[Global Issue+] The Dilemma of China, a 'Communist State' Where Union Activities Lead to Arrests

Sudden Death of Pinduoduo Online Mall Employee Sparks Anger Among Migrant Workers
State-Certified Union 'Gonghoe' Transformed into Surveillance Body for Union Activities
Marxist Society Activities Punished at Various Universities...Identity Confusion

[Image source=PinDuoDuo Facebook account]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Last month, a tragic incident occurred where a female employee in her 20s at Pinduoduo, one of China's top three online shopping malls, suddenly died while leaving work after an overnight shift. This has sparked widespread discontent among China's 260 million workers, known as "nongmingong" (migrant workers). In particular, young migrant workers are demanding improvements in labor conditions across the Chinese IT industry and other sectors, actively pushing for the establishment of labor unions and labor disputes. However, Chinese authorities have responded with a hardline stance, arresting workers even for merely discussing union formation. This has created an ironic situation where union activities are punished in the communist state of China.

On the 6th (local time), according to The New York Times (NYT) and major foreign media, Shanghai authorities have launched an investigation into Pinduoduo's working hours and labor conditions. This followed the revelation on social media by colleagues of the sudden death of a female employee in her 20s working at Pinduoduo's Urumqi branch in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, who died around 1:30 a.m. while leaving work last month. Although termed a sudden death, criticism has poured in that it was effectively a death from overwork due to daily overtime, and young Chinese workers are expressing anger, saying this could happen to anyone. Hashtags related to the Pinduoduo employee's death have been searched over 200 million times on social media, sounding an alarm about China's harsh labor environment.

Forced to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week... The 996 Movement

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Overnight work like this is considered very normal in China's IT industry. According to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP), Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, famously encouraged the so-called 996 movement, saying, "To succeed, you must work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, even if you are young." Since then, overtime has been taken for granted. Recently, on Chinese social media, young workers demanding better labor conditions have raised their voices, saying that companies are now expecting them to work from midnight to midnight, seven days a week, known as "007."

Despite the brutal work demands from companies, the Chinese government has been criticized for neglecting its role in regulating businesses and improving working conditions. China does have a state-recognized labor union called the "Gonghui," but this organization is widely regarded as having long degenerated into a worker surveillance body that colludes with entrepreneurs to monitor workers attempting to form unions or prepare labor disputes and reports them to the authorities. Why has the union in communist China become so distorted?

State-Recognized Union Gonghui Exists... But Has Become a Government Organization Under the Communist Party

The scene of the National Congress of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the state-certified labor union of China. The national leadership also participates together. [Image source: All-China Federation of Trade Unions official website/www.acftu.org]

The state-recognized union Gonghui, officially named the "All-China Federation of Trade Unions," is the only union established across all regions and enterprises in China. The formation of any other independent unions is prohibited. With over 300 million registered members, it is the world's largest labor union, but its key officials are all Chinese government ministers, and its budget is allocated by the central government. In effect, it functions as a state agency that monitors and controls labor disputes occurring throughout China, suppressing union activities by surveilling, co-opting, or reporting workers to the authorities.

Gonghui was not originally established as a state organization. It was founded alongside the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 to protect the rights of Chinese workers who faced discrimination in regions controlled by Western powers, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. During the 1922 Hong Kong seamen's general strike, Gonghui sided with the workers and fought against the British colonial government. Chinese seamen protested against wages that were more than five times lower than those of white seamen and blatant racial discrimination by the British colonial government, leading to a massive strike that paralyzed Hong Kong's logistics for 56 days. Eventually, the British government agreed to the workers' demands, and this event helped the Chinese Communist Party gain nationwide recognition.

Now, Gonghui is effectively doing the same as the British colonial government did back then. The Chinese government's harsh crackdown on the Hong Kong protests last year, despite international criticism and U.S. sanctions, was reportedly motivated by fears that labor disputes could spread nationwide, similar to the 1922 Hong Kong seamen's strike. According to the BBC, thousands of labor disputes occurred in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, cities adjacent to Hong Kong, during the intense protests last year. Particularly in Guangzhou, one of China's economic hubs, over 2,000 labor disputes were reported, raising concerns among Chinese authorities about the protests escalating into anti-government movements.

In a Communist State, Marxist Study Groups Are Monitored and Punished... An Unbelievable Irony

The scene of the 200th anniversary celebration of Karl Marx's birth held by the Communist Party of China in 2018. [Image source: Xinhua·Yonhap News]

The irony in communist China goes further, with university students studying Marxism being monitored and punished. Karl Marx is famously known as the founder of communist ideology in both the former Soviet Union and China. In 2018, the Chinese government even held a ceremony commemorating the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx's birth.

However, academic societies and university students who study and practice Maoism, the ideology of Mao Zedong, known as the founding father of modern China, are being punished. According to The Washington Post (WP), in October 2018, Cornell University in the U.S. severed ties with Renmin University of China, which had operated a Marxist research and exchange program since 2012, because 12 Renmin University students who organized labor movements for low-income workers were punished.

Since 2018, students at prestigious Chinese universities such as Peking University and Renmin University have voluntarily read works by Marx, Lenin, and Mao Zedong, formed groups to promote socialist development, and campaigned for labor union formation to improve working conditions. However, Chinese authorities have arrested these students, and universities have also taken disciplinary actions. According to the Chinese Communist Party's charter, these elite students working to advance proletarian rights have suddenly become criminals. Since the reform and opening-up in 1978, the Chinese Communist Party has transformed into a state that protects capitalist interests, and concerns are growing that this identity crisis will deepen further.