Bloomberg News: Rules to protect workers in China widely skirted

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009584292_chinaworkers02.html

Originally published Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 12:00 AM


Rules to protect workers in China widely skirted
Migrant workers are shown outside the main train station in Guangzhou, China. A law enacted Jan. 1, 2008, was supposed to protect workers' rights, but Chinese workers filed double the usual number of claims last year with courts and arbiters, the government says.

By William Bi

Bloomberg News

Jiang Bo says he drove a cement truck for China's Shenzhen Antuoshan Investment & Development 12 hours every day for seven years without overtime pay.

A national labor-contract law implemented Jan. 1, 2008, was supposed to limit work hours and ensure severance pay. A week later, the concrete company asked Jiang to sign a contract setting his base salary at 810 yuan ($119) a month, 45 percent less than he usually earned, to avoid additional overtime costs, he says.

Jiang refused and was let go without compensation.

"China's law is supposed to protect migrant workers and the weak, but this is not the case," said Jiang, an Anhui province native who was awarded 19,620 yuan ($2,872) by an arbitration panel and settled after a second court appeal got him 2,000 yuan ($293) more. "The broth is changed; the medicine isn't."

Employers ignoring a law designed to mute labor discontent prompted Chinese workers to file double the number of claims last year with courts and arbiters, the government says.

The trend leaves international manufacturers open to potential consumer backlash that may stem from any abuses. U.S. companies such as Wal-Mart Stores and Nike, which makes about one in every three of its shoes in China, said they're training suppliers on the rules and inspecting them for compliance.

Nike held workshops with contract factories after the law took effect to ensure they understood its ramifications and Nike's expectations, said Kate Meyers, a spokeswoman for the sportswear company.

Apple, which relies on Chinese manufacturers for its iPhones and iPod music players, found 45 of the 83 factories it audited last year didn't pay proper overtime and 23 provided less than minimum wage, according to its 2009 progress report on supplier responsibility.

FULL story at link.