Friday, June 11, 2010

Great News From China

I have been having a bit of a hard time on a number of fronts these past days. But today I am so excited and feel so good. This is thanks to the Chinese workers. Our sisters and brothers are carrying out a wave of strikes at Honda and other plants in China. The most recent strikes to develop have been by young workers in their early twenties, more than half of them women. I cannot contain myself. This is great.

But this is not all by any means. The workers have been meeting in their various departments in the plants and holding mass meetings and electing their own representatives. We are watching the birth of an independent democratic trade union movement in China, the most populous country in the world, with the largest working class in the world and an economy which is challenging the US for number one position internationally. This is of worldwide and historic importance. A new force is making its way onto the world stage. People like ourselves are seeing a new ally rise to its feet.

Up until now there was a so called trade union structure in China. But this was not a real union. It was formed and controlled by the elite and was used to keep the workers down and force them to accept the demands of the foreign corporations. What we are seeing now is different. that is the development of an independent trade union movement.

Already this movement has won concessions from the Chinese elite and the home grown and foreign capitalists. Honda have been forced to almost double wages in some plants that have been on strike. Workers on strike now are demanding an 89% wage increase. They are also demanding improvements in their conditions. Workers have to stand all day at their jobs. Women workers who are pregnant are not allowed to sit until their third trimester. Workers are not allowed to speak when working. Toilet visits are tightly controlled. As well as the low wages workers have been kept in an atmosphere of repression by cops and factory so-called security, that is company and government thugs. But this is now ending. The workers are rising to their feet.

The present strike at one of the plants started when a young woman arrived at work with her identity badge improperly attached and was denied entry by a company thug. She criticized the so called security guard and he threw her to the ground. The entire workforce then came out on strike.

Since the strikes started workers in some plants have been staying in the plants and marching round the plants shouting slogans like "increase our wages." In one plant management announced over loud speakers that all workers would have to sign a new contract and would be dismissed if they did not. This was met with a collective defiant shout of "No" from the workers.

Whether this wave of strikes and this new movement into democratic independent unions continues and immediately sweeps China from one end to another, or whether there will be a temporary lull, we are witnessing the shape of things to come. The great Chinese working class are entering the scene of history. This is the most important development on the world stage at the moment. All activists should follow these events and make every effort to contact these workers and give our support. The trade union leaders in the US should get off their asses and build a fighting movement here and link with the Chinese workers. This would be a lot better than their recent support of the capitalist Democratic Party in the primaries. There is an estimated $150 million being set aside by the US trade union bureaucracy to help the capitalist democratic Party in the coming autumn elections. This should be used instead to build a fighting union movement here in the US and some of it sent to our brothers and sisters in china to help them build their union movement. and link the two movements together. With their strike action, their factory occupations, their election of their own representatives at workplace meetings, the Chinese workers have a better idea of how to organize than the US trade union leaders. Let us help them and link with them so they can help us. As I say, it is a great day. Thank you to the Chinese workers.

Sean.

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