"Why China Has Strikes Without Unions", 27 Jun 2014

...[China Labour Bulletin] cautions workers...to focus instead on confronting their employers...[T]he Bulletin doesn't urge workers to form unions that extend beyond their own workplace: To do so would be to challenge the authority of...the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU)...Characteristically, plant managers and party officials head the ACFTU's local affiliates...With enough experience at successful collective bargaining, [Han Dongfang, the founder of China Labour Bulletin] contends, workers can one day compel the Federation to morph into a genuine workers' organization...To date, however, not only are multi-facility unions politically verboten, but even one-facility unions have proven impossible to sustain...There's no doubt that Han's promotion of employer-focused...collective worker action has proven a considerable success, not only in emboldening and winning gains for workers but also in acclimating party officials to the occasional strike. Whether these actions have the transformational potential he claims for them is...another question...[Refers to Honda, City Watch, Nokia, Walmart, Yue Yuen]