All-China Federation of Trade Unions
Encyclopedia
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU; ), is the sole national trade union
federation of the People's Republic of China
. It is the largest trade union in the world with 134 million members in 1,713,000 primary trade union organizations. The ACFTU is divided into 31 regional federations and 10 national industrial unions.
The Workers' Daily is the ACFTU newspaper.
rule of Chiang Kai-shek
. Many trade unionists were executed in this period, and government-sponsored "yellow
" unions were installed.
By the rise of Mao Zedong
in 1949, the ACFTU had been re-established as the sole trade union centre, but was again dissolved in 1966 in the wake of the Cultural Revolution
.
Following Mao's death in 1976, in October 1978 the ACFTU held its first congress since 1957. Since the early 1990s it has been regulated by the Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China.
In 2008, a new labor law in China is forcing most companies - including most foreign owned ones - to create an ACFTU chaptered trade union within them.
ACFTU has a monopoly
on trade unionizing in China and creation of competing unions is illegal. As a tool of the government, ACFTU has been seen as not acting in the best interest of its members (workers), bowing to the government pressure on industry growth and not defending workers' rights. This, however, may be changing in 2000s.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
maintains the position that the ACFTU is not an independent trade union organisation, and states in its policy:
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
federation of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. It is the largest trade union in the world with 134 million members in 1,713,000 primary trade union organizations. The ACFTU is divided into 31 regional federations and 10 national industrial unions.
The Workers' Daily is the ACFTU newspaper.
-
- All-China Federation of Railway Workers' UnionsAll-China Federation of Railway Workers' UnionsThe All-China Federation of Railway Workers’ Unions is a national industrial union of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
- National Committee of the Chinese Agricultural, Forestry and Water Conservancy Workers' UnionNational Committee of the Chinese Agricultural, Forestry and Water Conservancy Workers' UnionThe National Committee of the Chinese Agricultural, Forestry and Water Conservancy Workers’ Union is a national industrial union of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
- National Committee of the Chinese Aviation Workers' UnionNational Committee of the Chinese Aviation Workers' UnionThe National Committee of the Chinese Aviation Workers’ Union is a national industrial union of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
- National Committee of the Chinese Banking Workers' UnionNational Committee of the Chinese Banking Workers' UnionThe National Committee of the Chinese Banking Workers’ Union is a national industrial union of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
- National Committee of the Chinese Defense Industry, Postal and Telecommunications Workers' UnionNational Committee of the Chinese Defense Industry, Postal and Telecommunications Workers' UnionThe National Committee of the Chinese Defense Industry, Postal and Telecommunications Workers’ Union is a national industrial union of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
- National Committee of the Chinese Educational, Scientific, Cultural, Medical and Sports Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Energy and Chemical Workers' UnionNational Committee of the Chinese Energy and Chemical Workers' UnionThe National Committee of the Chinese Energy and Chemical Workers’ Union is a national industrial union of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
- National Committee of the Chinese Financial, Commercial, Light Industry, Textile and Tobacco Workers' Union
- National Committee of the Chinese Machinery, Metallurgical and Building Material Workers' UnionNational Committee of the Chinese Machinery, Metallurgical and Building Material Workers' UnionThe National Committee of the Chinese Machinery, Metallurgical and Building Material Workers’ Union is a national industrial union of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
- National Committee of the Chinese Seamen and Construction Workers' UnionNational Committee of the Chinese Seamen and Construction Workers' UnionThe National Committee of the Chinese Seamen and Construction Workers’ Union is a national industrial union of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China.-External links:*...
- All-China Federation of Railway Workers' Unions
History
Officially founded May 1, 1925, from the second conference of the All-China General Labour Federation, the ACFTU was restricted in 1927 by the newly established KMTKuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
rule of Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
. Many trade unionists were executed in this period, and government-sponsored "yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
" unions were installed.
By the rise of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
in 1949, the ACFTU had been re-established as the sole trade union centre, but was again dissolved in 1966 in the wake of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
.
Following Mao's death in 1976, in October 1978 the ACFTU held its first congress since 1957. Since the early 1990s it has been regulated by the Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China.
In 2008, a new labor law in China is forcing most companies - including most foreign owned ones - to create an ACFTU chaptered trade union within them.
ACFTU has a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on trade unionizing in China and creation of competing unions is illegal. As a tool of the government, ACFTU has been seen as not acting in the best interest of its members (workers), bowing to the government pressure on industry growth and not defending workers' rights. This, however, may be changing in 2000s.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions , and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when it merged with the World Confederation of Labour to form the...
maintains the position that the ACFTU is not an independent trade union organisation, and states in its policy:
5. There are differing approaches among ICFTU affiliates and Global Union Federations concerning contacts with the ACFTU. They range from “no contacts” to “constructive dialogue”. The ICFTU, noting that the ACFTU is not an independent trade union organisation and, therefore, cannot be regarded as an authentic voice of Chinese workers, reaffirms its request to all affiliates and Global Union Federations having contacts with the Chinese authorities, including the ACFTU, to engage in critical dialogue. This includes raising violations of fundamental workers’ and trade union rights in any such meetings, especially concerning cases of detention of trade union and labour rights activists.
List of Chairmen
- 1st (1922.5 - 1925.5)
- Deng Zhongxia
- 2nd (1925.5 - 1926.5)
- Lin Weimin (ACFTU officially formed)
- 3rd (1926.5 - 1927.6)
- Su ZhaozhengSu ZhaozhengSu Zhaozheng , early phase leader of the Communist Party of China, labour movement activist. A native of the Qi'ao Island of Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province, he became a sailor, active in Sun Yatsen's nationalist organization Tongmenghui, and took part in organizing the Sailors' Union in 1920...
- Su Zhaozheng
- 4th (1927.6 - 1929.11)
- Su Zhaozheng
- 5th (1929.11 - 1948.8)
- Xiang YingXiang YingXiang Ying was a war-time Chinese communist leader reaching the rank of political chief of staff of the New Fourth Army during World War II until his assassination by a member of his staff in 1941.- Biography :...
- Xiang Ying
- 6th (1948.8 - 1953.5)
- Liu ShaoqiLiu ShaoqiLiu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and theorist. He was Chairman of the People's Republic of China, China's head of state, from 27 April 1959 to 31 October 1968, during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China...
(honorary) - Chen YunChen YunChen Yun was one of the most influential leaders of the People's Republic of China during the 1980s and 90s, and one of the top leaders of the Communist Party of China for almost its entire history. He was also known as Liao Chengyun ; it's unclear whether this was his original name or a pseudonym...
- Liu Shaoqi
- 7th (1953.5 - 1957.12)
- Liu Shaoqi (honorary)
- Lai Ruoyu
- 8th (1957.12 - 1966.12)
- Lai Ruoyu (1957.12 - 1958.5)
- Liu Ningyi (1958.8 - 1966.12)
- 9th (1978.10 - 1983.10)
- Ni Zhifu
- 10th (1983.10 - 1988.10)
- Ni Zhifu
- 11th (1988.10 - 1993.10)
- Ni Zhifu
- 12th (1993.10 - 1998.10)
- Wei JianxingWei JianxingWei Jianxing is a former senior leader in the Communist Party of China, a standing committee member of politburo in CPC, the secretary of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, and the chairman of All-China Federation of Trade Unions.- Biography :Wei...
- Wei Jianxing
- 13th (1998.10 - 2003.9)
- Wei Jianxing (1998.10 - 2002.12)
- Wang ZhaoguoWang ZhaoguoWang Zhaoguo is a Chinese politician who came to prominence during the era of Deng Xiaoping. At age 41 he had already acquired a ministerial position job.-Biography:...
(2002.12 - 2003.9)
- 14th (2003.10 - )
- Wang Zhaoguo
See also
- Labor Contract Law of China
- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of ChinaMinistry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of ChinaMinistry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China is a ministry under the State Council which is responsible for national labor polices, standards, regulations and managing the national social security. This includes labor force management, labor relationship...
, previously the Ministry of Labour and Social Security - China Labour BulletinChina Labour BulletinChina Labour Bulletin is a non-governmental organization that promotes and defends workers’ rights in the People’s Republic of China. It is based in Hong Kong and was founded in 1994 by labour activist Han Dongfang...
- China Labor WatchChina Labor WatchChina Labor Watch is a New York-based non-government organization founded by labor activist Li Qiang in October 2000. Its mission is the defense of workers' rights in China...
- China Law BlogChina Law BlogChina Law Blog is a daily weblog, or blog, of news, analysis and opinion concerning China that began publishing on January 10, 2006. The blog’s focus is primarily law and business in China, but its topics range from China’s developing legal system to its society, culture and current events....
External links
- Workers' Daily (Gongren Ribao) Official newspaper of the ACFTU
- The ILO in China
- When will we have Free Unions in China ? Online video of speech given by Chinese labour activist Han DongfangHan DongfangHan Dongfang has been an advocate for workers' rights in China for more than two decades during which time he has won numerous international awards including the 1993 Democracy Award from the U.S...
in February 2007 in Montreal.