In the first half of last year, China Labour Bulletin reported a rebound in strikes and protests in China. As of 2024, the number of workers’ protests remains high, exceeding the same period last year. The Strike Map recorded 719 collective actions in the first half of 2024, up from 696 incidents during the same period the previous year.
The Strike Map reflected a significant increase in manufacturing sector protests last year. In the first half of 2024, manufacturing protests related to wage arrears, factory relocations, and closures were still high, with 233 incidents (32.4%) recorded — slightly higher than the 197 incidents (28.3%) reported in the first half of 2023. On average, the Strike Map collects 30-40 incidents each month.
Wage arrears in the construction industry were the main reason for protests in the first half of 2024, with a total of 344 incidents (47.8%) logged, slightly higher than the 320 incidents (46.0%) recorded during the same period last year. Wage claims peaked in January with over 100 incidents, then decreased to around 50 incidents per month after Lunar New Year.
Photo: Workers' collective actions in the first half of 2024 by industry
Protests in the service industry (64 incidents, 8.9%) and logistics industry (32 incidents, 4.45%) were lower than last year (97 and 55 incidents, respectively). The higher number of service industry incidents last year was mainly due to protests triggered by the closure of two chain retailers, Better Life and Carrefour. In the logistics sector, the slight decrease in protests is due to fewer demands from taxi drivers for the integration of ownership and operational rights. Protests were mainly against ride-hailing services and electric bikes.
Protests were recorded in the education sector and government agencies, with 8 and 6 incidents totalling about 2%, respectively. These events mainly involve teacher strikes over unpaid wages. Additionally, there have been protests in northern and northeastern China related to wage arrears in government institutions such as forestry farms, water supply companies, and grain bureaus.
This article will discuss protests by workers in the manufacturing, construction, service, and transportation sectors.
Electronics and garment factories default on wages and avoid compensation
Workers in electronics, garment, and automotive factories have been protesting in coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. Their grievances are focused on wage arrears (155 cases) and against relocations and closures (61 cases).
In the textile and garment industry, struggling garment factories have been increasingly defaulting on wages. On 23 January, a clothing store in Puyuan, Zhejiang, was discovered to have absconded with over 30 million yuan, owing processing fees and salaries to over one hundred small processing factories. Dozens of workers gathered at the town government hall to demand wages. Some workers even threatened to jump off the building to protest. Videos captured the dramatic scene, showing an inflatable cushion being set up below the building, while police officers worked to negotiate with the workers and prevent any potential harm. By the end of Chinese New Year, the Strike Map recorded 15 garment factory protests. Some store owners, unable to settle accounts, transferred their assets and left workers and small processing factories without money.
A reduction in international brand orders has led garment factories that mainly produce for overseas markets into difficulties. On 20 March, workers gathered at the entrance of Nantong Minglong Fashion Co., Ltd., which primarily exports coats, demanding two months of unpaid wages and 17 months of overdue social insurance payments. On 8 May, Nordd Leather Factory, which had been a long-time contractor for foreign luxury brands, announced closure. Dozens of workers gathered at the entrance to demand the non-payment of January wages, while suppliers had not received tens of thousands in payments. Workers from the factory had sought help online, indicating the company had not paid social insurance for a year and owed four months' wages, causing workers to resign in frustration. It was only after five days of protests that officials from the local labour bureau intervened and convinced the landlord to advance the wages. On 23 July, the factory had been cleared out, but the factory gate still displayed several labour arbitration notices, and bank staff had visited the factory searching for company officials, indicating that issues of wage arrears and layoffs were not fully resolved.
In addition to demanding unpaid wages, electronic and automotive manufacturing workers protested reductions in working hours and non-payment of economic compensation. For instance, on 15 January, Shanghai Amphenol Airwave Communication Electronics Co., Ltd. announced its relocation to Haiyan, Zhejiang. Some workers who did not want to relocate demanded compensation from the company. However, the company only offered compensation based on the basic monthly wage plus a 200 yuan subsidy, which resulted in a significant reduction in the calculation of compensation because overtime pay was excluded. The compensation amount proposed by the company was about half of what the workers calculated. However, as many colleagues had already resigned, and under the persuasion of union lawyers, workers accepted the company's compensation plan.
Photo credit: chinahbzyg/ Shutter Stock
Many factories had relocation plans well in advance but did not disclose it or negotiate with workers, leading to worker protests. For example, on 27 May, workers at Beijing WKW Automotive Parts Co., Ltd gathered at the company gate to demand an explanation for the factory’s relocation. The company was moving from Changchun to Gongzhuling, which should have been considered a change in labour contract terms. However, the company neither negotiated with the workers nor provided relocation or compensation plans. Instead, unidentified individuals were dispatched to pressure the workers' families, creating anger and anxiety among the workers.
To evade paying compensation, some companies shut down operations without closing the factory and forced workers to resign voluntarily. In early June, Zhejiang Akcome New Energy Technology Co., Ltd, a new energy company, announced a 2-3 month shutdown, providing workers with wages below the minimum wage and prohibiting them from seeking other employment. Workers protested and demanded a reasonable shutdown plan. Similarly, Yingguan Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., which engaged in furniture and hardware production, announced a six-month production halt in April, and only gave workers their basic wages. Faced with increased accommodation costs, workers demanded direct dismissal and legal compensation.
Photo credit: humphery/ Shutter Stock
Factories reducing working hours to force workers to leave on their own
The protests against factory shutdowns highlighted the fact that workers often struggle to make ends meet with just their basic wages and have to work long hours to earn a decent income. Reducing working hours to a five-day, eight-hour schedule effectively results in a wage cut for workers. As a result, when some factories experienced seasonal production slowdowns and needed to reduce working hours without adjusting basic wages, workers went on protest.
On 13 May, workers at Wuxi BYD Electronics Co., Ltd. in Jiangsu went on strike, opposing the company’s failure to adhere to promises made during the acquisition of the plant and the unilateral change to a "four-shift" system, which reduced their income. With limited basic wages, workers have relied on working six days a week, 12 hours a day, to earn sufficient income. The introduction of the four-shift system resulted in a reduction of working hours to 9 hours per day (including one hour for meals) and five days a week. This change led to a decrease in wages to approximately 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, just above the local minimum wage of 2,940 yuan per month. As a result, the workers' income became insufficient to support their livelihoods, prompting a strike lasting at least three days. Despite negotiations with the HR department, the workers were not persuaded, and eventually, some of them were reassigned to other factories.
Photo credit: Joebarthez/ Shutter Stock
In addition to reducing working hours to cut costs and force workers to resign voluntarily, some companies reduced working hours to avoid paying "return fees" to workers. At the end of March, a labour dispute erupted at Chongqing Huguang Automotive Electrical Co., Ltd., which produces automotive wiring. Hourly workers recruited through labour agencies protested that the factory stopped assigning work just before they completed the hours needed to receive "return fees". Workers also claimed that the factory did not settle their wages promptly, leaving them waiting in dormitories for work arrangements, which they perceived as a form of premature dismissal. Workers protested outside the factory but were met by factory security wearing steel helmets and using batons to disperse them.
Workers faced retaliation from management during their protests. For example, Qiaofeng Technology Industrial Co., Ltd., which produces automotive audio systems for multiple multinational car brands, faced protests from workers after announcing relocation. Workers blocked trucks and demanded compensation and overdue social insurance. The company dismissed at least two worker representatives and threatened to sue them.
In response to these cases, China Labour Bulletin has written to the relevant brands involved, requesting due diligence investigations into issues related to workers’ overtime, decent wages, and workers' rights to association and negotiation.
Photo: A video uploaded by workers from Qiaofeng Technology
Unresolved Wage Arrears in Infrastructure and Residential Projects
Protests by construction workers over unpaid wages remain the most frequent. In addition to Guangdong (50 cases), protests were concentrated in rapidly developing North and Central China provinces, including Shandong (46 cases), Henan (23 cases), Hebei (21 cases), and Shaanxi (20 cases).
Many of the construction projects involved in wage disputes are from work carried out in the two or three years following the pandemic, with wages overdue for some time. For example, on 28 February, 20 migrant workers petitioned that the construction company they worked for had not settled wages for a project in Lishi, Shanxi. The workers began their subcontracted work in August 2020 and completed it in May 2022. However, the company owed about 540,000 yuan in wages, which had not been paid over the past two years. Workers approached the labour agency and were promised 250,000 yuan before the Lunar New Year last year, but the company broke the promise. Workers repeatedly failed to get their wages and finally sought help online, asking the national and Shanxi provincial and municipal governments to resolve the issue.
Workers in infrastructure projects continue to protest unpaid wages, often related to state-owned construction enterprises. Due to tightened bond issuance and broken cash flows, companies do not pay workers even if they are still operating. For instance, from 23 to 27 June, over a hundred workers building roads in the BYD industrial park in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, protested at the headquarters of Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone Investment Group. Two workers threatened to jump from a building to demand wages. The project was completed and in use for over a year, but out of more than 400 million yuan in project funds, only a few million had been paid. Zhengzhou's government issued special bonds at the beginning of last year. However, the debt was ultimately used to pay government employees' salaries. As a result, the general contractor declined to address wage arrears, which affected numerous workers and suppliers. This situation ultimately led to worker protests and even suicide threats.
Photo credit: chinahbzyg/ Shutter Stock
In private residential development projects, many workers also protested unpaid wages. Although some workers' contracts stipulate that wages should be settled at the end of the project, workers often receive only half or less. On 24 June in Jinan, Shandong Province, workers on a construction project protested, claiming that the contract promised 80% of the project’s payment monthly, 95% after leaving the project, and the remaining 5% as quality retention, to be paid a year later. In reality, workers received only about 30% of their wages, with payments overdue for over five months.
Closures from both new and old retail businesses sparked protests
Due to the wide range of worker protests in the service industry, this section will specifically focus on protests by workers in the accommodation and catering industry (14 cases) and the retail sector (9 cases).
Notable events in the catering sector include the collapse and wage arrears of some internet-related brands. On 16 March, the popular cake brand “Panda Buzou” (熊猫不走) suddenly announced closure, and its company group was abruptly dissolved. Nearly a thousand employees had not been paid for approximately three to four months, and contributions to social insurance and housing provident fund were suspended. This led to workers forming an online group to demand wages. The brand, established in 2017, hires staff to pick up birthday cakes from nearby warehouses after online ordering. The employees will wear panda costumes to deliver cakes and participate in interactive games. However, after a period of fast growth, the management acknowledged making "mistakes in judgment" about the pandemic, policies, and the market, which led to a cash flow crisis and unpaid wages. The company asked employees to file labour arbitration claims on their own. Other protests happened in the T61 bar in Chongqing and the DT.CLUB bar in Zhaotong, Yunnan, which also left workers unpaid upon closure.
Photo: Scenes of employees wearing panda costumes and entertaining kids (Source: ChuanBoWa)
Traditional retail has also witnessed chain store closures, resulting in protests from workers and suppliers. Following the bankruptcies of brands like Carrefour and Better Life in 2023, employees of Fudi Supermarket, which had branches across cities in Hubei, protested from 3 to 6 April over the company's closure and unpaid wages. Fudi Supermarket, founded in 1989 as a rural chain in Hubei, faced rising competition from e-commerce and other retail stores. Claiming that "internal reorganization and development did not meet expectations, leading to operational difficulties", Fudi successively closed their branches in Xiantao, Jingzhou, and Tianmen starting from 3 April, sparking protests from workers. On 6 April, the Xiantao Business Bureau and Fudi Supermarket issued a joint announcement, acknowledging the company’s internal disputes. The Bureau intervened and established a joint working group, urging workers and suppliers to cease their actions and use "legal channels."
Photo: Workers’ protests at a store of Fudi Supermarket
Protests in private hospitals after bankruptcies and wage arrears
Some privately-run hospitals, which expanded rapidly in recent years, have faced debt issues after the pandemic, leading to a series of wage arrears among workers. On 31 January, several employees at the Southwestern Lu Hospital in Liaocheng, Shandong, unfurled banners demanding "a chance for the hospital to revamp." The hospital was a key construction project in Shandong in 2016 and began operation in 2018, bringing in numerous experts. However, since the pandemic, the hospital has faced defaults in debt. With medications and supplies nearly depleted, they could not treat patients and could not operate normally, resulting in eight months of unpaid wages for all employees. The collective action by employees was likely aimed more at calling attention to creditors rather than directly demanding wages from the management. Similar protests related to unpaid wages have also occurred at Peienze Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Jilin Province and Aima Maternity Hospital in Zengcheng, Guangzhou.
A few local health bureaus also faced worker protests due to issues with policy implementation and wage payments. For example, over 300 healthcare workers in Changsha county, Hunan, sent letters to the local health bureau and government in early February, protesting the termination of a program that changed their status from provincial hospital employees to county hospital employees. In 2017, the Changsha County government collaborated with Hunan Provincial People's Hospital to establish a new hospital and recruited over 500 staff based on the provincial hospital's recruitment standards. However, due to issues related to the pandemic and financing, the county hospital has yet to open, and all staff have been working and training at three other branches of the Provincial People's Hospital. In early 2024, workers were informed that the original plan had ended, and they were no longer considered provincial hospital employees, leading to protests among the staff. Outside of Changsha County, local health bureaus in Sanhe, Hebei and Linxian, Shanxi have also experienced wage arrears issues.
Photo credit: humphery/ Shutter Stock
For a more in-depth analysis of collective actions by healthcare workers in China over the past 10 years, please refer to our latest report, "Unprotected yet Unyielding: The Decade-Long Protest of China’s Health Workers (2013-2023)," published on September 9, 2024.
Ride-hailing and bike-sharing surge leads to taxi driver resistance
Finally, we briefly describe protests by workers in the transportation sector. Over the past six months, there have been 14 taxi driver strikes, 6 protests by couriers, and 4 by warehouse workers.
The downturn of some sectors after the pandemic has led more workers to take on part-time jobs with ride-hailing services, resulting in cities announcing that ride-hailing capacity was saturated and dissuading new drivers from entering the platform. The surge in ride-hailing services has also sparked backlash from taxi drivers. In the first half of this year, nearly half (6 cases) of the taxi driver protests were related to competition from ride-hailing services, only 4 cases were related to the integration of ownership and operating rights.
Taxi drivers have petitioned and gone on strike to urge the government to restrict the expansion of ride-hailing services. On 30 June, taxi drivers in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, submitted a petition, requesting increased security at airport exits to protect taxi drivers’ interests. Taxi drivers also proposed organizing volunteers to assist transportation management in deterring unlicensed vehicles. On 19 June, taxi drivers in Ulaanbaatar, Inner Mongolia, submitted a demand to the transportation bureau, requesting restrictions on the integration of ride-hailing services with taxis by forbidding platforms to dispatch orders to private cars.
On 12 June, taxi drivers in Yulin, Shaanxi, went on strike for three consecutive days. Their grievances included high fuel costs and low pay, but the primary complaint was still about ride-hailing services. Drivers were dissatisfied with the influx of office workers into the industry after work hours, diverting passengers from taxis and reducing their income.
Taxi drivers also opposed competition from shared electric bikes. On 28 April, about a hundred taxi drivers in Longshan, Hunan, staged a strike to protest the company's investment in shared bikes, forcing the company to issue a notice to withdraw the bikes. The rise of tech companies offering ride-hailing and shared services has intensified competition with traditional taxi services, leading to declining incomes for drivers who cannot switch professions and resulting in ongoing protests.
Photo credit: katjen/ Shutter Stock
Labour violations in supply chains require brand investigation
On 15 July, the National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that the average weekly working hours in June were 48.6 hours, the second highest for the same period in nearly six years, up 2.9 hours from the same time in 2019, exceeding the "six days, eight hours" work system. The restructuring of industries has led to workers in older sectors facing closures and wage arrears, while new and more profitable enterprises are imposing illegal long working hours.
Excessive working hours, wage arrears, unsafe conditions, as well as suppression of worker activism at the supplier factories in the global supply chain have received increasing attention, especially as the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act requires multinational brands to investigate internal violations within their supply chains. All of the labour violations mentioned in the manufacturing session above fall into the regulations of the Due Diligence Act.
China Labour Bulletin’s recent report in September provided detailed information on the labour violations in nine cases we documented, which are strong enough to oblige firms and the government to act. CLB has made contact with the implicated firms and the multinationals affected by their supply chain practices. We will continue to press stakeholders to uphold the letter of national laws, like the German Supply Chain Act, and the codes of conduct of the involved companies. The follow-up of many cases above is ongoing, providing firms the opportunity to fulfil their high promises and rectify the identified violations.
Further CLB reading:
- Breaking the Mould: Germany's Supply Chain Act as a New Approach to Global Labour Rights Accountability (September 2024)
- An introduction to China Labour Bulletin’s Strike Map (last updated January 2024)
- China Labour Bulletin Strike Map data analysis: 2023 year in review for workers' rights (January 2024)