Chinese trade union and labour law: a critical review and reflection

In China, 2010 was a year of significance in the development of labour-related legislation. It saw the 60th anniversary of New China’s first Trade Union Law and the 15th anniversary of the country’s first Labour Law. It was also a year that witnessed a significant increase of labour disputes in the country, including the scandal of workers suicides in Foxconn (Apple's contract manufacturer for many products) and the strikes in Honda China. It was against this background that an international conference ‘‘Chinese Trade Union and Labour Law: Past, Present and Future’ was organised in August in Beijing to critically review and assess these laws and their implementation as well as other relevant issues concerning labour in China and to identify the prospects for Chinese workers in future. This book is compiled on the basis of some selected papers contributed to this conference. More than 50 scholars and researchers attended the conference and they were from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia, the UK and the USA, representing institutions in higher education, trade unions, legal firms and international organisations such as the ILO