How to define the role of trade unions?

This would have been a silly question back in the 1970s when the working class was politically labeled a leading class, when all enterprises big or small were State-owned, and the relationship between workers and their enterprise leaders was not supposed to be that of employees and employers.

This question makes a difference today when the market economy has greatly diversified the ownership of enterprises, and the nature of labor relations is much more complicated than it was when the planned economy dominated the Chinese world of work.

Where there was a working unit, there was a trade union, which took care of workers' welfare.

But today, when workers' rights and interests are being infringed upon, there is a demand for establishing trade unions.

Never before has the need been so urgent for trade unions to clarify their role in protecting the legal rights of employees.

It took major struggles by workers to finally establish a trade union in Wal-Mart last year - one of the first trade unions for this transnational company. This serves as a reminder of how hard the mission can be for the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) to protect workers' rights.

Of all foreign-funded firms and joint ventures, only about one-third have trade unions, and not all these trade unions effectively protect employees.

Employee Tang Xiaodong was sacked by a joint venture simply because he, as the head of the trade union, tried to defend the rights of his co-workers.

In addition, the legal rights of employees are often infringed upon in domestic private enterprises. Workers are forced to work overtime against their will or without proper pay. Wages of migrant workers are often not paid.

Trade unions need to be established representing migrant workers and in all private firms - foreign or domestic. These unions must be empowered to truly represent workers and their rights.

The ACFTU and its local branches have a long way to go to establish a new trade union reality: Where there is a private firm, there is a trade union; where there is a trade union, rights of employees are seldom violated; and if those rights are violated, there is a remedy.

(China Daily 06/12/2007 page10)