As Economic Crisis Worsens, Workers In China Are Going On Strikes

In recent months, a surge of worker protest videos has emerged on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, reflecting mounting challenges in the country's factories due to shifts in supply chains and dwindling demand, as reported by Asia Nikkei.

These videos have been compiled into a "Strike Map" by China Labour Bulletin (CLB), a non-profit organization advocating for blue-collar workers. Each protest on the map is labeled with its cause, the number of participants, and social media screenshots, showcasing worker protests and strikes across China's mainland.

CLB's team scours Chinese social media for signs of worker strikes, then verifies details by consulting local worker unions.

The protest videos often follow a similar pattern, featuring workers congregating outside factory gates.

Captions call out the company for withholding owed wages or neglecting workers' social security payments. Comment sections of these videos frequently reference other factories committing similar injustices. Some videos even criticise China's Labour Bureau for its lack of intervention.

CLB's report noted a substantial uptick in protests in 2023, counting 741 cases in the first half of the year compared to 830 in all of 2022. At this rate, CLB anticipates at least 1,300 protests by year-end.

Construction-related protests have consistently constituted a significant portion of cases, but the manufacturing sector's involvement has surged this year. CLB recorded 10 manufacturing sector protests in January and a peak of 59 in May. Factory shutdowns and relocations in coastal regions, particularly Guangdong province, sparked many of these protests, the report highlighted.

The electronics and garment sectors have been particularly affected, with electronics factories experiencing 66 protests and garment factories 38 protests in the first half of the year, collectively accounting for over half of all manufacturing sector protests.

China's exports plummeted by 14.5 per cent in July compared to the previous year, marking the most substantial drop since the pandemic's onset.

The report cited dwindling orders as a major cause of factory closures and relocations, closely followed by "unstable economic relations." This trend has affected hiring practices, with many electronics industry suppliers refraining from hiring seasonal workers.

While the electronics sector often relies on seasonal hiring, workers in traditional manufacturing, such as apparel, tend to stay at one factory for extended periods. The recent layoffs have disproportionately impacted this group, primarily consisting of women in their 30s and 40s.

China's manufacturing sector has historically been sensitive to global market dynamics and wages. However, strained US-China relations have introduced additional challenges, prompting multinational companies to relocate their supply chains out of China to countries like Vietnam.

Worker strikes are often more effective than legal routes, which are protracted and seldom fulfil workers' needs due to China's inadequate legal framework.

Protests exert pressure on companies and local officials to address issues. Local worker unions, however, have fallen short in representing workers' interests.