On Tuesday and Wednesday, June 1 and
2, most workers returned to work at the Honda plant in Foshan, China,
after strike action which had started on May 17. As www.marxist.com reported
earlier, the workers were fighting for substantial wage increases.
Photo by chinaworker.info.The
company (a Japanese multinational operating though a joint venture with
Chinese State Owned companies, responded with threats, attempts to
divide the workers and the sacking of two of the strike’s leaders. Then
it made an offer of a 24% wage increase, a substantial raise for the
workers but still less than their demands, which it tried to impose on
the workforce with the help of the ACFTU union officials. The attempt
to bully the workers, many of them young interns, into accepting the
offer led to physical clash between the workers and the “union” thugs.
Finally the workers accepted to return to work, but warned that they
wanted a clear answer from the company on all of their demands by
Friday, June 4, or they would go back to strike. "Management told us
that they will respond to our demands by Friday. If they don’t, we’ll
go back on strike," said an 18-year old intern, who added there was a
70 percent chance of another walkout.
Faced with the outright opposition of the official ACFTU union
structures, the workers have started to organise themselves, while at
the same time demanding the right to elect the factory trade union
chairman and all trade union officials. Now, for the first time they
have issued an official statement, an open letter which they address
“To all the workers and the community”. The letter, expressing the
collective will of the striking workers calls on workers to maintain
unity and also rejects the letter of apology issued by the local ACFTU
union officials for the incidents on Monday. The unprecedented letter of apology
sounds like a desperate attempt to maintain the legitimacy of the
official structures of the ACFTU as “mediators” between workers and
management. The “apology” expresses clearly the view of the ACFTU
officials regarding labour relations when it explains that: “We believe
that consultation between employers and employees should be based on
mutual trust, mutual understanding and mutual support the premise, and
both sides should make certain concessions and compromises in order to
reach consensus more quickly.” It also hints at “negative interference
from outside” and it ends with an appeal to the workers: “please
believe that trade unions, party committees and governments at all
levels, I believe, will do justice”.
The problem for them is precisely that, through their own
experience, the workers at the Honda plant have lost faith that the
“trade unions, party committees and government at all level” will
improve their situation. The open letter from the striking workers
rejects this “apology” as based on “distorting the facts,” once again
reiterates that “the factory trade union representatives must be
elected by the front-line workers”. One 23-year-old employee quoted by
the South China Morning Post said workers felt insulted by
the actions of the trade union representatives. “Now it’s not a matter
of pay rises, but upholding our dignity,” he said. The “open letter” is
clearly an important step forward in the organization of the workers.
provincial official at the Labour and Social Security Department, who
spoke to business magazine Caixing on condition of anonymity was very
frank about the problems faced by the official trade union structures:
“unions are also very confused, because of the existing system so that
they do not know which side to represent”. Because the policy of the
party and the government “emphasizes the ‘maintenance of stability’
principle, it is difficult to act unilaterally and stand in the
position of workers.” This is precisely the problem, the official ACFTU
union structures are not designed to defend the interests of the
workers but to “maintain stability” by mediating between bosses and
workers. The striking Honda workers have learned very quickly that this
does not serve to advance their interests and this is why they are
demanding genuine democratic trade union structures controlled by the
rank and file.
Interns at the plant are seeking, among other demands, an 800 yuan
($117.2) monthly salary hike, an annual salary increase of no less than
15 percent, year-end bonuses no less than the preceding year’s,
salaries during the strike period, and a new chairman to lead a
restructured union. Intern workers suffer the worst conditions, but the
situation of workers in general is not very good. A World Bank survey
report considers that the basic living standard in China would require
wages of 1684 yuan per person per month, working 40 hours per week. In
contrast, the Pearl River Delta migrant workers work on average 66
hours per week, 120 hours of overtime a month to get 1,685 yuan wage.
The workers at Honda Foshan were getting between 900 and 1200 yuan.
Speaking to Japanese paper The Mainichi Daily News, some of the Honda workers described their conditions in the company provided dormitories:
Eight to 10 people live together in each apartment, all sharing a
single bathroom. "The company pays the rent, but we have to pay for
food, electricity, water and daily necessities ourselves. After paying
all that, there’s usually only a little over a 100 yuan (about 1,350
yen) left," said one 18-year-old from Henan province.
Political implications of the strike
The Chinese state is torn between its attempts to achieve a
“harmonious society” and promote China’s internal market (at a time
when foreign markets have been severely hit by the recession), which is
the only way to maintain legitimacy as a political power, and the
threat of an independent workers’ movement which would soon start to
raise political demands and threaten the very legitimacy of the state
and the “Communist” Party.
Furthermore, because Honda operates in China through joint ventures
with State Owned companies, the state is also the employer against whom
these workers are fighting. According to a report by Reuters, one of
the people who tried to put an end to the strike was “Zeng Qinghong, a
member of the National People’s Congress and vice chairman of a Honda
joint venture partner, Guangzhou Automobile Group.” He “visited the
factory to negotiate with the workers on behalf of the company”,
according to Honda sources.
Because of the role of the state in the economy and the role of the
“Communist” Party in the state and the economy, any strike movement in
China immediately raises political questions. Unfortunately there are
some, like Han Dongfang, who want to prevent the movement from becoming
political. “I’m trying my best to depoliticise the labour movement in
China,” he says. Han, currently running the China Labour Bulletin, was
involved in the setting up of the Beijing Autonomous Workers’
Federation in 1989 during the Tiananmen events.
By taking strike action, the political awareness of the workers has
increased tenfold. “We are not striking for the 1,800 employees but
looking after the interests of all workers in the whole country. We
want to set a good example of how their rights are protected,” the
workers said.
Workers draw lessons
They are right, of course, and thousands of workers at other
factories throughout China, working in similar conditions, will be
watching what happens at Honda. If the workers achieve a victory, the
message will be clear: strike action and workers self-organisation is
the way forward.
A report in the Los Angeles Times quoted Hu Jiushang, a 22-year-old
migrant worker in the factory town of Shenzhen, who said that he was
“paying attention to local news reports of the Honda stoppage”. He said
he could see a similar action taking place at his cellphone and
computer-panel factory, where workers have to apply in writing for
their legally mandated weekly day off. Many don’t bother and work weeks
on end without a break:
"Some co-workers and I wrote a letter asking for the situation to
improve and left it in the suggestions box, but nothing’s changed,"
said Hu, who had taken one day off in the last month."
We have already reported on the strike at the Hyundai plant in
Beijing over the weekend. According to the Beijing Times “around 1,000
workers at the parts factory started striking Friday afternoon. ” “They
returned to work late Saturday afternoon after the management promised
a 15 percent pay rise soon and a further 10 percent rise in July,” the
paper reported.
The workers at Honda and other factories have been using internet
chat rooms, blogs, social media networks and other means to publish
news about their actions, to express their views, share information,
publish their own videos of the strikes. It is difficult for state
censors to suppress all of this information and even if they do, many
would have read it by the time it is deleted.
One of the Honda strikers posted one such account of their reasons for striking, which has been translated into English.
This is an extremely interesting piece which shows the development of
the political thinking of this generation of young workers.
He starts by stressing the point that Honda and the car industry in
general is very profitable and that all of this wealth is created by
the workers:
“We all know that the automotive industry is a highly profitable
industry. This is created by us front line workers! But what do those
of us who create the profits get? If we are not satisfied we can of
course resign, but Honda will continue to recruit people, and our
brothers and sisters would continue to suffer here! Even if we quit we
have to fight for our brothers’ and sisters’ benefit! This is another
reason for us to continue to strike!”
Here the worker is not only expressing the basic contradiction between labour and capital but also stresses the need for working class solidarity.
The Honda worker then moves from the particular position at this one
factory to draw more general conclusions about the situation of migrant
workers, the nature of economic growth in China and who has benefited
from it:
“China! It has been promoting low-cost competition and cheap labor.
Our GDP keeps growing! However, this growth relies on exploiting our
cheap labor. We have created all this wealth but only get very low
wages in return. Our wages are still at the level of the minimum wage.
We are still struggling to get by with this. We created this wealth.
Don’t we deserve to get better pay? With such deplorable wages, just
how are we going to raise the overall level of our national economy?
This (kind of injustice) is just too common!”
He clearly articulates the feeling of a new generation of young workers who have higher expectations:
“Our parents have suffered from this cheap labor market and now they
are getting old. And now, do we, the post ‘80 and ‘90 generation, want
to follow in the footstep of our parents? I believe no parent wants
this. It is because they all once walked down this road and know how
hard it is. We do not want to go this way either. Times have changed! So this kind of cheap labor regime must end!” (our emphasis).
Finally, he draws very advanced political conclusions:
“Honda is a Japanese company and Japan is a capitalist country. But
China is supposed to be a socialist country! The Japanese companies
investing in China must follow the rules of China. Implement socialism!
Do not give us capitalism!”
The contradictions between the official discourse (“socialism”, “a
harmonious society”) here come to the fore in a sharp way. His message
is clear and it is against capitalism and for socialism.
What a difference between the voice of the rank and file striking
workers and the voice of the China “labour experts” abroad who insist
that the Chinese labour movement should not become political!
In the last few days, reports of the Honda Foshan strike have run
parallel with reports of the suicides by workers at the massive Foxconn
plants in Shenzhen. One of the Chinese reporters who went undercover
into the factory to find out about the real working conditions of
hundreds of thousands of workers, wrote an extremely interesting piece
which was published in China Daily.
He explains how it is the system of over exploitation of labour which has led to this spate of suicides.
“Aside from way of production that reduces its staff to an absolute
decimal point – almost anyone can pay to get in and be replaced at any
second – the company has fostered a culture where its staff are trained
to shiver in conformity before any authority – be it money, the boss
and management or foreigners (who Foxconn’s products are mostly for).”
His conclusion is clear.
“I have been led to believe this corporate culture was a direct
cause of the recent tragedies. Every rural kid came to this hub of the
"world factory" to realize their "Chinese Dream". But most of them
ended up sacrificing themselves to realize that dream for people
completely out of their league. Meanwhile, at Foxconn, the corporate
culture has numbed them to an extent where any organization and
collective struggle are deemed not only undesirable, but also backward.
That, then, leaves them with only one choice.”
He then contrasts the situation at Foxconn with the inspiration
provided by the collective struggle of workers at Honda and other
factories where workers have gone on strike:
“Suicide is the ultimate form of contestation for individuals, but
only collective struggle could truly win social change for people
suffering the same working conditions. For workers on the production
line at Foxconn and beyond, killing themselves means no more than to
prove to the world their belittled existence and reaffirm to fellow
comrades that there is no escape. But there indeed is light at the end
of the tunnel. That’s why, as stories of despair at Foxconn fade, those
of hope have emerged from Foshan, Guangdong to Pingdingshan, Henan and
Lanzhou, Gansu.”
The message is clear and will connect with millions of workers in
China: “only collective struggle could truly win social change for
people suffering the same working conditions”. The mighty proletariat
of China has started to awaken and once it is on the move no force on
Earth will be able to stop its march. Armed with a correct program and
perspective, which will be developed in the course of the struggle,
they can take over control of the wealth they have created with their
labour and run it in the benefit of working people.
