SHANGHAI, China — U.S. union leaders making a groundbreaking visit to China have denounced American corporations for opposing a draft law that aims to better protect Chinese workers.
Teamsters President James Hoffa and other leaders of the Change to Win federation of unions arrived in China's business powerhouse of Shanghai on Friday. That broke a decades-old boycott of China by U.S. labor groups, many of which still reject the country's sole Communist Party-controlled union federation.
Hoffa said the group planned to discuss U.S. companies' opposition to the draft contract labor law with the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. The law would require greater employer consultation with workers and make mass firings more difficult _ conditions U.S. companies say would make doing business in China overly expensive and burdensome.
"We do think the contract law is a good idea," Hoffa said. "Any attempt by American corporations to try and water that down should be discouraged and I'm very much against that."
Hoffa said the group also planned to raise with Chinese officials the cases of imprisoned Chinese independent labor leaders, including Yao Fuxin, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for leading massive 2002 labor protests.
"Any labor leader in prison should be set free," he said. "I think they're prisoners of conscience."
China permits worker organization only through the official All-China Federation of Trade Unions, which closely follows government and Communist Party orders.
Despite that, Hoffa said it was important to develop a dialogue with the 100-million member ACFTU, especially given the impact of China's sizzling export economy on the U.S.
"Yes it is more or less a union that is tied to the government, we know that, but I think a dialogue with them is, I think, constructive," Hoffa said.
"I'm interested in asking them, 'What are you doing to improve the lives of the average Chinese citizen? ... How do you improve their wages? How do you improve their health care?'" he said.
American unions, especially the mighty AFL-CIO, tend to shun contacts with the ACFTU. Critics say the Chinese union is structured to impose government policies and head off potential disputes rather than to represent worker interests.
Greg Tarpinian, executive director of Change to Win, said he thought such views were out of date.
"We are forward-looking. We are not stuck in the past," Tarpinian said. "We're dealing with reality today. We're dealing with what is practical and what is important and real for our members, for American workers."
On Friday, Hoffa visited facilities owned by transport and logistics firm YRC Worldwide Inc., formerly known as YellowRoadway, and overnight delivery firm UPS, the two largest employers of Teamster union members.
On Monday, the delegation meets with Chinese officials including Jia Qinglin, the Communist Party's No. 4 leader.
Change to Win's members have been among the most enthusiastic about establishing overseas contacts, in part because their workers have more to gain from globalization, such as the 250,000 UPS workers represented by the Teamsters.
The Teamsters traditionally represented workers in the transport industry, but has merged in recent years with printers and railway workers unions. Change to Win groups seven unions with six million members, including the United Farm Workers and Service Employees International Union, America's largest.
No comments:
Post a Comment