Creator Capital Ltd Ord CTORF

China WTO News

[MoneySapiens]

China revises trade union law on eve of WTO entry BEIJING (Reuters) - China has revised its 52-year-old law on trade unions to safeguard workers' legal rights ahead of the country's imminent accession into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the official China Daily said on Monday. Amendments to the law, which took effect on October 27, included granting all employees the right to join trade unions and forbidding organisations or individuals from interfering with the process, the paper said. "After the (WTO) accession, it is inevitable that the unemployment rate will rise and trade unions can play a big role in maintaining social stability and creating new employment opportunities," it quoted senior legislator Li Yining as saying. Unemployment has risen in recent years as wrenching government reforms to state-owned enterprises have thrown millions out of work and it is expected to worsen as China's membership of the WTO pushes restructuring. The WTO is expected to approve China's membership on Saturday at a meeting in Doha, Qatar, and sign documents required the following day, Chinese officials say. Under WTO rules, China's formal entry will follow a month later. Rampant infringement of workers' legal rights and the refusal of many private and foreign enterprises to allow trade union activity within their organisations were key drivers behind the new amendments, the paper said. China says it protects workers rights fully, but in reality workers have little recourse to protect their interests against unscrupulous employers. Beijing now permits just one trade union -- the state-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) -- and has meted out harsh punishments to labour activists amid mass lay-offs from ailing state firms. China has also exempted itself from allowing free trade unions under a United Nations human rights covenant it ratified in March. Around 100 million of China's 250 million workers are union members and the majority of them work in state-owned enterprises, the paper said, citing ACFTU figures.