Communism comes to China?

A recent strike in China is unexpectedly reported as front page news in China's state-controlled media. Thousands of workers from Honda's factories are now on strike for higher wages. The factories, perhaps 4 of them, are then forced to halt production. Two leaders of this strike were fired by Honda, only to burn the fires among the workers.

China, as a communism country, does not really guarantee its citizens the rights of strike. Strike was considered as a very 'unharmony' component of this fragile society. They are not allowed to appear on media. The organisers of strikes were often questioned or even arrested by the police. A famous case was a proposed Taxi driver strike. The organiser was located by the police through an online IM software and then sent to jail.

However this time, the state media put the strike of Honda factories workers on the front pages, on the top of Korean crisis and chain-subsiding in Foxconn. The report said Chinese workers earn only 1/50 of their Japanese colleagues in Honda's factories, only are able to live on basic standards.

The salary discrimination in China has been a long unwritten rule among foreign-owned companies. Employees holding foreign passports or residencies generally earn more than Chinese local employees and enjoy more privileges. One explanation of this phenomenon is those foreign employees having higher basic salary rates in their home countries. This may not be a reason, but states the truth. Legal minimum wage in China is so low that it can barely cover basic living expenses. The high inflation rate in China brings a tougher life for those living on basic wages.

And the workers union in China is only a department distributing free condoms (implementing one child policy) and movie tickets (propaganda). They are usually controlled by either government or even employers. It does not stand for the interest of workers, not to mention in salary bargaining. The workers have no position in negotiating their pay. Because they are always find people willing to do the same work with less wage demand.

That's the secret of China's export-leading economy. That's why people in western countries can buy cheap Made in China goods.

However the era of cheap labour in China is about to come to an end, at least in South China. Governments are more strict about regulations of minimal wages, which is increasing more frequently than before. People are more aware their rights and know how to ask for it. So today, they are on strike. Perhaps this is how communism comes to China, for real, this time.