Citation

Hannan K. International Journal of China Studies 2010; 1(2): 393-412.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

In mid-2010 a public spotlight was shone on the wages and conditions of China's rural-to-urban migrant workers when there were a number of worker suicides at the giant Foxconn conglomerate's factories in Shenzhen. However, this was not all that was happening. More importantly, and at the same time, strike action was being taken by car-workers at Honda and Toyota plants. There were also reports of strikes by workers in textile, electronic enterprises (other than the Foxconn factories and including at the Japanese Brother sewing machine company), and sporting goods manufacturers, together with a range of other export production enterprises.1 It is now widely recognized that the recent increases in migrant worker wages owe much to the publicity afforded the Foxconn troubles and particularly the work stoppages in the automobile and other export manufacturing sectors. The wage increases have been substantial. As much as a sixty-six per cent increase has been promised to Foxconn's migrant workers in the Taiwanese-owned multinational's Shenzhen plant and between twenty and thirty per cent wage increases are cited as a consequence of the Honda strike action and in the case of a range of other export manufacturing enterprises.

Language: en

Keywords

Wages; Chinese migrant workers; Work stoppages