International Solidarity Explored by Visitors from China
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The differences, similarities and
common challenges facing the American and
Chinese labor movements were the focus of a
free-wheeling discussion yesterday between a
visiting delegation of Chinese labor leaders,
government officials, and academics and the
Solidarity Center and the Metro Council. Of
particular interest to the visitors was the
question of the current status of the American
labor movement and the ongoing attacks on
public sector unions. Another topic of much
interest was the recent explosion of grassroots
organizing in China, as workers frustrated with
their unions’ coziness with the Chinese
government have organized themselves and struck
for higher wages and more rights on the job.
The Solidarity Center’s Earl Brown championed
worker-to-worker meetings as the basic building
blocks of the international solidarity
necessary in a globalized world, and Chris
Garlock discussed local mobilization tools like
Union City and the DC Labor FilmFest. The
delegation – organized under the auspices of
the Department of State's International Visitor
Leadership Program and arranged by Meridian
International Center -- included Ms. Hong CAI,
Director of Education and Research Office,
Department of Labor Relations, Cadre’s School
of Guangdong Provincial Federation of Trade
Unions; Mr. Kai CHANG, Professor, School of
Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of
China; Mr. Bulei CHEN, Associate Professor,
China Institute of Industrial Relations; Mr.
Qingnan HUANG, Director, Workers Occupational
Safety and Health Center; Mr. Mingwang LIU,
Office Director, Beijing Xiaoxiaoniao hotline
service for migrant workers; Mr. Jian QIAO,
Associate Prof. China Institute of Industrial
Relations; Ms. Jie WEI, Office Director,
Shenyang Xiaoxiaoniao hotline service for
migrant workers and Mr. Xingwen XU, Attorney,
Beijing Dacheng Law Office, Xiamen
Branch.
- photo by Rolene
McKnight