China Labour Bulletin Director Han Dongfang contributed the following article to the tenth anniversary issue of Sur, the internation journal on human rights. This paper is published under the creative commons license.
Abstract
The article briefly reviews the development of the workers’ movement in China over
the last two decades, and the evolution of the China Labour Bulletin’s (CLB) role in
defending workers’ rights and promoting workplace democracy. By sustaining that
collective bargaining is the best way to promote dialogue and resolve labour disputes, the
author addresses the criticism that such an approach would not be viable given the lack
of independent trade unions in China. In conclusion, he argues that, in the long-run, the
Chinese Communist Party will have no option but to form an alliance with the workers’
movement, and that this alliance will in turn allow the Party to transform itself from an
authoritarian, highly centralised institution into a broadly social-democratic party that
tolerates and appreciates the development of grassroots democracy and civil society.
The full article can be found online on the Conectas website along with all other articles contributed to the tenth anniversary edition of Sur.