Wei Jianxing Calls on Trade Unions to Care for Workers in Difficulty
Trade unions in China should step up efforts to aid laid-off workers from State-owned enterprises and never let "unexpected tragedy happen to a single household in abject poverty," a top Chinese official said in Beijing January 27.
Special attention should be paid to "those who cannot afford living expenses," said Wei Jianxing, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), at a meeting of the presidium of the ACFTU.
Wei called on all trade unions to take on the tasks of helping the layoffs find new jobs, offering them vocational training, and ensuring a basic level of subsistence for the poor.
"Protecting the interests of the workers and maintaining social stability is the task of the Party, and is also a top duty that trade unions should never shrug off," Wei said. He urged trade unions across the country to identify themselves with the common workers and to report the truth to the Party. More work should be done to educate the broad masses of workers to more conscientiously protect the current political stability and unity, Wei stressed.
Wei projected several goals for both enterprises and trade unions in the new year to safeguard the rights and interests of workers:
-- All enterprises must abide by the labor law by signing collective labor contracts with their employees on equal terms through negotiations within this year;
-- Trade unions should foster the growth of workers' congresses in all enterprises representing the rights and interests of workers, and work for their welfare;
-- All state-owned enterprises must allow employees to participate in democratic management of their enterprises and the supervision of enterprise officials.
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