Document 3 of 15.
Copyright 1999 Associated Press
AP Worldstream
April 02, 1999; Friday
02:58 Eastern Time
SECTION: International news
LENGTH: 409 words
HEADLINE: Chinese workers announce underground labor union
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
Workers in a north China port city announced the formation Friday of an
underground labor union dedicated to helping Chinese workers regain their place
as the ''masters of the nation.''
Labor activists formed the Chinese Association to Protect Workers' Rights
because ''the government-run so-called union'' does
not serve the workers' interests, the union said in a statement dated Friday
and released by the
Free China Movement, a Washington-based dissident lobbying group.
China's communist leaders allow only government-backed unions and pools them
into one tightly controlled trade
union congress. At a time of soaring unemployment, authorities are fearful that
democracy campaigners might link up with frustrated workers and threaten
Communist Party rule.
Fearful of government retaliation, the activists formed the new group in the
city of Tianjin during a secret meeting in a factory which the Free China
Movement did not identify. No names of organizers were released.
In Tianjin, near Beijing, nearly one-third of the city's 2
million workers have been laid off, according to the new union's statement.
The union vowed to restore the working class to its leading role in society a
status enshrined in China's constitution ''and allow workers to really be the
masters of the nation.''
The group said it had a right to form under the constitution and
two key U.N. human rights documents that China has signed but not yet ratified.
In practice, however, the government has arrested people trying to set up labor
unions and political parties.
China has a huge oversupply of labor as debt-ridden factories lay off millions
of
unneeded workers as part of reforms. Rights abuses have included unpaid
mandatory overtime, low wages and arbitrary fines, physical abuse and
humiliation at the hands of factory bosses, according to reports in the Chinese
press and by foreign scholars.
There have been numerous demonstrations around China by workers
angry because their factories have not paid them wages, pensions or the meager
unemployment stipends they are entitled to.
In the early decades of Chinese communism, workers held a privileged place.
Jobs in state factories were prized because they ensured cradle-to-grave
benefits and high social status.
But the benefits and status have
eroded as China has switched from a planned economy to a market-oriented one,
forcing state factories to streamline in order to compete.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: April 02, 1999
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