Labour NGOs in China: From Legal Mobilisation to Collective Struggle (and Back?)

ABSTRACT: Since their appearance in the mid-1990s, Chinese labour NGOs have mostly focused on three kinds of activities: establishing workers’ centres; carrying out outreach programs on labour rights; and conducting social surveys and policy advocacy. Some scholars have strongly criticised this approach, considering it excessively unbalanced towards an individualistic and narrowly legalistic view of labour rights and thus in line with the political agenda of the Party-state. Still, in the past few years, as labour conflict intensified, a handful of labour NGOs have moved forward to adopt a more militant strategy focussed on collective bargaining and direct intervention into worker collective struggles. Based on dozens of interviews with labour activists and workers and detailed analysis of two case studies of NGO-fostered collective labour mobilisation in Southern China in 2014-2015, this paper will outline the personal and political reasons that motivated these organisations to move beyond a narrow legalistic approach and turn towards collective struggles. It will also describe the strategies that Chinese labour activists have adopted in dealing with collective cases. We will conclude by examining the main challenges that labour activists in China have to face when dealing with labour unrest and by questioning the sustainability and feasibility of this new approach in the current political climate.   KEYWORDS: labour NGOs, labour rights, labour activism, labour movement, collective bargaining, strikes, civil society, repression, Chinese politics

Editorial - La Chine mondialisée au-delà de l’Initiative Belt and Road

La Fédération nationale des syndicats de Chine part à l’étranger : le cas du Cambodge

RÉSUMÉ : Ces dernières années, la Fédération nationale des syndicats de Chine (FNSC), le seul syndicat autorisé en Chine, n’a eu de cesse d’affirmer sa présence sur la scène internationale. Les amendements successifs apportés à sa constitution imposent non seulement à la FNSC de soutenir l’Initiative Belt and Road aux côtés des autorités chinoises, mais aussi d’imprimer sa marque sur le mouvement syndical international. À travers les témoignages de syndicalistes locaux, cet article examine comment la FNSC s’efforce d’atteindre ces objectifs au Cambodge, pays où le volume des investissements chinois est très important. Il montre comment la Fédération soutient avec constance les acteurs cambodgiens locaux pro-gouvernementaux, habituellement négligés par le mouvement syndical international, en leur fournissant une aide matérielle ainsi que des opportunités de voyage à l’étranger. L’article soutient que l’impact de ces activités ne doit pas être négligé dans la mesure où leur alignement avec l’agenda illibéral des autorités cambodgiennes et les priorités des employeurs pourrait bouleverser le paysage du syndicalisme au Cambodge.

MOTS-CLÉS : FNSC, syndicats, Chine, Cambodge, Initiative Belt and Road.