Our 10 most recent articles.
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
Hong Kong food delivery workers protest pay and working conditions
Following last month’s strikes and protests by food delivery workers in mainland China, drivers in Hong Kong staged a protest outside the company headquarters of Foodpanda on 15 July.
22 July 2021
China’s food delivery workers take action while the union idles
Food delivery workers in several major cities went on strike at the end of June in protest at pay cuts and the draconian policies imposed by the online platforms that dominate the market.
06 July 2021
Trade union officials distance themselves from food delivery workers’ suffering
Protests by food delivery workers over the exploitative monopolies of companies like Ele.me and Meituan have made headlines recently, but the trade union remains inert.
05 July 2021
Food delivery workers take action against low pay and “tyrannical” policies
Food delivery workers in several major cities across China have reportedly taken strike action in response to cuts in pay and the oppressive demands placed on them by the major online platforms.
30 June 2021