Super Mega Ultimate Sparkle Chinese Employment Relations


So lets skip all the bigoted jokes at the expense of china for now and get straight down to business. (I say that but it's only that I honestly can't think of any good racist jokes right now... Dagnabbit indeed)

I suppose we've all noticed by now that in an effort to combat their dwindling population, all members of the feline race have transformed into nightmare apparitions... God help us all.

LOST: If found then you are already dead. Please do not attempt to return to its owner.

So China's been getting some good ol'economic growth recently; (http://hum.sagepub.com.ezproxy.library.uwa.edu.au/content/66/1/157.full). Look at your computer, its made in china, now look at your man, made in china now look back to me, made in china...? Everything is made in china. Even "Aussie brands" like Billabong have factories in china. I have recently started buying goods wholesale from China at about 30% the cost you would pay in Australia (Is that evil? Am I unpatriotic? Does it matter? I always figured I was a citizen of the world, do I need to be loyal to one country in particular? Shouldn't we stop thinking about things so trifling as arbitrary borders on a map? Aren't we all human and made of the same organs inside!? Well I'm not... My organs are made of wood chippings and Krazy Glue™.)

So China produces lots of muy grande products for not much dinero, their manufacturing industry is probably the best in the world with a heavy focus on Strategic HRMT practices emphasizing efficiency but the main problem with China however is the mass oppression of workers. Blue collar conditions are laaaame, and factory workers are abused pretty badly. People have been whining a lot recently (and rightly so) as the whole Apple and Foxcon fiasco came to light but its not the only electronic goods factory chain that treats labour with sub par standards. (http://electronicswatch.org/en/poor-working-conditions-persist-at-chinese-suppliers-of-global-it-brands_14704) You can check out the stuff in this article for a better view of the poor working conditions.

Anyways, as for some sort of emergence of independent representation for employees which they so sorely need there hasn't been any yet, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is the only thing they have but it works as a section of the government so it doesn't really represent the workers (www.clb.org.hk/en/category/all-china-federation-trade-unions). Workers in China are calling for union representation but I doubt the communist government really wants to give away any power to the oppressed masses most of what's actually going on seems like cost reducing strategies rather than improvement in employee voice or conditions. (http://www.clb.org.hk/en/content/white-collar-workers-yearn-trade-union-their-own)     

Will China's government's lust for economic growth eventually be sated to the point where they will allow union representation to exist or improve worker conditions? You decide! Sorry for all the links in this one but it was a quality conundrum. 

Stay beautiful out there, even in the light of the most recent nightmarish apocalypse!

"Life is painful and meaningless, You are a speck in the void, a mere transitional element in the vast might of the cosmos. So you might as well just die"  - Mahatma Gandhi

                                                                       Legit 100%   ;)