New labor laws: an update

Labor law research Chris White from Australia gives in his latest overview a comprehensive overview of what the new labor contract law will mean, for workers and employers. After the sometimes heated discussion of the past two years, the jury is still out on the question how large the impact of the new law will be.
The enforcement of the previous law was a huge problem and it looks like breaking the law is going to be much more expensive than in the past when paying a fine was often easier than complying with the law.
One top of that - and Chris White gives already a preview - China will discuss a new labor arbitration law that would make it easier for workers to get what they legally deserve through legal means. The argument: Chinese workers do not have the right to strike, so need other tools.
Also here, the jury is still out:

Many legal experts and senior lawyers have expressed worry that arbitration more often than not will give a verdict favoring the interests of management and sometimes this is a result of bribery. In other cases, the arbitration committee, which is heavily influenced by the government, will refuse requests for arbitration from employees under the government call for creating a favorable environment to attract investment. Such a response has also eliminated any judicial means for workers to safeguard their interests.

• Ensuring that workers can petition courts for cancellation of unfair arbitration judgments or parties’ failure to comply;
• Extending the deadline for initiating arbitration from 60 days to six months from the day the parties know or should have known of the harm;
• Mandating that if an arbitration court fails to deliver verdict within 45 days workers may file a lawsuit in People’s court;
• Granting workers the right to petition the court to take enforcement measures if employers refuse to comply with mediation agreements on wages, benefits or work injuries (although this right appears to be severely limited by the fact that if the employer answers the charge in writing, the enforcement order abates).
  

Here the legal debate is still in full swing. The full report you can download at ChinaLabourLawsnov07.doc