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38 Comp. Lab. L. & Pol'y J. 187 (2016-2017)
The State, the Unions, and Collective Bargaining in China: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

handle is hein.journals/cllpj38 and id is 227 raw text is: THE STATE, THE UNIONS, AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN CHINA: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY Mingwei Liut and Sarosh Kuruvillatt I. INTRODUCTION Observers paint a variegated picture of Chinese trade unions. Most foreign observers are deeply skeptical that the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) can play a reasonable role in worker representation as long as they are subordinate to the Party and there is a lack of the genuine freedom of association that allows workers to choose who represent them.' Empirical support for these views can be found in numerous reports that the Chinese trade unions are usually more pro-management than pro-worker, based on their actions in numerous labor-management conflicts such as the widely reported strike at a Honda parts factory in Foshan in 2010 and the 40,000- worker strike at Yue Yeun (the largest footwear contract manufacturer in the world) in Dongguan in 2014.2 An alternative (and emerging) view is more positive. A few scholars see the potential of ACFTU transformation within a communist Party-state framework.3 Empirical support for these views can be found in illustrative t Associate Professor, Rutgers University. tt Professor of Industrial Relations, Asian Studies and Public Affairs, Cornell University. 1. E.g., ELI FRIEDMAN, INSURGENCY TRAP: LABOR POLITICS IN POSTSOCIALIST CHINA (2014); MARY E. GALLAGHER, CONTAGIOUS CAPITALISM: GLOBALIZATION AND THE POLITICS OF LABOR IN CHINA (2005); CHING K. LEE, AGAINST THE LAW: LABOR PROTESTS IN CHINA'S RUSTBELT AND SUNBELT (2007). 2. See, e.g., Keith Bradsher & David Barboza, Strike in China Highlights Gap in Workers Pay, N.Y. TIMES, May 28, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/business/global/29honda.html?_r-0. See, e.g., Demetri Sevastopulo, China Charges Labor Activist after Yue Yuen Shoe Factory Strike, FIN. TIMES, Apr. 29, 2014, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8242a8d2-cf92-11e3-9b2b-00144feabdcO.html#ax zz4BIR5bmw3. 3. See, e.g., Simon Clarke & Tim Pringle, Can Party-Led Trade Unions Represent Their Members?, 21 POST-COMMUNIST ECON. 85 (2009); Mingwei Liu, Union Organizing in China: Still a Monolithic Labor Movement?, 64 INDUS. & LAB. REL. REV. 30 (2010); Mingwei Liu, Chunyun Li & Sunghoon Kim, Chinese Trade Unions in Transition: A Three-Level Analysis, in CHINA'S CHANGING WORKPLACE: DYNAMISM, DIVERSITY AND DISPARITY 277 (Peter Shelton et al. eds., 2011); TIM PRINGLE, TRADE UNIONS IN CHINA: THE CHALLENGE OF LABOR UNREST (2011); Chang-Hee Lee, William Brown & Xiaoyi Wen, What Sort of Collective Bargaining Is Emerging in China?, 54 BRIT. J. INDUS. REL. 214 (2016); Chunyun Li & Mingwei Liu, A Pathway to a Vital Labor Movement in China? A Case Study of a 187

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