Diggingtochina’s Weblog

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.