RUDOLF TRAUB-MERZ| WAGE STRIKES AND TRADE UNIONS IN CHINA Workers went on strike to try to ensure that their legal or contractual rights were adhered to. Legal action was often blocked: municipal administrations were involved in competition between locations and local bureaucrats and Party cadres stood on the side of enterprise owners in the event of disputes. Many disputes led to violence (Lee 2007; Chan 2011). The individual rights of migrant workers were strength­ened   7 significantly in 2008 with the adoption of two new labour laws(the Law on Labour Contracts and the Law on Mediation) and employers can expect heavy fines. 8 Legal action was simplified and the costs reduced through the abolition of fees and the simplification of the provision of evidence. Workers are now much better informed about their rights and are less and less reluc­tant to take legal action. There have been strikes for higher wages only for the past few years. In some instances they appeared to take the form of a chain reaction. 9 The extent of the strike wave in 2010, which was triggered in April by a Honda supplier(Lüthje 2010; Hui and Chan 2011; CLNT 2010) and spread to many other factories and sectors – esti­mates range from 200 to 1,000 strikes  1 0 – is something new in China. For the first time, over large areas wage increases were accomplished according to the pattern »first strike, then wage negotiations«. n The strikes were classic disputes of interests. It was no longer about compliance with the minimum wage or the payment of wage arrears. Wage increases were demanded and in many instances the introduction of seniority-based wage grades which should make pos­sible individual wage upgrades within the company. 7. A written labour contract is now obligatory. If no contract is forth­coming after a year the employment relationship is rendered permanent, also after 10 years of fixed-term employment or its third extension with the same employer. A position with employment agencies must last at least two years(see Däubler and Wang 2008). 8. If there is still no written labour contract after a month double wages must be paid. If the employer is in arrears with wage payments he must pay at least 50 per cent more. 9. For example, the taxi drivers’ industrial action in 2008 which began in Chong Ching and was followed by protests in other cities. 10. Data vary considerably concerning the number of wage strikes. At a discussion meeting in Guangzhou(see footnote 1) the following figures were cited for Guangdong province: 77 strikes in the two main months May and June. For 2010 as a whole there were around 200 strikes, 95 per cent in manufacturing. In northeast China, in Lianing there were an additional 100 strikes. However, mention was also made of 300 strikes in Shenzhen alone, and of around 1,000 nationwide. There are no official strike statistics in China; ACFTU does not have any either. n The strikes were not restricted to labour-intensive manufacturing plants for export which are subject to strong wage pressure, but encompassed also auto­mobiles and other companies in the metalworking in­dustry which produce for the domestic market, utilise capital intensive production processes and have a larg­er proportion of qualified personnel. n Foreign companies were particularly affected, espe­cially Japanese. This may be one reason why at first the disputes were reported on in detail, until the me­dia abruptly fell silent – allegedly in order to prevent a bandwagon effect. n The strikes led to losses of production in downstream processing stages: the multiplier effect strengthened the position of the workers. n The strikes appear to have been overwhelmingly suc­cessful. Wage rises were between 20 and 50 per cent. Wage pressure could also be felt outside the striking plants and many companies increased wages as a pre­cautionary measure. n The strikes occurred spontaneously and without trade union participation. In some cases, the strikers de­manded the election of their own representatives. The company trade unions were nowhere to be seen, while the higher level trade unions(district or provin­cial trade unions) arrived on the scene only after the outbreak of a strike. In some instances, they tried to negotiate on behalf of the strikers, in others, to end the strike quickly. A strike wave does not amount to a workers’ movement. However, there are significant changes in the labour market which suggest that upheavals are in the offing. The workforce is undergoing far-reaching social restruc­turing. Many of the strikers were below 30 years of age and constitute a second generation of migrant workers. They have a better formal education, no longer have a knowledge of agriculture and no longer regard them­selves as commuters between two modes of production. Because they wish to remain in the cities permanently they include in the calculation of their costs of reproduc­tion expenses, which among their parents would have been paid for via the agricultural economy. Their earn­ings must now cover spending on maintaining a family, 3