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Hotbed for rise of trade unions

By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-29 09:03

"By organizing activities in which union members can participate, a trade union can help to make a company even more attractive to its staff and lower the resignation rate of workers," Zhang added.

Vice-chairman of the Guangdong Federation of Trade Unions Kong Xianghong said the province will try to make the advantages of trade unions better known among foreign-funded enterprises and encourage more firms to set them up.

"Some firms are reluctant to set up trade unions. This is either because they have been influenced by the opposition of trade unions in their own countries or because they are unwilling to earmark funds for trade unions, equal to 2 per cent of a company's salary expenses," the vice-chairman explained.

The province aims to see trade unions in 60 per cent of the foreign-invested enterprises this year, and over 80 per cent next year.

Next year the province also aims to set up trade unions in all firms funded by the world's top 500 multinationals.

China's law on foreign-invested enterprises states that a foreign-invested enterprise should support the activities of its trade union and protect the legal interests of its members.