The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) recently announced its collective bargaining working plan for 2014-2018, which calls on all lower-level union organisations to conduct collective bargaining in more companies, and improve the quality of collective bargaining. The working plan emphasises that the terms of the collective contract must be detailed enough to be easily performed, and the labour unions should involve as many employees as possible in the collective bargaining process to increase the employees’ awareness of, and satisfaction with, the collective bargaining.
In the past, although many companies had conducted collective bargaining and signed collective contracts with their employees, the terms of most such collective contracts were very general, and in many cases just a reflection of the basic legal requirements or the company’s existing compensation and benefits policy.
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”1″ ihc_mb_template=”2″ ]
The working plan also calls on the unions to enhance their efforts in pushing for local legislation to promote collective bargaining. In a related development, the local legislature in Shenzhen on 26 June conducted a fourth reading of the Shenzhen Collective Bargaining Regulations. If passed, the regulations would include: (i) granting employees the right of information concerning financial statements, wages, taxes and social insurance contribution payments; and (ii) requiring a party to respond to the other party’s collective bargaining request within 10 working days.
While an earlier draft had included a provision requiring mandatory arbitration in cases of stalled negotiations, the latest draft only states that if during the collective bargaining process the employees go on strike, or the employer closes the factory, either party may apply for mediation of the dispute by the local Labour Relations Reconciliation Commission, which usually consists of representatives from enterprise associations, the labour bureau and labour unions.
In a related development, the Guangdong ACFTU is proposing a draft set of Guangdong Province Implementing Measures on Democratic Elections in Grass-Roots Unions, which would allow company unions to act more independently of company management influence. Often, in practice, company management can exert influence over the union election process or union activities. For example, the preparatory team responsible for driving the union establishment process would be selected by the company party organisation and upper-level union, rather than company management.
[/ihc-hide-content]
Business Law Digest is compiled with the assistance of Baker & McKenzie. Readers should not act on this information without seeking professional legal advice. You can contact Baker & McKenzie by e-mailing Danian Zhang (Shanghai) at: danian.zhang@bakermckenzie.com
