Speech by ACFTU, China
13 September 2007
Chinese Trade Unions Press for
Women Workers’ Rights and Interests
ACFTU WANG XUEMEI
International Trade Union Conference on Working Women
WFTU Brussels Belgium
September 13-14 2007
Chinese trade Unions Press for Women workers’ Rights and Interests
Being taken as an important force to build a harmonious socialist society, women workers are very important component part of Chinese working class, and of its total employment population of 750 million, women account for about 46%. The total membership of the ACFTU is nearly 170 million and the unionization rate is 73.6% on the whole, of which we have more than 61 million women members and 36.4% of the total. Therefore it is very important for Chinese unions to protect the women workers and staff.
The Chinese government has attached importance on the work of working women, and intensified its efforts in the formulation, revision and enforcement of relevant laws, policies and regulations to protect the legitimate rights and interests of women in earnest. China has built a complete legal system concerning the protection of women’s rights and interests, promotion of gender equality, and improvement of women workers employment environment based on the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, the Labour Law of the People’s Republic of China and with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women as the main body and various separate laws and regulations, local regulations and administrative rules adopted by various government departments as supplementary provisions. Along with the continuous growth of China’s economy and the overall progress of its society, women are being given more guarantees of enjoyment of equal rights and opportunities with men, and the development of working women’s rights and interest’s protection is being given unprecedented opportunities. Social status of women workers’ is being improved, the employment environment is getting better. So trade unions work on women workers affairs has very good opportunities for development. However, along with the development of economic reform and changes brought by industrial restructure, we recognize that trade unions work on women workers affairs is also facing serious challenges, especially on the context of globalization. For example, degree of women workers’ participation in national, social affairs and enterprise management and policy/decision-making is not yet enough high, more difficulties for women workers’ employment and re-employment than men due to some extent of gender discrimination in the employment market and encroachment phenomenon of women workers’ employment rights and interests, special care during menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and lactation periods, and child-bearing –so called four periods care for women employees is not well practiced as we expect, etc..
It is the basic task of Chinese trade unions esp. their women workers organizations to protect workers, women staff and workers’ legitimate rights and special interests in particular. In recent years, with the deepening of economic reform and industrial restructure in China, we have seen many changes in social economies, form of organizations, types of employment, interest relations and mode of distribution, they are all getting increasingly more diversified. Labor relations are expected to become more complicated, conflict between different interests groups are increasing. While the total number of women staff and workers is in the tendency of increase, protection requests of women workers’ rights and interests are becoming diversified and more difficult. A large number of rural women workforce has shifted to non-agricultural industries and moved to urban areas, rural women workers become an important component part of workers. Women workers in non public economies are expanding together with non public economies developing rapidly. While with the diverse type of employment and intense employment competition, laid-off and unemployed women workers are increasing. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, unemployed women workers account for around 45% of total unemployed workers.
New changes for women workers are like that as follows, for example, due to industrial restructure,women workers are decreasing where trade union women workers’ organizations have established and relatively work well, while the number of women workers is increasing in non public economies where women workers organizations are relatively weak or not existing.The establishment of organizations and their forms, even working methods of trade union women workers organizations face challenges of innovation and breaking through.
Chinese trade unions take whatever pains necessary to protect women workers. Women workers committees, set up by trade unions at various levels, voice the concerns of women workers and protect their legitimate rights and special interests. For a long time, Chinese trade unions have devoted major efforts to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of women workers related to gender equality, employment, pay, social security and workplace safety, and offered education/training programs tailored to the special needs of women workers in a bid to improve their professional and technical competence. Their efforts are largely succeeding.
Recently the ACFTU has adopted a regulation on trade unions work in the enterprises, and within which one particular chapter is on women workers.Now the women workers organizations at different levels just try to implement this regulation and through this effort to do the better job to protect the legitimate rights and special interests of women workers in the enterprises. Meanwhile, the ACFTU pay much attention to protect women staff and workers for their rights and interests of equal employment. The ACFTU now actively focuses on driving forward the special collective contract to protect rights and interests of women workers, and give prominence to the key points of the contents as employment, equal pay for same job, leave and holidays, four periods care, vocational education and skill training etc.. Women workers organizations at all levels take various measures to guarantee their performance efficiently in effect with good supervisory mechanism.
To target the problems of women workers, say, four periods care are not doing well as we expected, conditions of vocational safety and health are not good enough, and their intensity of labour (they work too hard, need to decrease the amount of human labour) in non public enterprises especially small and medium enterprises, women workers’ organinizations of trade unions at different levels possitively participate in and push upon the revision of the regulations on labour protection for women workers,give policy suggestions to government concerned to improve it.They try their best to protect the rights and interests of women workers’ labour safety and health.
Concern their daily life and difficulties of women workers in need, particularly one parent women workers family, women workers organizations give their personal assistance in concrete and push the local governments solving problems of reemployment for the unemployed women workers, and give assistance when they are in difficulties.
The Chinese trade unions strengthen the investigation/research on women workers, try to unionize women workers, and establish the protection mechanism of women workers rights and interests.Now we have established 760,000 union grassroot units of women workers organizations, account for 57.8% of grassroot unions in the whole country.
With the contemporary situation of economic integration and globalization,transnational capital transferred from one country to another, women staff and workers in China are affected more than men,as for many reasons.
Dear colleagues, sisiters and brothers. The ACFTU insists on that we’ll unionize them whereever we have women workers. Let’s fight for women workers legitimate rights and special interests together.