Huawei suspends "dismissal plan" under union pressure

The Shenzhen-based IT-giant Huawei has suspended a highly controversial plan to dismiss and then rehire 7,000 senior managers to avoid labor protection clauses under the upcoming labor contract law after pressure from China's official trade union ACFTU, state-news agency Xinhua reports.

The ACFTU and union organizations in Guangdong Province and Shenzhen City called on Huawei to solicit workers' opinions and respect their rights while making regulations related to their benefits.

Huawei would soon hold a workers' conference to review the interim regulations, sources with the ACFTU said Saturday. A company source confirmed on condition of anonymity they had reached a consensus with the trade unions.

He told Xinhua the company agreed to suspend the plan but the exact date to implement the suspension will be decided after workers' opinions were solicited at the impending workers' conference since the plan was launched with the consent of workers.

The move is interesting because up to now the ACFTU only publicly interfered with foreign companies like Wal-Mart and Foxconn, but obviously wanted to show it did not support the Huawei management in this obvious attemped to undermine the labor contract law. Huawei had called upom 7,000 senior workers to voluntarily resign and give up on their existing historical labor rights.

For Chinese standards Huawei has a highly centralised command structuring in the way the company is organizing, deriving from its origins in the People's Liberation Army. When the government would call during national disasters like floodings or SARS to voluntarily give money, Huawei would typically deduct money automatically from their employees' accounts.