Mr. Piccolo
27th January 2015, 06:27
It looks like the Chinese government is increasing intimidation of labor activists according to this recent article.
GUANGZHOU - As China's economic growth slows, fuelling industrial unrest, independent labor advocates say they have never faced so much intimidation - and they expect it to get worse this year.
In coastal areas like Guangdong province in southern China, the slowdown and rising costs are forcing some factories to close or move inland, often without properly compensating workers.
The number of strikes more than doubled in 2014 to 1,378 from 656 the year before, according to China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based advocacy group. April saw the biggest strike in decades, when about 40,000 employees of Adidas and Nike supplier Yue Yuen went on strike to demand social insurance payments.
All of which is making work for labor activists such as Zeng Feiyang and Zhang Zhiru, while social media platforms such as WeChat, QQ and Sina Weibo are making it easier for word of industrial action to spread.
It is also increasing activists' run-ins with the police and others in a country where officials see strikes as a threat to social stability, and investors often see workers' rights as a threat to their wallets.
After nearly two decades as one of China’s most prominent labor activists, Zeng, based in provincial capital Guangzhou, is no stranger to trouble. But last month was the first time he had been held overnight in a police station without charge, and twice he has spent the night under police guard at hotels since September.
Zhan, based in Shenzhen, says he has lost count of how many times police questioned him last year.
And he has been forced to move 13 times over the same period because, he says, police told his landlords he was a politically problematic tenant.
Other labor activists tell similar tales.
"The crackdown last year was the toughest in history," says Chen Huihai, director of worker training at leading labor dispute law firm Laowei. "2015 is going to be even tougher."
You may read the rest of the article here:
http://www.todayonline.com/world/china-labor-activists-say-facing-unprecedented-intimidation?singlepage=true
GUANGZHOU - As China's economic growth slows, fuelling industrial unrest, independent labor advocates say they have never faced so much intimidation - and they expect it to get worse this year.
In coastal areas like Guangdong province in southern China, the slowdown and rising costs are forcing some factories to close or move inland, often without properly compensating workers.
The number of strikes more than doubled in 2014 to 1,378 from 656 the year before, according to China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based advocacy group. April saw the biggest strike in decades, when about 40,000 employees of Adidas and Nike supplier Yue Yuen went on strike to demand social insurance payments.
All of which is making work for labor activists such as Zeng Feiyang and Zhang Zhiru, while social media platforms such as WeChat, QQ and Sina Weibo are making it easier for word of industrial action to spread.
It is also increasing activists' run-ins with the police and others in a country where officials see strikes as a threat to social stability, and investors often see workers' rights as a threat to their wallets.
After nearly two decades as one of China’s most prominent labor activists, Zeng, based in provincial capital Guangzhou, is no stranger to trouble. But last month was the first time he had been held overnight in a police station without charge, and twice he has spent the night under police guard at hotels since September.
Zhan, based in Shenzhen, says he has lost count of how many times police questioned him last year.
And he has been forced to move 13 times over the same period because, he says, police told his landlords he was a politically problematic tenant.
Other labor activists tell similar tales.
"The crackdown last year was the toughest in history," says Chen Huihai, director of worker training at leading labor dispute law firm Laowei. "2015 is going to be even tougher."
You may read the rest of the article here:
http://www.todayonline.com/world/china-labor-activists-say-facing-unprecedented-intimidation?singlepage=true