【Pearl River Delta】
Analysis on the labour collective actions in the 2nd quarter, 2015
24 July 2015 – Intern at Little Hammer
According to the last review on the labour collective actions in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), there were at least 17 incidents which are recorded on the Internet. That involves 17 enterprises, and at least 6950 people were involved. Because the data came from the Internet, there might be slight error. As for the causes of the incident, we analyze based on the demands of the workers. We hardly know about the results of most of these incidents. Due to the limited sampling size, we would be grateful if readers can provide us with more information.
# | Date | Company | Venue | Size | Actions taken | Causes | Police actions | Result |
1 | 28Mar | Hisense Kelon | Foshan | 400 | Strike, complaint | Relocation without compensation
No housing pension |
Standby | Failed |
2 | 1Apr | New Spring Offsets Printing (SZ) Ltd | Shenzhen | 200 | Strike, Protest | Relocation without compensation | Suppress | N/A |
3 | 28Apr | New An Lun Lamp | Shenzhen | 100 | Strike, complaint | No social security | Suppress | N/A |
4 | 20Apr | Guangzhou Panyu Lide Shoe Co | Guangzhou | 2700 | Strike, collective bargaining | Non compliance with bargain, without fee to seniority | Standby | Success |
5 | 21Apr | SZ Eng Electronics Co Ltd | Shenzhen | 100 | Strike | Change in ownership, without compensation | N/A | N/A |
6 | 29Apr | Dongguan Hou Hong Garment Co. Ltd | Dongguan | 1000 | March | Closure without compensation | Standby | N/A |
7 | 29Apr | Shenzhen Dongzhi Technology | Shenzhen | 400 | Strike | Wage arrears | Standby | N/A |
8 | 7May | Guangzhou Bilture Furniture | Guangzhou | 200 | March | Bankruptcy, no social security | Suppress | N/A |
9 | 9May | Xin Chuang Silicone Rubber Products Co | Dongguan | 400 | March | Closure without compensation | Suppress | N/A |
10 | 13May | Song hui Shiye | Shenzhen | 300 | Closure without compensation | Suppress | N/A | |
11 | 15May | Huagao Clothing Factory | Dongguan | 200 | Strike, occupy | Wage arrears, cancellation of registration without public notice | Suppress | N/A |
12 | 27May | Guang Xin Footwear Company | Shanwei | N/A | Strike, march | Wage arrears | Standby | N/A |
13 | 1Jun | Tianbaoge Restaurant | Guangzhou | 50 | Complaint, collective bargaining | Change in ownership without pay, no social security | N/A | N/A |
14 | 3Jun | Leader Sporting Co Ltd | Shenzhen | 500 | Assembly, march | Wage arrears, no compensation | Suppress | N/A |
15 | 8Jun | Shenzhen Artigas Clothing & Leather | Shenzhen | 100 | Strike, petition, sit-in | No social security | Suppress | N/A |
16 | 10Jun | Dongguan Zhenghao Electronics Co Ltd | Dongguan | 300 | March, petition, negotiation | Closure without compensation | Suppress | Partially |
17 | 26Jun | Huangjia Gongguan Hotel | Huizhou | N/A | Petition | Wage arrears | Suppress | N/A |
- Geographical Distribution
From the above diagram, we can observe that there were the largest number of incidents in Shenzhen (7 times), followed by Dongguan (4 times, 23.53%) and Guangzhou (3 times, 17.65%). The duration of these incidents transcends through April, May and June.
Among the 7 incidents in Shenzhen, there were 2 incidents involving the relocation or change of ownership of factories, 2 incidents relating to arrears of salary and 2 incidents on unpaid social insurance. There was also 1 incident of closure of factories and wage arrears. Those actions in Guangzhou and Dongguan were also mostly related to closure of factories and wage arrears.
- Distribution in causes
Amongst the causes, there were 6 incidents on wage arrears upon relocation, change in ownerships and bankruptcy of the factory company, which is about 29.41%. 11 incidents of them were on wage arrears which takes up 64.7%. 3 of them were factories escaping compensations upon relocation and sale; and 2 were refusing paying workers’ social insurance. There was also 1 incident labelled as “other causes”.
From these, we can know that many of the incidents are rooted in wage arrears and many also involve relocation, change of ownership and closure of these factories. This is directly relational to the slowing down of the PRD economic growth and the trend of restructuring of industries.
- The interference of the police
In the process of 17 collective actions, there were 10 incidents in which the police have physically abused and arrested workers. That takes up 58.82% of the incidents. 5 cases (29.41%) are those with the police stand-by and there were no confrontations. There were 2 incidents that we do not know the situations. From these, we can see there have been strong tensions and serious confrontations; and the government officials and the employed have rarely resorted to more reasonable terms.
- The success rates of the events
From what we know, there is only 1 incident that achieved its purpose, and another one partly achieved. As for other cases, we do not have information. But from a wider perspective, it is typical that the workers’ demands are not accepted and not handled fairly by the employers and government officials. This is also why for some incidents, the protest would easily die down after a few months of actions. The Tianbaoge incident may be one of those.
- Comparison between the first and second quarter
- From the geographical location, the incidents have concentrated onto Dongguan, Shenzhen; more collective actions took place in Guangzhou, with a percentage increased from 8.71% to 17.65%. Shenzhen has become the most serious area, from 21.74% increases to 41.18%.
- The causes of these actions have focused on relocation, closure of factories and compensation issues. More workers are confronted by the fact that employers are running away. The problem of not contributing to social insurance remains serious, and this has triggered off quite some collective actions. Among all other causes, the wage arrears is the most serious issue in labour actions, rising from 26% to 64.7%.
- Observing from the police’s interference, workers only face worsening suppression than before. In particular, the police have explicitly intervened 88% of the incidents, a lot more than 61% last quarter. Assaults and arrests have also occurred at 59% of the incidents, more than 48% last quarter. This reflects the attitude of the employers and the officials.
- The effectiveness of the actions is less appealing than the first term comparatively. From what we know, the demands of the workers are only satisfied in 12% of the incidents, which is much less than 30.5% scored in the first term.