Into the Unknown: Worker-led Collective Bargaining in China

• In Event: 157 - Section on Labor and Labor Movements Paper Session. Open Topic on Labor and Labor Movements

Abstract

Without worker-representative unions, no historical or cultural precedent, and little state support, worker-led collective bargaining in China would appear to be an unlikely, and ineffective, method for resolving disputes. Certainly, most low-wage workers themselves are more inclined toward strike or legal action, and few have any knowledge of collective bargaining. Why would workers attempt to engage a company in their own, grass-roots collective bargaining sessions? To answer this question, this paper considers two different labor disputes in 2010 and 2012 where workers did precisely that. The paper’s analysis and argument is drawn from interviews conducted in 2014 with workers involved in the disputes. In explaining why these workers tried the new and unfamiliar tactic of collective bargaining, this paper contributes to social movement scholarship as it pinpoints how workers are subject to ambiguous political opportunities, where they find both political support as well as constraints to achieving their claims. When facing ambiguous political opportunities, workers find themselves with few viable methods to achieve legally supported interests. Under these circumstances, labor NGOs are able to intervene to introduce a new tactic—collective bargaining—to workers.

Author

• Patricia Chen, University of Michigan