Compressor Co Ltd, VA TECH Elin Transformer Guangzhou Co Ltd and ThyssenKrupp Stainless International (Guangzhou) Ltd.

Zeng Fanqiang, chairman of the zone's federations of trade unions, attributed the higher percentage of trade unions in the area to the fact that foreign-invested firms have a better understanding of them.

He said that trade unions working with foreign firms have played an effective role doing such things as improving relations between management and employees and offering training and entertainment programmes for members. They also protect the legal interests of both union members and the enterprises.

"A growing number of foreign investors are becoming more willing to set up trade unions in the zone," he said.

Many firms sent representatives to a recent seminar on trade union establishment.

Zhang Zhongmin, trade union chairman of VA TECH Elin Transformer Guangzhou Co Ltd  invested in by the German industrial giant Siemens  said a trade union in a foreign-funded enterprise can help build up employee trust, affection and loyalty.

This can all be conducive to a harmonious relationship between bosses and workers.