Oh God, oh shit, I said I wasn't going to do it. I said I wasn't going to start a China struggle session. Already getting flashbacks to the Discord.

But something just doesn't sit right with me and wanted to get some clarification here...

My question is this: why does China ban labor organizing/unions?

Is this yikes/intentional/actually a good thing?

(Yeah, I do know that labor unions are not always unequivocally good and sometimes they act more like middle management than as representatives of the workers... but democratizing the workplace seems like a no-brainer for any socialist project.)

Thoughts?

  • Sidereal223 [he/him]
    1·
    4 years ago

    The union that you're referring to is the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). As far as I know, it does not have a good track record with siding with workers (see the Jasic and Yue Yuen strikes, for example).

    • ComradeSankara [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      This isn't a bad faith question, but more searching Jasic on this forum and seeing some other posts about it. Is it true that the Jasic strikes were done with a possible outcome of creating an organ that could potentially challenge CPC?

      • Sidereal223 [he/him]
        1·
        4 years ago

        I haven't heard about that (maybe I'm not as well-read as the others), I do know that the workers there wanted to establish an independent union. But also I just want to add something else (not really directed at you) and it's that when there are protests at China (and there are many), the absolute, vast majority of them aren't anti-government. Even with wage issues, issues with landlords etc., most people are still supportive of the government. The only time I can think of where there is anti-government sentiment is when corruption in the CPC was at its peak.