Re: labor unrest

From Martin Hart-Landsberg <marty@lclark.edu>
Date Fri, 5 Nov 2004 20:33:52 -0800 (PST)
Cc zhongguo@openflows.org
In-reply-to <20041105181414.28187.qmail@web50208.mail.yahoo.com>
References <20041105181414.28187.qmail@web50208.mail.yahoo.com>


Dear Alex and all,

I find this generational question you raise in your post (below)
interesting.  In South Korea, for example, many of the radicalized
workers, who became radical in the context of the late 1980s, early 1990s
struggles, are complaining that younger workers do not share their history
or sense of broader political purpose.  They are struggling within the
KCTU, the radical labor federation, to find ways of passing on that
history and politics.

I am wondering how this might happen in China, where the official labor
federation would have little interest in acknowledging the problem much
less serving as a means for finding a solution to it.  So, how do workers
understand their past activism and what channels do they see for
transmitting it to younger generations.  Any insights into that?

Marty

On Fri, 5 Nov 2004, Alex Day wrote:

> Marty, Jonathan and Brian,
>   I met with workers in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng (this
> summer with Bob).  They were very worried that the
> younger generation of workers were not very active.
> Most of the actions they discussed either involved
> state run factories being sold off or shut down or
> involved fights for pensions.  But I think there might
> be regional differences on workers struggles at the
> moment.  I think in places with so many laid off from
> state run industries people seem less likely to fight
> when they are employed in new industries.  Or perhaps
> my impressions are simply due to who we talked to.
>   Amoung the people we talked to Maoism heavily
> influenced the way these workers understood their
> struggles.  Again, I think that might be different
> amoung younger workers.  And I would say there are
> some, tenuous links between workers and leftist
> intellectuals.
>   Interested to hear more on this subject...
>   best,
>    Alex
> --- Jonathan Lassen <jjlassen@chinastudygroup.org>
> wrote:
>
> > Marty,
> >
> >  > I wonder whether these responses are
> > > a reflection of the building social costs from
> > years of state
> > > marketization policies?  And if so is there any
> > reason to expect that
> > > there will not be more of them.
> >
> > My spin: rotate the disparate events ever so
> > slightly, and you will see
> > that the majority line up neatly along the line of
> > bureaucratic
> > capitalism. (this does not apply to the ethnic
> > conflict in Henan as far
> > as I know, but to all other recent actions). People
> > are royally pissed
> > off about what private owners and state
> > functionaries are doing to them.
> >
> > (and note that this has seeped into sports:
> >
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1342737,00.html
> > good to hear the bourg. still know how to throw
> > around the word revolution)
> >
> > I think there's a good deal of hope that policies
> > under Hu-Wen will
> > significantly change, and thus start to defuse
> > tensions, but I very much
> > agree with the old comrades that the government is
> > pretty much unable to
> > deal with the problem on its own, and requires mass
> > mobilization to
> > really deal with the issue. And that is not on the
> > cards. And as someone
> > posted to me privately (and I very much agree), it's
> > debatable whether
> > the Central Government would be able to make that
> > call even if it wanted to.
> >
> > > Also interesting is the question of how much
> > publicity these strikes and
> > > actions are getting in China.
> >
> > Formal publicity? Absolutely none whatsoever. As far
> > as I know, there's
> > a strict media blackout on all of these events. A
> > baidu (similar to
> > google) search for: {Hanyuan} or {strike} doesn't
> > bring up anything
> > relevant at all. The Xianyang strike, which involved
> > thousands of
> > workers and lasted 40 days, did not generate a
> > single official news
> > story within China.
> >
> > It's hard to gauge how quickly or deeply news like
> > this travels by
> > osmosis around the official trunk lines, but between
> > the internet, cell
> > phones, text messaging, taxi rumors, etc., I imagine
> > pretty quickly.
> >
> > > Might they serve as a base for more elite
> > > resistance to market policies, and if so with what
> > alternative vision?
> >
> > I think things would have to heat up considerably
> > for the elite to start
> > feeling that state-imposed capitalist restructuring
> > is not in their
> > interests.
> >
> > Brian wrote:
> >
> >  > I am also curious about Martin's questions.  To
> > what degree is
> >  > Neo-Maoism an influence over grass roots protests
> > of workers and
> >  > farmers (and if so, exactly what is the content
> > of said ideology)?
> >
> > Neo-maoism is a new term for me, I'm not sure what
> > you're referring to.
> >
> > I've read that Maoist slogans were used in Hanyuan,
> > but reports are
> > sketchy. Also, it's my understanding that the
> > organizers of protests
> > want protect themselves and the protests by keeping
> > them as (apparently)
> > non-ideological as possible, and so appeal to the
> > laws on the books and
> > accepted ideas of morality (corruption is bad; my
> > livelihood is being
> > taken away, etc.).
> >
> >  > Is there any connection between grass roots
> > Neo-Maoist populism and
> >  > elite "New Left" intellectuals or party
> > officials?
> >
> > Don't think so.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Jonathan
> >
> > >
> > > Marty
> > >
> > > --On Tuesday, November 02, 2004 12:51 AM -0500
> > Jonathan Lassen
> > > <jjlassen@chinastudygroup.org> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Hi Martin,
> > >>
> > >> I should preface my comments by saying that I'm
> > half a world away
> > >> from all this, and most of my knowledge comes
> > from trying to decipher
> > >> the meaning and veracity of flickering images on
> > my screen, so take
> > >> anything with a grain of salt and please defer to
> > people who know
> > >> more...
> > >>
> > >> Yes, it does seem that the labor actions are
> > becoming more diverse.
> > >> You still see pensioners protesting (as in
> > Bengbu), but now you also
> > >> have protests like that in Shandong against a
> > sudden drop in wages
> > >> and working conditions after an ownership change
> > (state->private),
> > >> the strike in Shanxi in protest of corruption and
> > collusion, and the
> > >> strike Shenzhen against low wages and harsh
> > working conditions. And
> > >> these are the ones we know about.
> > >>
> > >> I think it's also important to also look at three
> > other things going
> > >> on right now. First is the Lang Xianping debate.
> > Lang's criticism of
> > >> SOE asset transfer touched off a storm,
> > particularly on the internet,
> > >> and opinion has been almost unanimously in
> > support of his crticisms.
> > >> This has gotten little play in English-language
> > media. Neoliberal
> > >> economists within China have been silent, unable
> > to muster a coherent
> > >> reply, and the charges created (I think) enough
> > of a crisis of
> > >> legitimacy to warrant from SASAC a very very lame
> > defense of the
> > >> policy.
> > >>
> > >> Second, the unprecedented scale and ferocity of
> > place-based actions
> > >> against perceived governmment injustice (Wanzhou
> > and Hanyuan) seems
> > >> new to me. The sentiment isn't, but I think you
> > can call it a crisis
> > >> when a county seat of 100,000 experiences a
> > general strike (as in
> > >> Hanyuan) and the state has to cut off all
> > communications with the
> > >> city and call in the paramilitary troops.
> > >>
> > >> Third, the elite are seriously worried. This
> > rough draft of a piece
> > >> by Li Changping gives some idea:
> > >>
> >
> http://www.chinastudygroup.org/index.php?action=trans&type=view&id=44
> > >>
> > >> Cheers,
> > >>
> > >> Jonathan
> > >>
> > >> Btw, the strike in Shanxi is apparently finally
> > over after 6 long
> > >> weeks. The police took over and arrested people,
> > according to:
> > >>
> >
> http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2004/11/01/bagong/
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>   Hart-Landsberg wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> I wanted to ask about people's impressions
> > concerning the growing
> > >>> labor  unrest in China.   Over the last two
> > years it seemed to me
> > >>> that most of  the labor actions involved laid
> > off or retired workers
> > >>> who were  demonstrating for pensions or health
> > care or against the
> > >>> process that  led to their lay offs/retirements.
> >  There was little
> > >>> actual strike  action resulting in production
> > shutdowns.  But this
> > >>> year it seems to me  that there are growing
> > numbers of actual
> > >>> strikes, especially in textiles  and
> > electronics.  Is this an
> > >>> accurate impression and if so how  significant
> > is this change?
> > >>>
> > >>> Thanks in advance,
> > >>> Marty Hart-Landsberg
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
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