中國打工族﹐漫漫維權路
香
港數家勞工團體就深圳打工者中心(Dagongzhe Migrant Worker Centre)負責人黃慶南受襲一事舉行抗議﹐此舉凸現出中國新勞動法實施前的動盪正愈演愈烈。這些香港勞工團體指出﹐由於在深圳從事勞動者維權事業﹐黃慶南遭到了暴力侵害。據探視過他的朋友透露﹐黃慶南傷勢嚴重﹐儘管已住院治療但感染可能造成其腿部截肢。
進入11月份以來﹐不法分子手持鋼管、木棍等兇器兩度襲擊了黃慶南一手創建的打工者中心﹐該中心現已被迫關閉。深圳警方證實了襲擊事件﹐並表示正在進行調查。
香港勞工團體在週一發表的聲明中指出﹐如果此次事件得不到公正處理﹐將向不法分子發出錯誤信號﹐更多的勞工組織和工作人員將受到侵害。
這 些香港勞工團體包括：勞動力(Workers' Empowerment)、中國勞動透視(Labor Action China)、亞洲專訊資料研究中心(Asia Monitor Resources Centre)、全球化監察(Globalization Monitor)以及大學師生監察無良企業行動(Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior)。
這些勞工團體促請中國政府協助打工者中心重新開始運作﹐給予黃慶南適宜的治療並加強對民間團體的保護。
中國新的勞動合同法即將於明年年初實行﹐這是十年來中國在勞動法規方面做出的最大調整。
根據新法﹐企業在僱傭和解雇員工時將面臨更為嚴格的監管。其中一條規定﹐已經為企業連續服務十年的員工有權簽署無固定期限勞動合同﹐基本等同於獲得了永久職位。
儘管受到了政府的高度重視﹐但中國的貧富差距仍在不斷擴大﹐在此情況下﹐中國新生的勞工運動更多地關注了這一問題。不過﹐由於香港毗鄰中國南方的製造業重鎮﹐且許多中國的勞工組織總部都設在香港﹐所以在大陸的勞工事務中往往能看到香港勞動者維權組織的身影。
深圳打工者中心大約成立於四年前﹐只有五名工作人員。他們向打工者提供咨詢幫助﹐例如建議下崗工人如何才能獲得合理賠償等。
國 際工會聯盟(International Trade Union Confederation)駐香港的發言人多米尼克•穆勒(Dominique Muller)表示﹐這幾個月來﹐前來咨詢類似問題的人似乎多了起來﹐因為此前有報導顯示中國南方小工廠中發生了越來越多的解雇員工事件。
勞工問題分析人士指出﹐雇主相信新法將加大監管力度﹐所以趁現在紛紛裁員。
據國有媒體新華社報導﹐本月早些時候﹐中國最大的通訊網絡設備生產商華為技術有限公司(Huawei Technologies Co.)要求連續工作了八年的員工主動請辭、再重新申請崗位﹐這一做法引起了軒然大波。
據新華社報導﹐後來華為在與中國全國總工會(All China Federation of Trade Unions)進行探討後同意暫時擱置該計劃。
華為並未及時回應記者的置評要求。
黃慶南現年34歲﹐1999年他在一家食品廠打工受傷後就開始走上了為勞動者維權的道路。據他的律師、也是中國著名的民法律師周立太表示﹐黃慶南在工廠宿舍休息時曾被酸液嚴重燒傷﹐並導致毀容。
黃慶南花了四年時間來起訴工廠要求給予賠償﹐但未能成功。
黃慶南後來建立了打工者中心。亞洲專訊資料研究中心主任Apo Leung表示﹐香港勞工團體非常尊敬黃慶南。
Mei Fong
Protests Reflect Turmoil Ahead Of New China Labor Laws
Protests by Hong Kong worker groups over the stabbing of Shenzhen labor leader Huang Qingnan reflect the unrest bubbling up ahead of China's new labor laws.
The Hong Kong groups say Huang, who runs a center counseling migrant workers, was attacked because of his work there. He is in the hospital with severe injuries and could lose a leg from infection, according to friends who have visited him.
Huang's labor center, the Dagongzhe Migrant Worker Centre, has been vandalized twice this month by assailants with pipes and is now closed. Shenzhen police confirmed the incidents and said they are investigating.
'If justice is not done for this case, it will give a misleading message to the attackers, and more labor groups and their staff would be harmed,' a consortium of Hong Kong labor groups said in a statement issued Monday.
They include Workers' Empowerment, Labor Action China, Asia Monitor Resources Centre, Globalization Monitor, and Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior.
The consortium is appealing to the Chinese authorities to help re-start the Dagongzhe center, provide Huang with appropriate medical treatment and improve the protection of civic groups.
The new labor laws, to take effect at the beginning of next year, are China's most significant overhaul of workplace regulation in a decade.
Companies will now face more stringent regulations in the firing and hiring of staff. In one proviso, employees who have worked 10 consecutive years are entitled to sign labor contracts with no fixed terms, essentially granting them permanent jobs.
China's nascent labor movement is growing more vocal with the nation's widening gap between rich and poor, a concern the Chinese government takes very seriously. But because of Hong Kong's proximity to southern China's manufacturing heartland and because many China-related labor groups are based in Hong Kong, the city's worker-rights groups have become involved in mainland matters.
The Dagongzhe center has been in operation for about four years. Its tiny staff-some five workers-has offered counseling, including advising laid-off workers on how to seek fair compensation.
Such advice appears to have been in more demand in recent months, following increasing reports of layoffs at small factories in southern China, said Dominique Muller, Hong Kong spokeswoman for the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation.
Labor analysts believe employers are laying off workers now in anticipation of the stricter laws.
Early this month, China's biggest telecommunications network equipment maker, Huawei Technologies Co., sparked controversy when it asked staff who had worked for eight consecutive years to re-apply for their positions, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Huawei later agreed to suspend the plan after discussions with China's umbrella trade group, the All China Federation of Trade Unions, according to Xinhua.
Huawei didn't respond in time to requests for comment.
Huang, 34 years old, became involved in labor rights after being injured while working in a food factory in 1999. He was disfigured after acid was thrown on his face while he was sleeping in a factory dormitory, according to his lawyer, Zhou Litai, a well-known civil rights attorney.
Huang unsuccessfully sued the company for compensation in a court case that lasted four years.
He later established the Dagongzhe center. Huang is a respected figure among Hong Kong labor groups, said Apo Leung, director of Asia Monitor Resources.
Mei Fong
The Hong Kong groups say Huang, who runs a center counseling migrant workers, was attacked because of his work there. He is in the hospital with severe injuries and could lose a leg from infection, according to friends who have visited him.
Huang's labor center, the Dagongzhe Migrant Worker Centre, has been vandalized twice this month by assailants with pipes and is now closed. Shenzhen police confirmed the incidents and said they are investigating.
'If justice is not done for this case, it will give a misleading message to the attackers, and more labor groups and their staff would be harmed,' a consortium of Hong Kong labor groups said in a statement issued Monday.
They include Workers' Empowerment, Labor Action China, Asia Monitor Resources Centre, Globalization Monitor, and Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior.
The consortium is appealing to the Chinese authorities to help re-start the Dagongzhe center, provide Huang with appropriate medical treatment and improve the protection of civic groups.
The new labor laws, to take effect at the beginning of next year, are China's most significant overhaul of workplace regulation in a decade.
Companies will now face more stringent regulations in the firing and hiring of staff. In one proviso, employees who have worked 10 consecutive years are entitled to sign labor contracts with no fixed terms, essentially granting them permanent jobs.
China's nascent labor movement is growing more vocal with the nation's widening gap between rich and poor, a concern the Chinese government takes very seriously. But because of Hong Kong's proximity to southern China's manufacturing heartland and because many China-related labor groups are based in Hong Kong, the city's worker-rights groups have become involved in mainland matters.
The Dagongzhe center has been in operation for about four years. Its tiny staff-some five workers-has offered counseling, including advising laid-off workers on how to seek fair compensation.
Such advice appears to have been in more demand in recent months, following increasing reports of layoffs at small factories in southern China, said Dominique Muller, Hong Kong spokeswoman for the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation.
Labor analysts believe employers are laying off workers now in anticipation of the stricter laws.
Early this month, China's biggest telecommunications network equipment maker, Huawei Technologies Co., sparked controversy when it asked staff who had worked for eight consecutive years to re-apply for their positions, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Huawei later agreed to suspend the plan after discussions with China's umbrella trade group, the All China Federation of Trade Unions, according to Xinhua.
Huawei didn't respond in time to requests for comment.
Huang, 34 years old, became involved in labor rights after being injured while working in a food factory in 1999. He was disfigured after acid was thrown on his face while he was sleeping in a factory dormitory, according to his lawyer, Zhou Litai, a well-known civil rights attorney.
Huang unsuccessfully sued the company for compensation in a court case that lasted four years.
He later established the Dagongzhe center. Huang is a respected figure among Hong Kong labor groups, said Apo Leung, director of Asia Monitor Resources.
Mei Fong
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