NEW%20DRAFT%20CONTRACT%20in%20DONGGUAN.doc
A few of the points where the Dongguan labor contract differs from the national law:
- Industrial action equals criminal behavior and can be reason for dismissal (a much broader interpretation than the national law);
- Workers have to give a reason for leaving their job, while the new law does not require so.
- Dongguan excludes working in dangerous situations as a condition to terminate labor contracts (unlike the new labor law)
Dongguan is a center of cheap labor in Guangdong province, where especially the Taiwanese companies have been very vocal against the upcoming law. The local labor bureau uses a typical feature in the Chinese bureaucracy where the local government rephrases whatever it does not like or can use in the local situation.
Apart from giving in to resistance by local companies, the move is most likely (but that is my interpretation) the start of a major power struggle between different parts of the bureaucracy on who is going to be in charge of labor relations. In the past local labor bureau's and companies could dominate that playing field.
Now new players are emerging. The Chinese trade union ACFTU has been assuming at least some power. Under the new rules for labor arbitration workers get more room to turn to courts when they think they do not get what they should according to the law. In the past workers had to turn to the labor bureau's with complaints.
In the execution of national laws, local interpretations are often more important and overrule national laws, making the playing field rather murky.
1 comment:
We must encourage more development like this. All local government must be urged to develop their own version of the law. The more versions there are, the easier for enforcing officials to do what is suitable for the current situation in the locality. This kind of labour law with xxx characteristics is just the right thing to allow discretion on the part of officials.
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