(An analysis of unionization in foreign-invested enterprises in China : a case study of the ‘Multinational Enterprises Unionization Issue")

When it comes to the issue of unionization in Foreign-Owned Enterprises (FOE) in China, some problems lie in relevant local and national legal stipulations and regulations. A particular case in point is whether the unionization is supposed to be voluntary or compulsory to the employees working in those FOEs. Also, the union establishing procedures that the employees should follow are neither unclear nor not explicitly expressed in the regulations. The paper argues that the imbalanced power relations between labour and management are the key barrier for establishing unions in FOEs. To address this problem, unions are supposed to (1) clearly demonstrate the benefits of unionization to both employees and employers; and, (2) endeavor to earn union independence in finance and personnel at workplace level