Michel Zi Wang 1M090503-2

  Introduction-Part I of Leslie Chang’s book, Factory Girls—From Village to City in a Changing China

  The province of Canton   Migrant workers’ lives in Dongguan-their

motive for quitting their home villages, problems they face in life and at work in the city

  What can be done-to strike for better treatments? Abolishing the household registration (hukou) system? Or by other means?

 Factory Girls—From Village to City in a Changing China

 Part I: The City (nine chapters)  Her portrayal of migrant workers (the

neglected group) is most vivid and leaves an everlasting impression on readers

 Her main approach was to report to us how the migrant workers see things from their perspectives and personal experiences

 To achieve that, Chang tried to be “one of them”

 She tried hard to establish a close relationship with a few migrant workers and kept track of their activities for two years

 Her work allows us to truly understand these assembly line workers and how have they been changed by immersing themselves in city life

 Sometimes she had to infiltrate into business dinners to reveal the well off migrant workers and the intricate network of govt-business relationships

 She also included accounts of her own family history-a history of migration too!

 A highly recommended book!  http://leslietchang.com/index.html

 Main setting chosen by Chang: the city of Dongguan in the province of Canton

 Briefly mentioned about workers in other cities, in particular Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

 These are three out of the nine cities in the province which form the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Economic zone

 The economic hub of southern China (perhaps the entire nation)

0 1 2 3 4

Zhejiang

Shandong

Jiangsu

Guangdong

Total Tertiary Secondary Primary industry

GDP (in trillions RMB) of top 4 Chinese provinces 2010

 According to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) ◦ Canton’s GDP accounts for roughly 12% of

the national total ◦  Produced 30% of the total export value in

China  Also, the province accounts for 20% of

FDI in China, with 61% of it utilised in manufacturing industry ◦ Major ones include computers and

accessories, electrical products, refined chemicals, toys, garments etc

 Hong Kong remains as the major investor ◦  62% of Canton’s total from 1979-2007

 Others include Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, the US, the EU…

 Any multinational that you can think of has production facilities in the province, with a large part in Dongguan ◦ V-Tech, Hopewell, Hon Hai, IBM, Intel,

General Electric, Honda, Ericsson, Toyota, Samsung, Nestle, Pepsi, Foxconn… ◦ Many of these served as ‘home’ (away from

home) for the protagonists in Chang’s book

  In Chang’s words, migration in China was “an accidental consequence of economic reforms”

 Household registration (hukou) system was introduced in China in 1958 ◦ Either rural or urban residency ◦ Those labelled as “rural” were deprived of

housing, food rationing, job allocations etc ◦ Rural residents had to remain on their farms,

and had to turn in their produce to the state

  When Deng Xiaoping took over at the end of the 1970s, he initiated economic reforms to open China up (Eg. Open Door Policy, Special Economic Zones etc)

  Farmers were allowed to sell a small part of their harvest on the market

  In 1984, rural residents were permitted to settle down in market towns

  Since settling down in urban areas was no longer illegal, the speed of migration soared ◦  60 million migrants in 1990, over 130 million today ◦  Concentrated in southern Chinese (mainly in Canton)

coastal cities where there are booming factories

  The migrants are often being referred to as a “floating population”, a pejorative term used by urban dwellers

  How many migrant workers are there in Dongguan? ◦  The city government estimated that out of 8.7

million people in the city, seven million are migrants ◦  Few people believe these official figures ◦  During a press conference (Chang was present

too), the mayor admitted that actual figures were “far more than publicly announced” ◦  Over 10 million was his “conservative” estimate

at 2005, with an annual increase of a million new comers

  Most migrants work on an assembly line in one of the many factories

  One example in Chang’s book: The Yue Yuen Shoe Factory (Taiwanese-owned) ◦  Biggest manufacturer for Nike, Adidas, Reebok,

Puma ◦  1/3 of athletic shoes in the world are made in

Canton, Yue Yuen is the biggest plant ◦  70 000 migrant workers on its assembly lines ◦  All under the age of 30, 80% female, age range

from 18-25 ◦  Workers sleep in dorms (10 per room), eat in

factory canteens, shop at factory supermarkets ◦  Childcare, hospital, movie theatre and English

classes also available

  A typical worker on the assembly line at Yue Yuen ◦  Works 11 hours per day, with Sundays off ◦  Gets paid every month, on time ◦  Earns about 72 USD a month, in line with the

city’s minimum wage (Chang)   Hierarchy is strictly observed ◦  Separate canteens for workers, managers,

supervisors and executives ◦  Only managers and those above this rank are

allowed to live on-site with children (a symbol of status)

  A clear divide in the factory society along provincial lines (poor integration) largely due to regional differences

  What do you think of Yue Yuen’s policies towards and treatment of its employees?

  Indeed, not bad after all. But unfortunately Yue Yuen is the exception rather than the norm

  As Chang observed through visits to factories and talks with some experienced workers (who had changed factories many times): ◦  Living and working conditions are generally

worse (as we have seen in the documentary last week) ◦  It is habitual to receive monthly salary below the

minimum. Two girls interviewed by her were receiving only 37 USD per month, a normal amount for those below 18 and had no experience

  Since the beginning of economic reforms in the late 1970s, farming has become less appealing, especially to young people

  In most rural areas, young girls evacuate en masse (the author corroborates this with her observation in villages)

  Most of them were between 14-16 years old when they had first gone out (barely the minimum age to work)

  Being junior high school dropouts, they lack qualifications to perform any available task

  Most of them would use borrowed ID cards to show maturity and would buy certificates from roadside vendors in Dongguan

  Problems highlighted:   Extremely unskilled labour force ◦  New recruits receive little or no training (during

peak seasons)—industrial accidents   Appalling conditions at work ◦  Long hours, low pay, factories often owe money

to workers   Prevailing mindset of valuing boys ◦  Boys are kept in villages to manage farms and

property, whereas girls are expected to “go out”, work, send money back, and ultimately return to the village to marry someone

  Hardship endured by migrant workers ◦  Living by third-world standards in a province

whose economy is as large as that of Turkey’s or Indonesia’s (Jean Ruffier)

  Strikes & Labour Unions ◦  Min, a migrant worker featured in Chang’s book, once walked off the

assembly line in protest—earning nothing but a $12 fine ◦  An extreme way to protest: suicide at Foxconn. 12 workers attempted,

10 had died. Foxconn proposed a 20% increase in pay for some 200 000 workers ◦  BUT, Foxconn’s compromise was to many observers a complete farce.

“A mere anticipation of government policies”. (Rue89) ◦  Protests in May 2010 in Honda-owned factories led to the company’s

proposal of a 24% increment in salary (Harold Thibault)   But it would be unfeasible ◦  When considering a strike, workers have to weigh the pros (increase in

pay) and cons (forgone hours of paid-work, suppression) (Olson cited by Ruffier) ◦  The ultimate fear of being violently suppressed by the state (Ruffier)

  May 2010, some 1900 workers went on strike to demand for higher salaries

  The announcement of a 24% increment (Harold Thibault).

  The demonstrators were “cheerful young people” (NY Times) who demanded simply for more money, NOT a larger political agenda ◦  Dashed hopes of a possible “Chinese Spring”? ◦  Workers are aware that they are “treated as means

to material ends” (Ako cited by Vickers) ◦  A tacit acknowledgement, and they could do

nothing but give in?

  The Federation of Labour Unions in China has about 212 million members

  The Honda case presented a paradoxical moment: representatives from trade unions were OPPOSING workers on strike!

  “These unions in China are merely a communication channel to relay official policies to workers and to ensure that they abide by these rules” (Prof. Metcalf)

  Nothing more than a “state instrument” (un appareil d’etat) (Rue89)   The unions oversee workers, not to bargain for higher wages or

pressing for better working conditions (NY Times)   Chinese law does not explicitly prohibit one from striking ◦  But tacit knowledge suggests that workers not exercise such rights

overtly   In my opinion, strikes would be tolerated to a certain extent on a

case by case basis, most efforts will nonetheless be futile

 Abolish the rural-urban hukou system? ◦  In certain provinces, this has been

experimented. Any observable consequences, improvements?

 How to ensure the migrant workers, who are the driving force behind China’s export economy, have a fair share of the economic pie?

 What do you think is necessary? What need to be done?

  Chang, Leslie T. “Factory Girls—From Village to City in a Changing China”. Spiegel&Grau 2009

  The People Daily. GDP of 31 provinces in China. 26/2/2010 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/98505/6903538.html

  HKTDC. Market Profiles on Chinese Cities and Provinces--Guangdong http://info.hktdc.com/mktprof/china/mpgud.htm

  Ruffier Jean. Tensions sociales en Chine du Sud: vers une grève générale? Rue89 http://www.rue89.com/chinatown/2011/01/22/vers-une-greve-generale-en-chine-du-sud-186370

  Thibault Harold. Chine: “l’usine du monde” face aux tensions sociales. Rue89 http://www.rue89.com/chinatown/2010/06/02/chine-lusine-du-monde-face-aux-tensions-sociales-153252

  Vickers Edward. Review on Dr Ako’s book.   New York Times, Strike in China Highlights Gap in Worker’s Pay. 28th

May, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/business/global/29honda.html