Re: [Marxism] China to Press More Firms to Unionize (WSJ)

[Marvin Gandall <marvgandall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Walter wrote:

> Rod and Marvin's comments are quite timely and worth exploring further.
> No one, starting with me, claimed that the Chinese CP leadership had the
> idea first. I simply said that the Chinese government, which has decided
> to encourage and support workers in foreign-owned private enterprises,
> to join unions. I personally think that's a good thing, though evidently
> opinions about that are divided here, as is often the case.

[...]
================================
You may have misunderstood. I wasn't being critical of the unions being
forced on the multinationals - even the tame official ones. When class
struggles erupt, militant unions often emerge from or transform the existing
docile and dependent organizations, so having a union in place is better for
workers than not having one. If it makes Walmart's US workers and the
Chinese working class more conscious of the need for real unions, so much
the better.

I was commenting on your suggestion that the reforms were attributable to
the the regime's "Communist" political character.The party's residual
ideology and its trade union arm have provided a framework, but the moves
appear to have been mainly prompted by growing social unrest and the need
for more balanced economic development based on strong domestic demand. The
same motives can cause capitalists to strengthen union rights in some
periods and then roll them back in others - when the system is stable and
so-called underconsumption isn't perceived as a problem affecting growth.

Otherwise, I thought the rest of your post was very good and I agreed with
it.





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