China Labour Bulletin (CLB) is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

that promotes and defends workers' rights in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It is based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and was founded in 1994 by labour activist

Han Dongfang Han Dongfang (韓東方, born 1963) is a Chinese advocate for workers' rights. Han was born in the impoverished village of Nanweiquan in Shanxi and first came to international prominence as a railway worker in Beijing. He helped set up the Be ...

Overview

CLB advocates stronger protection for the rights for Chinese workers, and has expressed optimism that their conditions will improve through peaceful and legal action. CLB supports the development of democratic

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

in China and the enforcement of the PRC's labour laws. In addition, CLB seeks the official recognition in China of international standards and conventions providing for workers'

freedom of association Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline mem ...

and the right to free

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...

. In 2002 CLB established a labour rights litigation programme designed to give workers the chance to seek redress for their grievances through the PRC's court system. The organization provides legal advice for workers and arranges for mainland Chinese lawyers to handle their cases. By October 2007, it had taken on about 140 cases involving such issues as non-payment of wages,

industrial injury An occupational injury is bodily damage resulting from working. The most common organs involved are the spine, hands, the head, lungs, eyes, skeleton, and skin. Occupational injuries can result from exposure to occupational hazards (physical, ch ...

, and redundancy (unemployment) payments. It also addresses the problem of employment

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, r ...

, in particular, raising awareness of and combating discrimination against the estimated 120 million

hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the '' Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. ...

positive Chinese. In 2005, CLB set up a programme to promote collective bargaining and the use of factory-wide, legally enforceable collective labour contracts as a means of empowering workers, protecting their legal rights, and enhancing industrial relations. CLB has published five English language and ten Chinese language research reports on a range of issues including the workers' movement in China, migrant workers,

child labour Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

accidents, and the

silicosis Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis. Silic ...

epidemic among China's gemstone workers. In March 2021, CLB documented a series of accidents in the context of workplace safety, which was ignored by the local trade union for allegedly complying to the State's "priorities in eliminating rural poverty and instilling political loyalty".

References

External links

China Labour Bulletin (English)
{{Economy of China Human rights in China Organizations established in 1994 1994 establishments in China Labor rights groups Political organisations based in Hong Kong

Overview

See also

References

External links