Opinion: How to deal with trade unions

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clpstaff &clp articles

Many foreign-invested companies have delayed establishing trade unions, but as the government pushes harder on this issue, unionisation and collective bargaining will become unavoidable

Employee unionisation is high on the human resources agenda for multinational companies in China. Increasing pressure is coming from the Chinese government through the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and all levels of government-supported trade unions, to establish trade unions and enter into collective bargaining agreements.

Under the PRC Labour Union Law (中华人民共和国工会法), employees have the right to form an enterprise trade union if their employer has 25 or more employees. The formation of the union is guided, supported and controlled by the government-supported upper-level trade union. This gives the government an ability to exercise indirect control over any enterprise trade union.

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