Software giant IBM and Swedish automaker Volvo are among the latest batch of Fortune 500 companies doing business in China that plan to set up trade unions in the country, according to a senior All-China Federation of Trade Unions official quoted by china.org.cn.
Less than half of the Fortune 500 subsidiaries in China had established trade unions, compared with more than 73 per cent for all foreign-funded firms in China.
The efforts are part of a three-month national campaign announced in early July to extend the ACFTU’s reach in multinational companies. Chris Xiaoyun Lin, from lawyers Akin Gump, says the targets of the campaign are 2,500 multinational companies with 10,000 subsidiaries or branches.
Mr Lin says the ACFTU’s role is changing from carrying out the Party’s policies by issuing directives and supervising local federations to drafting employment-related laws and coordinating unionisation campaigns across the country.
In short, he says, there will be more collective bargaining, it’s unlikely there will be more strikes, and Chinese trade unions will not get as strong as in Europe or South Korea. Chinese trade unions will also continue to get strength from government support under the existing political system.
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One swallow does not make a summer but can one sighting of a roadside sweet potato vendor signal the start of a post-Olympics age?
UPDATE: Mobile fruit vendor spotted today within striking distance of an Olympic venue.
An appreciation of the cute is wrung out of most Australians at a very early age if they want to be taken seriously. That very comfortable Garfield jumper is relegated to the back of the cupboard, stuffed toys are retained only as ironic references and Peko-chan car-seat covers just never see the light of day. And, don’t even think about a Hello Kitty wedding. But, cute can bring calm and is waiting to be rediscovered in the Beijing workplace – and many other offices on the western Pacific Rim. Here there is no embarrassment about buying the Starbucks Bearista 2008 edition bear just because of the way its ears stick out of its cap and there is no shame in a stylish woman of a certain age having more than a passing interest in giant pandas. Cute can also break down barriers. When the potential for misunderstanding and frustration arises on a daily basis, MSN’s smiley emoticon is there to make sure nobody takes a colleague’s intense irritation and liberal use of the F-word to heart. Cute is something we can all get behind.
