China Labour Bulletin January 2021 Issue: Coal mine safety in the spotlight again after Chongqing tragedies
China Labour Bulletin January 2021 Issue
Coal mine safety in the spotlight again after Chongqing tragedies
In the space of less than three months at the end of last year, 39 workers died in two separate coal mine accidents in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing. [...]
The incidents led to intense scrutiny of Chongqing’s safety record, and the State Council’s Safety Commission stressed that the municipal government should learn important lessons from the tragedies, including the need to “strictly enforce the law, crackdown on non-compliance, eliminate outdated production capacity in a safe and orderly manner, and resolutely prevent and contain major accidents.”
Minimum wage increases stall under the impact of Covid-19 pandemic
China’s economy demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and both the manufacturing and services sectors steadily recovered in the latter half of last year. However, workers are yet to share in the benefits. [...]
Myanmar workers protest union busting efforts in the garment industry
Continuing with our series of articles focusing on the challenges faced by workers in the Global South during the Covid-19 pandemic, we reported last month from Yangon on how garment factories there are targeting trade unionists and worker activists in pandemic-related layoffs, and how the country’s main labour arbitration council appears to be complicit in the process. [...]