When I got to Beijing in March of 2008, I saw something that I hadn’t really seen in Kunming—the legions of migrant workers who are building the new China. A week or so after getting there, I listened to this heartwrenching interview with two sanitation workers who went on strike in Memphis in 1968 (listen through to the end for a great Mahalia Jackson performance). I had never had a real conversation with Beijing’s construction workers or visited their homes, but I knew enough to see a striking similarity between a key group of civil rights agitators in America, and an especially disenfranchised portion of the Chinese population. Living in a country so in need of a courageous and inspired leader brought new meaning to all of the coverage I was listening to of the 40th anniversary of MLK’s assassination, and it occurred to me that if radical change is to come in China, it will come from these guys who work long hours for low pay, face huge physical risk on the job and live in inhumane conditions.
Fast forward to late 2008 and early 2009. The troubles of the U.S. economy are definitely impacting China. Factories are closing by the score in Guangdong province (the factory floor of the world’s factory floor). And as everyone who had the means traveled home for Chinese New Year last week, speculation was rampant about whether migrant workers would return to the cities, and whether jobs would be there for them if they did (Guardian UK video: Rising unemployment hits migrant workers). Three days into the first week of the new year, many of my friends here are still speculating as to whether their favorite DVD shops and street food stands will reopen.
That all brings me to the real reason for this post—to point you toward some interesting and timely thoughts from activist Han Donfang, who argues that China needs collective bargaining--now. Happy reading.
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