Trade unions outline priorities for next 5 years

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Trade unions outline priorities for next 5 years

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Hu Jintao meets delegates of trade unions

Chinese top trade union leader Wang Zhaoguo on Monday listed the priority tasks for the national organization for the coming five years, including raising the proficiency of its members, working hard to advocate and do practical things for workers, and improving relations between the employees and employers.

Addressing about 1,600 delegates attending the opening session of the 14th National Congress of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), Wang, ACFTU chairman, said that the organization should strive hard to safeguard the legitimate interests and rights of workers.

ACFTU must focus its efforts on matters most concerning workers, such as employment, distribution of wages, social security, and work safety, Wang told the congress, which is held every five years.

On industrial relations in the past five years, the chairman said the situation has been healthy in general, but the violation of the workers' legitimate interests and rights still occurs in some areas.

Trade union national congress convenes

In some particular areas, the situation was quite acute, which resulted in strained relations between the employees and employers, said Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The chairman called on trade unions at all levels to contribute more to the formulation of laws and regulations of the country that concern workers so that their aspirations and demands will been bodied in laws and regulations and policies on interest and rights of the employees.

He also called for the involvement of trade unions in the management of governments, the corporate world, and government institutions.

Wang went on to say that the organization will continue its bid in the coming five years to help set up more trade unions at grassroots levels.

The federation, which was founded on May 1, 1925, is the country's leading body of all local trade union organizations and national industrial trade unions, representing 1.71 million trade unions at the grass-roots level with a record 134 million members.

During the Sept. 22-26 congress, the delegates will hear and deliberate the work report of the 13th Executive Committee of the ACFTU, discuss and adopt an amendment to the federation's constitution and the financial report of the 13th Executive Committee, and elect the 14th ACFTU Executive Committee and Financial Auditing Committee.

Trade union sees sharp rise in membership

Membership of trade unions rose sharply from 1997 to 2002, thanks to government efforts to set up more grassroots unions to protect the rights of factory employees, according to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

At the end of 2002, the number of union members had reached a record 134 million, compared with 91.31 million in 1997, and the number of grassroots union organizations stood at 1,713,000, compared with 510,000 five years before.

Private and foreign-funded companies, where workers are more vulnerable to rights abuses, have been urged to establish trade unions.

As the 14th National Congress of the federation approaches, public concern about the protection of the rights of factory workers has grown.

Thirty-six delegations comprising 1,698 representatives, 252 special delegates and 23 non-voting members are arriving in the national capital to attend the congress, which is to open Monday and runs till Friday.

Some delegates have called for more attention to the rights of female workers, due to the fact that they are more likely to lose their jobs, more vulnerable to sexual harassment, and more frequently falling victim to gender discrimination.

The forthcoming meeting is expected to discuss amendments to the federation's constitution in an effort to better protect the rights of labors.

The congress is the result of 10 months of intensive preparations, said Zhang Junjiu vice-president and the first secretary of the secretariat of the federation. Zhang called it a major event in the history of China's workers movement.

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