UC Berkeley的學生寫的報告, 敘述過去幾年團體如何透過法律去爭取工人的權益.
轉載自SFC
Shanghai -- Warring emotions gripped Song Xiaowei as he looked at the long line snaking outside of the university legal clinic, the only one of its kind in this city of 17 million people.
He was overjoyed because he had finally found a group that could help him and his 56 co-workers who had been laid off without notice from their jobs at a package handling and delivery company. "But also sad," he said, "because I realized so many people are treated unfairly and needed help."
Song and the others sued their company and eventually won severance pay for being fired in violation of their contract. He is one of 8,000 workers who annually contact the Labor Law Service Center at East China University of Politics and Law. Here, workers seek legal advice and services to get compensation for unpaid wages, illegal dismissals and workplace injuries.
The law clinic that started in 2002 is part of a nationwide tide of increasing legal challenges brought by workers. Legal experts say Chinese citizens have a new awareness about their right to challenge employers because of stronger labor laws, more government openness, new advocacy groups and the budding influence of Western ideas about individual rights.
The Chinese government enacted a series of labor laws in 1992, 1994 and 1999 that strengthened the rights of workers and made legal challenges easier. Since the 1990s, it has also permitted the introduction of locally run organizations that advocate everything from environmental protection to labor rights.
"Many young people think we should fight for our rights," said Qiu Jie, an advocate at the Labor Law Service Center.
Though it is difficult to get labor disputes into court, once they are there, labor lawyers say judges are sympathetic to their worker-clients. Laborers won 15,462 of 18,028 cases (about 86 percent) that were resolved in Shanghai last year, according to government figures.
In Shanghai, the birthplace of China's Communist Party, more and more workers are using the legal system to seek redress for their grievances. The cases the clinic has won run the gamut of grievances. In one, a woman developed severe permanent breathing problems on her job. In another, a man was fired for testifying against his employer on behalf of a colleague in a separate court case. In a third, a worker was paid below the minimum wage of $79 per month.
Sevenfold increase in suits
From 1995 to 2004, labor lawsuits in Shanghai have increased sevenfold to more than 18,000 cases, according to government data. A separate study by two Hong Kong university-based legal scholars shows that the number of labor disputes nationwide shot up more than five times, from 33,000 cases involving 123,000 people in 1993 to 184,000 cases involving 608,000 people in 2002.
Court cases are one thing, but advocates say more could be done to protect workers before disputes reach the legal system. They argue that the fines for labor law violations are too low to convince many companies to stop improper practices. "We do not have very good enforcement channels for labor laws in China," said Cheng Jianyuan, 47, an attorney at the clinic.
Despite the enforcement problems, many workers have a newfound desire to push for their rights.
In May 2003, Song, 38, was one of 57 employees laid off by the Australian company TNT, which operates a delivery service similar to FedEx, and its local partner Sinotrans. The employees, who were mostly blue-collar workers responsible for handling packages, had a contract that ran until the end of 2003, but they were fired without notice seven months early and not paid their required severance.
Workers win in arbitration
Song, who was an IT networking specialist at TNT for 10 years, sued on behalf of himself and his colleagues, arguing that their employer had violated their contract by laying them off early. The case went to arbitration, the mandatory first step in these cases, and the workers won. But the employer appealed the case to municipal court. That's when Song sought legal help from the labor clinic.
Song, a thin man with close-cropped hair, was the only worker to testify in court. The others were afraid, he said, or just did not want to get involved. In China, observers say, just filing a lawsuit often has been considered shameful and can ignite criticism from colleagues, neighbors and friends. "Chinese consider it a very serious matter to go to court," said Xie Xialing, professor of sociology at Fudan University.
But Song did not mind testifying. "I was not nervous because I was confident we would win," he said.
During the court case, TNT offered to settle for 80 percent of the workers' claim because their case was well documented. The former employees accepted a total of about $203,000, or an average of $3,561 per person. Their average monthly salary ranged from $250 to $1,250. Each worker was paid severance of one month for each year he or she worked at TNT.
After the case was settled, Song opened his own small business selling jade jewelry. "Employees are regarded as inferior," he said. "I was hurt in the case. I don't want to be an employee. Now I'm the owner."
In another case, Fan Yunfeng, a woman in her 40s, suffered a permanent respiratory illness as a result of working at a glass factory. She could no longer work. After a breathing tube had been inserted into her throat, she could barely talk. The clinic helped her file suit and win compensation from her employer.
"She loves life," said Qiu Jie of the legal clinic. "I think it's very sad she will wear that tube her whole life and always cough."
Clinic handles few cases
But the clinic has few resources. It can take only about 50 cases to court per year out of the 8,000 total e-mails, visits and phone inquiries it receives. It has two full-time lawyers and 20 part-time volunteers. The staff focuses on informing as many workers as possible about laws and legal procedures so that they can negotiate settlements with employers themselves.
For the vast majority, it is difficult to bring a claim to court because it is tough to get an affordable lawyer, to persuade witnesses to testify and to gather authentic documents acceptable in court.
The legal clinic estimates that there are only about 20 labor lawyers in Shanghai despite the increasing number of lawyers -- about 5,000 in the city today. Lawyers are generally not interested in the small fees paid for labor cases.
Despite their small number, the cases are important because they set clear examples that the clinic uses in its media campaign to educate Chinese citizens on their rights. The clinic publishes articles in the Shanghai Morning Post, Shanghai Evening Post and Xinmin newspapers, as well as two magazines. It also has a monthly program on the Oriental Radio Station and occasional segments on the Shanghai TV station.
Getting the word out
"We want to make many people know about us and share these cases with the public," said Qiu Jie, who writes newspaper articles for the clinic. "In this way, we can help even more people."
One common and sensitive issue for workers is their dang-an, or personnel record. In China, each worker's employer maintains this file and passes it on to any new employer. Unlike private employee records in the United States, the records in China are available to new potential employers. Any blemish could cause a serious problem in finding a new job.
After one 27-year-old woman was abruptly laid off, her employer wrote in her personnel record that she was fired for substandard work.
"I was more angry than sad," said the woman, who did not want to use her real name for fear of difficulty getting a new job.
The labor clinic took the woman's case to arbitrators, who ruled that her work was not substandard, that she be compensated $500, and that the reference to being fired be removed from her personnel record.
The clinic, founded by Professor Dong Baohua, is a relatively new type of independent, nongovernmental organization in China. It receives most of its support from private charitable foundations. The Chinese government has been more receptive to these groups recently, said Qiu Jie. "In recent years, they think it's a good system to help them help solve social problems."
Small disputes stay small
Some observers say that the Chinese government welcomes them because they help to defuse small-scale labor disagreements before they grow into major public protests or political unrest.
For some workers, the road to legal redress has been a challenge. "Most of us almost gave up the right to sue at first," said Song, referring to a statute of limitations regarding labor suits. "So the compensation surprised us.''
Song and his co-workers bought a large traditional red banner with yellow tassels to thank the clinic. The tribute hangs with more than a dozen others on the wall of the clinic's small office. Its large gold Chinese characters read, "They are the protectors of the law, and they contribute to the fairness of the law."
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Report from Shanghai
This article is one of several The Chronicle is publishing in the next few weeks by a group of students in the master's degree program at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. The students, led by veteran journalist Todd Carrel, have traveled to Shanghai to report on a variety of business, political and social topics. They are being assisted by the faculty and students of the journalism and communications department at Shanghai International Studies University. Companion digital television pieces will appear on the Washington Post Web site at: www.washingtonpost.com/wp- srv/photo/emergingvoices/index.html.
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By the numbers
18,028: Number of labor suits resolved in Shanghai in 2004.
600: Percentage increase in suits resolved in 2004 compared with 10 years ago
86: Percentage of suits won by workers
$2,035: Average yearly income in Shanghai
Sources: Chinese government, Shanghai Statistical Bureau, Professors Hualing Fu and D.W. Choy, City University of Hong Kong