China
Teachers’ strike ends in Chengdu
A monumental strike by about 1,000 teachers from three privately-owned primary and secondary schools ended Monday, November 9, when the government intervened and temporarily took over management at one of the schools.
The teachers began their strike Thursday, November 5, with the support of many students and parents, for improvement of teachers' salaries, benefits, work conditions, and school facilities. Although the teachers have gone back to work, they are still negotiating with the owners, now through the arbitration of the government and with input from parents.
China: crisis, class struggle, and the 'harmonious society'
The global economic crisis had a severe effect on China. However, there has been much talk recently about its impressive recovery and the return of its economy to growth. This article analyses the situation in China, and argues that the economic crisis catalysed a wave of struggle which has continued into the present, regardless of the supposed health of the economy.
If we’re to believe the commentary to be found in the mainstream media, China is the economic powerhouse that will pull us through the global economic crisis. Though the economic slowdown which hit the country in late 2008 was widely reported, and led to claims that China’s meteoric rise was stalling, the country’s ‘recovery’ since has been the subject of many excited column inches.
Workers' struggles in China (October 2009)
A round-up of links to reports about struggles in China.
September 30th: China Worker on 60th anniversary of Chinese Revolution.
http://chinaworker.info/en/content/news/849/?ls-art0=15
October 16th: Swedish socialist banned from China.
http://chinaworker.info/en/content/news/860/
and three days later the same happened to a Chinese activist who was involved in the events of 1989.
http://chinaworker.info/en/content/news/865/
A Regal struggle in Chengdu, China
About 50 construction workers assembled outside the gate of the “Manhatten” office building in Chengdu, on behalf of over a thousand workers, demanding 30 million yuan in back pay from Chengdu Xinda Real Estate Development Co. (成都鑫达房地产开发有限公司) for 12 months work building the five-star Regal Master Hotel (成都富豪首座酒店), from July 2006 to July 2007.
According to the workers (who wish to remain anonymous), Xinda contracted the hotel’s construction to Chengduo No. 4 Construction Company (成都市第四建筑工程公司), which subcontracted the work to several groups of migrant workers, including this one, whose constituents hail from throughout China, but mostly from various parts of Sichuan. Apparently Chengdu No.
Hong Kong: Where anarchists and blackbirds sing about freedom
Brief report on anarchist elements in the Hong Kong activist scene ca. 2009, focusing on Lenny Guo of the band Blackbird, veteran of the 70s Collective.
Also deals with HK independent media, the Social Movement Resource Centre, and the 2005 WTO protests. By Norman Nawrocki of Rhythm Activism. Published in Fifth Estate #381 (2009). Posted here with permission. Photos in [url=http://libcom.org/files/Nawrocki:%20HK%20anarchist%20scene%20(2009).pdf]PDF[/url].
Class conflicts in the transformation of China
Aufheben's excellent account of the development and transformation of China and the Chinese working class from the time of Mao until today.
In PDF format. Plaintext version coming soon.
Workers' struggles in China (September 2009)
A round-up of links to reports about struggles in China.
Workers at hi-tech giant Intel in Chengdu, Sichuan Province (south-west China) struck over pay differences between local workers and workers from Shanghai: http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/100558
Protests against pollution continue with protests in the south-eastern province of Fujian centred around lead poisoning from a battery factory, involving the blocking of a highway:
Homicide as a weapon of the weak in postsocialist China: some recent incidents
Report on the struggle of Guixi Co-op workers in Chengdu against the cooperative equivalent to a management buyout. Reflections on the use of homicide - or the threat of homicide - as a weapon of the weak over the past few years in China.
After writing this a few days ago I learned about a more recent incident where the implicit threat of homicide was effectively used by workers to win a battle against retrenchment: Yesterday (August 16), the provincial government of Henan stepped in to block the sale of state-owned Linzhou Iron & Steel to a private company after workers captured a government negotiator and held him hostage for
Update on pollution protests in China
The huge number of cases of lead poisoning and other forms of pollution throughout China continue to trigger protests even as authorities attempt the issues. Here are some updates on what's going on.
In Wenping, Hunan, 15 people involved in a protest at the start of last month were arrested, then released with a reprimand. However, bizarrely, authorities claimed that followers of the banned religious sect Falun Gong were involved in the protest.
Coal miners strike in Hunan, Central China
Up to 5,000 workers at four coal mines in Hunan Province, Central China, have been on strike since the 22nd of August over new contracts.
The mines belong to the Jinzhushan Mining Industry of Hunan Coal Group (Xiang Mei Ji Tuan, XMJT), which proposed being privatized and being listed on the stock market. In doing so it demanded workers sign agreements waiving the legally required compensation of one month’s pay for each of their previous years of work – over 30 years in some cases – before allowing them to resume work.
