All-China Federation of Trade Unions
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| Full name | All-China Federation of Trade Unions |
|---|---|
| Native name | 中华全国总工会 |
| Founded | May 1, 1925 |
| Members | 193 million in 2008[1] 134 million in 2005[2] |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Affiliation | WFTU |
| Key people | Wang Zhaoguo, chairman |
| Office location | Beijing, China |
| Website | www.acftu.org.cn |
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions ('ACFTU; simplified Chinese: 中华全国总工会; traditional Chinese: 中華全國總工會; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Quánguó Zǒnggōng Huì), is the nationalised worker organisation federation of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest trade union in the world with 134 million members in 1,713,000 primary trade union organizations.[2] The ACFTU is divided into 31 regional federations and 10 national industrial unions.
Because members cannot elect their representatives freely, it does not classify as an independent trade union by Western governments, although Western governments regularly prohibit workers from freely electing their representatives,[3] and the union's undemocratic character is disputed by ACFTU members.[4]
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History [edit]
Officially founded May 1, 1925, from the second conference of the All-China General Labour Federation, the ACFTU was restricted in 1927 by the newly established KMT rule of Chiang Kai-shek.[1] Many trade unionists were executed in this period, and government-sponsored "yellow" unions were installed.[1]
By the rise of Mao Zedong in 1949, the ACFTU had been re-established as the sole trade union centre, but was again dissolved in 1966 in the wake of the Cultural Revolution.[1] Following Mao's death in 1976, in October 1978 the ACFTU held its first congress since 1957. Since the early 1990s it has been regulated by the Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions maintains the position that the ACFTU is not an independent trade union organisation, and states in its policy:
5. There are differing approaches among ICFTU affiliates and Global Union Federations concerning contacts with the ACFTU. They range from “no contacts” to “constructive dialogue”. The ICFTU, noting that the ACFTU is not an independent trade union organisation and, therefore, cannot be regarded as an authentic voice of Chinese workers, reaffirms its request to all affiliates and Global Union Federations having contacts with the Chinese authorities, including the ACFTU, to engage in critical dialogue. This includes raising violations of fundamental workers’ and trade union rights in any such meetings, especially concerning cases of detention of trade union and labour rights activists.[5]
However, activists within the ACFTU and the World Federation of Trade Unions dispute the claims of the rival trade union federation:
ACFTU activist Guo Wencai said that democratic elections were a key standard to measure the effectiveness of a trade union and noted that the practice of company chiefs "appointing union leaders or assigning someone from their human resources department to act as union leader hampers a trade union's independence and its ability to protect workers' rights."[6]
Member organisations [edit]
- All-China Federation of Railway Workers' Unions
- National Committee of the Chinese Agricultural, Forestry and Water Conservancy Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Aviation Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Banking Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Defense Industry, Postal and Telecommunications Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Educational, Scientific, Cultural, Medical and Sports Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Energy and Chemical Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Financial, Commercial, Light Industry, Textile and Tobacco Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Machinery, Metallurgical and Building Material Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Seamen and Construction Workers' Union
List of Chairmen [edit]
- 1st (1922.5 - 1925.5)
- 2nd (1925.5 - 1926.5)
- Lin Weimin (ACFTU officially formed)
- 3rd (1926.5 - 1927.6)
- 4th (1927.6 - 1929.11)
- Su Zhaozheng
- 5th (1929.11 - 1948.8)
- 6th (1948.8 - 1953.5)
- Liu Shaoqi (honorary)
- Chen Yun
- 7th (1953.5 - 1957.12)
- Liu Shaoqi (honorary)
- Lai Ruoyu
- 8th (1957.12 - 1966.12)
- Lai Ruoyu (1957.12 - 1958.5)
- Liu Ningyi (1958.8 - 1966.12)
- 9th (1978.10 - 1983.10)
- 10th (1983.10 - 1988.10)
- Ni Zhifu
- 11th (1988.10 - 1993.10)
- Ni Zhifu
- 12th (1993.10 - 1998.10)
- 13th (1998.10 - 2003.9)
- Wei Jianxing (1998.10 - 2002.12)
- Wang Zhaoguo (2002.12 - 2003.9)
- 14th (2003.10 - )
- Wang Zhaoguo
See also [edit]
- Labor Contract Law of China
- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China, previously the Ministry of Labour and Social Security
- China Labour Bulletin
- China Labor Watch
- China Law Blog
Notes [edit]
- ^ a b c Membership required:Trade unions in China, The Economist, Jul 31st 2008
- ^ a b ICTUR et al.,, ed. (2005). Trade Unions of the World (6th ed.). London, UK: John Harper Publishing. ISBN 0-9543811-5-7.
- ^ See: Pullman Strike, Taft-Hartley Act, France in 1968, Seattle in 1919, Russia in 1917, etc.
- ^ http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/94709
- ^ "ICFTU China policy". ICFTU. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
- ^ http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/94709
External links [edit]
- Workers' Daily (Gongren Ribao) Official newspaper of the ACFTU
- The ILO in China
- When will we have Free Unions in China ? Online video of speech given by Chinese labour activist Han Dongfang in February 2007 in Montreal.
