We've heard much about how huge of a deal China's new Labor Contract Law is, but a fine piece on NPR today made me realize how important it should be for improving working conditions for Chinese workers. By reducing their labor contracts to writing, Chinese laborers should be more successful in enforcing claims against their employers in court. The theory goes that this should mean employers give their employees written contracts and abide by the terms of those contracts for fear that the employees will sue the employers for either failing to abide by the Labor Contract Law or for breach of contract.
The NPR piece reports on "thugs" hired by "gang members" and local factory owners maiming a labor activist who was educating workers about their rights under the Labor Contract Law. This is problematic, but the radio piece also points out that the largest key to enforcing laws in China is getting the local government on board in enforcing laws. At Danwei, Teng Yun writes that for better or worse media attention is a proven method of exercising legal rights. By allegedly shutting up their workers with violence and drawing international media attention, these factories might be inadvertently speeding the use of the Labor Contract Law by their workers, increasing the chances of success these workers will see in court, and increasing the speed that the workers' labor conditions are improved. I'm not terribly current on the going price for hired thugs in China, but if those factories merely obeyed the Law they could apply the thug fund savings elsewhere, while avoiding the lawsuits that are inevitable and will only become more expensive under the terms of the Law.
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