China Labour Bulletin

Non-governmental organization

China Labour Bulletin
中国劳工通讯
Abbreviation	CLB
Formation	1994; 30 years ago (1994)
Founder	Han Dongfang
Founded at	Hong Kong
Type	non-profit NGO
Legal status	HK limited company
Purpose	worker's rights; documentation of incidents
Headquarters	Hong Kong
Official language	Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified); English
Subsidiaries	FCLB [US 501(c)(3)]
Website	clb.org.hk

China Labour Bulletin (CLB) is a non-governmental organization that promotes and defends workers' rights in the People's Republic of China. It is based in Hong Kong and was founded in 1994 by labour activist Han Dongfang.^[1]

Overview

CLB advocates stronger protection for the rights for Chinese workers, and has expressed optimism that their conditions will improve through peaceful and legal action.^[2]

CLB supports the development of democratic trade unions in China and the enforcement of the PRC's labour laws. In addition, CLB seeks the official recognition in China of international standards and conventions providing for workers' freedom of association and the right to free collective bargaining.

In 2002 CLB established a labour rights litigation programme designed to give workers the chance to seek redress for their grievances through the PRC's court system. The organization provides legal advice for workers and arranges for mainland Chinese lawyers to handle their cases. By October 2007, it had taken on about 140 cases involving such issues as non-payment of wages, industrial injury, and redundancy (unemployment) payments. It also addresses the problem of employment discrimination, in particular, raising awareness of and combating discrimination against the estimated 120 million hepatitis B positive Chinese.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

In 2005, CLB set up a programme to promote collective bargaining and the use of factory-wide, legally enforceable collective labour contracts as a means of empowering workers, protecting their legal rights, and enhancing industrial relations.^[7]^[8]

CLB has published five English language and ten Chinese language research reports on a range of issues including the workers' movement in China, migrant workers, child labour, coal mining accidents, and the silicosis epidemic among China's gemstone workers.

In March 2021, CLB documented a series of accidents in the context of workplace safety, which was ignored by the local trade union for allegedly complying to the State's "priorities in eliminating rural poverty and instilling political loyalty".^[9]

References

^ Beijing's Labor Pains Archived 2011-03-24 at the Wayback Machine, Foreign Policy, 2010-2-28
^ China rural migrants young, restless and online: report, Reuters, 2011-10-10
^ "Congress.gov | Library of Congress". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
^ Verde, Giacomo (2020-08-17). "Work Culture in China: Strategies & Tips to Manage Employees". HROne. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
^ Genser, Jared (2019-09-26). The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Commentary and Guide to Practice. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-03445-7.
^ Colella, Adrienne; King, Eden B. (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Workplace Discrimination. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-936364-3.
^ China Labour Bulletin. China Labour Bulletin. 1999.
^ Bunce, Valerie; Koesel, Karrie; Weiss, Jessica (2020). Citizens and the State in Authoritarian Regimes: Comparing Russia and China. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-009348-8.
^ Wong, Chun Han (2021-03-07). "Xi Jinping's Eager-to-Please Bureaucrats Snarl His China Plans". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-03-13.