
Workers having a rest after a days work on the construction
site of The Water Cube. © Ian Teh/PANOS
Workers’ rights
Independent trade unions are illegal in China. And the country’s official All China Federation of Trade Unions frequently fails to protect its members’ welfare.
There has been a wave of labour disputes in China sparked by low wages, non-payment, mass lay-offs, poor working conditions and corrupt management practices. Authorities often respond to the disputes with intimidation, and sometimes arrests and long prison sentences.


I hope that Australia is bringing diplomatic pressure to bear in the fight against this prehistoric legislation.
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8 February 2012, 11:02PM