Abstract
The collective consultation system in China plays an equivalent function to collective bargaining. Promoted by the Chinese government and trade unions, the collective consultation system has become an essential aspect of labor regulation in China. Collective contracts have been widely signed in different sectors. However, the real effects of collective consultation and collective contracts are often called into question. The collective consultation system in China faces many pressing challenges in functioning as an effective tool to regulate volatile industrial relations. The difficulty is also exacerbated by economic globalization, as a consequence of which workers’ power to bargain is adversely affected. A number of legislative and institutional improvements are desirable with a view to further improving the system, including, for example, consolidating regulations on collective consultation into a single piece of law, strengthening the representativeness and participation of trade unions, and promoting transnational solidarity among workers.
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Notes
- 1.
See Chan and Hui (2014).
- 2.
Chinese Trade Unions Yearbook (1995), Beijing: China Statistics Press, 1996, p. 19.
- 3.
Chinese Trade Unions Yearbook (2005), Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2006, p. 62.
- 4.
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2017年度人力资源和社会保障事业发展统计公报 [2017 Statistical Report on the Development of Human Resources and Social Security], http://www.mohrss.gov.cn/SYrlzyhshbzb/zwgk/szrs/tjgb/201805/W020180521567611022649.pdf.
- 5.
Article 32, Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (29 September 1949).
- 6.
Article 9, Regulations on the Workers’ Congress of People-Owned Industrial Enterprises (5 September 1986).
- 7.
Article 20, Trade Union Law (1992).
- 8.
劳动部关于进行集体协商签订集体合同试点工作的意见 [Opinions of the Ministry of Labor concerning the Pilot Work of Concluding Collective Contracts through Collective Consultations] (5 December 1994).
- 9.
For a useful discussion on the subject, see Brown (2006).
- 10.
Article 5, Provisions on Collective Contracts (2004).
- 11.
Article 19, Provisions on Collective Contracts (2004).
- 12.
For a detailed discussion on the increase of coverage of collective contracts through quota management, see Wu and Sun (2014).
- 13.
Article 3, Provisions on Collective Contracts (2004).
- 14.
Article 8, Provisions on Collective Contracts (2004).
- 15.
Article 55, Labour Contract Law (2007).
- 16.
See some useful suggestions from Chen (2016).
- 17.
It is referred to as “template bargaining”, see Liu and Kuruvilla (2017).
- 18.
See Li (2016).
- 19.
Article 42, Provisions on Collective Contracts (2004).
- 20.
Article 45, Provisions on Collective Contracts (2004).
- 21.
Wang (2017), p. 266.
- 22.
Wang (2017), p. 254.
- 23.
See Zhao (2009).
- 24.
Zheng (2011).
- 25.
Huang (2015).
- 26.
Tian (2014).
- 27.
Pan (2008).
- 28.
Yang (2014).
- 29.
See Hui and Chan (2014).
- 30.
See for a different observation, Biddulph (2012).
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Li, W., Yan, D., Chen, Y. (2019). China. In: Liukkunen, U. (eds) Collective Bargaining in Labour Law Regimes. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 32. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16977-0_5
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