News about the Maoist Left in China

Three articles, one from the the NY Times, one from the Economist and one from the University of Hong Kong's  China Media Project, report on China's Maoist Left. They all make reference to the campaign launched by Maoist websites such as Utopia and Maoflag.net, against the neo-liberal economist Mao Yushi who recently criticized the "sins" of Mao Zedong and the CPC in years gone by. I have previously translated the preamble to a petition circulating on the web calling for the indictment of Mao Yushi and Xin Ziling for sedition. I also posted comments at both the Economist site and the HK University site.

This site is of course dedicated to bringing the Maoist side of this debate and other Maoist issues to a broader non-Chinese speaking audience.

I'm also posting two news reports, one regarding an issue that the Maoist websites have been obsessive about and another concerning changes in China's labor law that may have very significant repercussions.

The first regards postponing the further introduction of genetically modified food into China. The Maoists outside the Party have been organizing "reverse propaganda teams" to go out to public venues to agitate against GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Young activists have gone to public parks with poster boards and leaflets educating citizens about the hazards of GMOs. They have also gone to public lectures where GMOs are being discussed to challenge scientists promoting GMO research. The announcement that the approval of GMOs has been sidetracked was greeted with high fives on the Maoist web and seen as a great victory for their efforts. An earlier article discussing this issue can be found at GM Watch.

Reverse Propaganda team in Purple Bamboo Park, Beijing

The second report is on the approval of collective bargaining rights and regulations for non-state sector officially sanctioned unions. It is posted at the ACFTU website. A translation of the article follows:

General Timetable for the Introduction of a "System of Collective Wage Negotiations" A schedule for a 3 year period during which enterprises will completely implement a comprehensive system of collective bargaining has been promulgated

According to a report by “China's Voice” <Peak of the Evening News>, the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) has initiated a 3 year period during which enterprises will completely implement a comprehensive system of collective bargaining.

ACFTU Minister for Collective Contracts, Zhang Jianguo, said that the emphasis will be on good management of collective wage negotiations with regional business sectors, non-public enterprises and the world's top 500 companies operating in China. Focus will be on industrial clusters, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), labor-intensive enterprises and industries that are organizationally relatively regionally concentrated.

Regarding the problem of employees who are afraid and hesitant to talk to management about workers rights and benefits, Zhang Jianguo said that from the point of view of the widespread desires of the workers, they certainly hope that the unions will fight even more for their reasonable and legitimate interests. It is worth understanding that some employees worry whether unions can fight for their legitimate interests and fair interests  I feel that this is a problem. Fighting for workers legitimate rights and fair interests requires a process, and in that regard we have to especially emphasize that the laws that already regulate workers rights do not have any provisions for consultations or the need for negotiations, or who will  be responsible for the formulation and good implementation of the regulations.

Moreover as regards the anxiety of enterprises about rising manufacturing costs, Zhang Jianguo believes that such worries are unnecessary, because the principle of consultation is to seek win-win cooperation, the pursuit of the balance of interests, the trade union demands made on behalf of workers interests, cannot surpass the level of increase in worker productivity growth, and should also be within the scope  that enterprises are able to withstand.

At the same time, the All China Federation of Trade Unions has launched a "national trade union collective bargaining instructor training program for implementation of the plan." Zhang Jianguo said, the ACFTU plans to use the 3 year period to train 150,000 instructors from stratified groups within the trade unions at all levels to carry out the work of collective wage negotiations  for the trade unions.