Our 10 most recent articles.
Platform labour regulations and unionising the gig economy
At China Labour Bulletin, we are saying goodbye to our retiring Communications Director, Geoffrey Crothall. CLB Executive Director Han Dongfang thanks Geoffrey for his long service to the organization: "During the past decade and a half, under Geoff’s guidance, the CLB team has successfully built a solid platform providing the most reliable information on the workers' movement and labour issues in China. I am very thankful for Geoff’s invaluable contributions."
07 October 2021
In India, gig workers challenge platforms online in war of words
Kunal Purohit reports from Mumbai on how gig workers are exposing exploitative practices on social media to reach an important ally: consumers
30 September 2021
ACFTU in Beijing issues guidelines for unionizing gig workers: What comes next?
The Beijing Municipal Federation of Trade Unions (BMFTU) has introduced guidelines designed to regulate and encourage unionization for “gig” delivery drivers, workers and labourers in China’s capital city.
28 September 2021
High-level guidance on platform employment lacks teeth
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, workers in China have flooded into the gig economy. Express delivery companies have started price wars to gain more market share, resulting in companies offsetting lower consumer prices by cutting commissions for delivery workers.
23 September 2021
Celebrating the ordinary workers at the heart of the movement
China Labour Bulletin’s outgoing communications director, Geoffrey Crothall, reflects on the last 14 years of workers’ struggle in China
15 September 2021
An opportunity for the union to make an impact on work safety
China’s newly-amended Work Safety Law (安全生产法) went into effect on 1 September. This third revision of the law increases fines and administrative sanctions for delinquent companies and even allows for public interest lawsuits to be brought by the People’s Procuratorate. Importantly, the law now brings the millions of workers employed by online platforms - such as food delivery workers - and labour agency workers under its remit.
07 September 2021
Henan overtakes Guangdong in number of worker protests
The central province of Henan has been a key locus of worker activism and collective protests in China over the last year, with construction and transport workers taking the lead.
24 August 2021
China’s social security system
Every employee in China is supposed to have a pension, medical and unemployment insurance, and a range of other welfare benefits. In reality, the system has largely failed to provide workers, and rural migrant workers in particular, with the social security they need and are legally entitled to.
18 August 2021
Will China’s trade union finally live up to its obligations under the Work Safety Law?
China’s revised Work Safety Law, which goes into effect on 1 September, makes the responsibility of trade unions for work safety inescapably clear. How will the union respond?
09 August 2021
Local struggles, global problems
This month, we take a look at workers’ struggles closer to home, in Hong Kong and the surrounding Pearl River Delta.
03 August 2021