Harmony on whose terms? Putting the (working) class back into class compromise

1. Harmony on whose terms?Putting the (working) class back into class compromise Tim Pringle SOAS, University of London tp21@soas.ac.uk

2. Outline • To demonstrate that it is strikes and the threat of strikes that remain the key impetus for collective bargaining • To chart the progress of collective bargaining in China generally and Guangdong specifically • To identify the responses of key actors to the emergence of collective bargaining

3. Main arguments • That ‘actually existing conditions’ in China provide an opportunity for the development of forms collective bargaining • That class struggle is a main driver of change • That collective bargaining is a class compromise used to promote industrial ‘harmony’ • Thus ‘social harmony’ is nota prerequisite for collective bargaining – it is an outcome • That the ACFTU is beginning to recognise this

4. Methodology • Fieldwork conducted in the summer of 2013 and summer of 2014 – some it ‘supervised’ • Workers • LNGO activists • Academics • Academic research published in Chinese and English journals and books • Traditional and social media • Accumulated participant observation in labour issues for 30 years….

5. Context • Transition from a command economy to a market economy • 15th Party Congress • SOE restructuring • Private capital and the ‘peasant worker’ • Particularities • Household registration • Absence of freedom of association

6. Rising ‘forces of labour’ • Labour shortages • Accumulation of knowledge • Factory system • Labour laws • Access to social media • Role of LNGOs (Chan 2012; C.K. Lee and Yuan Shen 2011) • Aspects of global production chain management • Just in time ordering • Connected production • Structural Power to Associational Power (Pringle and MengQuan: forthcoming) • Relaxation of 户口制度 • From rights to interests(Clarke et al 2007)

7. Labour Agency – is changing

8. Changing forms of protest • From protests to strikes • Length of strikes • Emergence of picket lines • From rights to interests • Demands for representation • (Re) Collectivisation of labour relations • Phasing out of the victim narrative • From ‘place’ to ‘class’ loyalties • Emergence of ‘game-changing’ disputes

9. State response • Develop legal framework for governing labour relations (Gallagher 2011) • Slowing of informalisation (Kuruvilla et al 2011) • The collectivisation of labour relations • Inclusion of collective negotiations 12th Five Year Plan • Renewed emphasis on tripartite institutions • Centralised • Regional and local • From repression to concession • Repression still happens

10. Employers Response • Class interests of employers challenged by • Labour law • Labour shortages • Skill shortages and job-hopping • Increasing diversity in autonomous local employers associations (Lee, Chang-Hee 2013) • Provision of ‘collective goods’ to meet employers’ class needs • Generalised absence of enthusiasm for collective bargaining but: • Challenge from ACFTU for regional/sectoral bargaining • Response from ACFIC affiliates • Response from ‘bottom up’ FIE employer associations

11. The elephant in the room:ACFTU

12. ACFTU • Huge! • Party led • The main problem? • Politically powerful • Organisationally weak • Lack of experience in capitalist labour relations • (Probably) never led a strike • Under pressure from below and above • Not a monolith

13. Response of ACFTU to labour unrest • Balancing 维稳with 维权 • Recruitment campaign • The importance of pilots • Isolates risk • Diversity of labour markets • Sector-level bargaining in clustered sectors • Bargaining as dispute resolution • Closure bargaining • Gradual introduction of annual enterprise level bargaining in some sectors • Direct elections – an important change • Policy level • Implementation level • From direction to ‘qualified’ representation

14. Back to my main arguments • That ‘actually existing conditions’ in China provide an opportunity for the development of forms collective bargaining • That class struggle is a main driver of change • That collective bargaining is a class compromise used to promote industrial ‘harmony’ • Thus ‘social harmony’ is nota prerequisite for collective bargaining – it is an outcome • That the ACFTU is beginning to recognise this

15. Sanitation workers strikesFormalising informality? • Weak structural position due to extensive outsourcing • Landlords, street committees and private companies • Rotation of contracts • Loss of seniority • Strikes emerge in 2007 • Sector-level union established to little avail (YangchengWanbao)

16. Analysis of Interview Data • High level of fragmentation • Difficult to develop organisation • Conditions for solidarity weak and transient • Strikes have produced a basic trade union consciousness • That sanitation work should not be subject to market forces • That the state should move to discipline employers in this sector

17. Borne out….? • Yes! Recent strike in University Town, Guangzhou • Contract-seniority based dispute • Considerable public • Two week sit-in – no arrests • Involvement of labour NGOs and labour lawyers • Agreement in favour of workers

18. Working class identity - The local government is the beneficiary of our hard work and it is in their interest to stand with us when the employer changes. We love the expression Yu proposed: “Steel-forged workers and ever-changing companies.” This is our community, and we are here to stay. (Wu Naiyang – Sanitation worker and organiser).

19. Harmony, class and conscious collective bargaining • Harmony is the desired goal of states balancing the class needs of employers and employees • It is not a level playing field • Globally collective bargaining has been hammered by neo-liberalisation • China is different? • Strikes are a working class weapon • Weapon of last resort? • Economic versus political strikes • Collective bargaining is an instrument of compromise and conflict containment • Class identity and shared interest • ‘trade union consciousness’ is privileged over Leninist ‘class consciousness’ • Sector-level collective agreements will be key to promoting labour-friendly agreements