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As the economy of China has rapidly developed, issues of labor relations have evolved. Prior to this reform, Chinese citizens were only allowed to work where they originated from. Since 1978, when China began labor force reforms, the overwhelming majority of the labor force were either working at State owned enterprises or as farm workers in the rural countryside. However, over time China began to reform and by the late 90's many had moved from the countryside into the cities in hopes of higher paying jobs and more opportunities. The only connection between the countryside and the city soon became that there was a huge floating population connecting them. Independent unions are illegal in China with only the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) permitted to operate. China has been the largest exporter of goods in the world since 2009. Not only that, in 2013 China became the largest trading nation in the world. As China moved away from their planned economy and more towards a market economy the government has brought on many reforms. The aim of this shift in economies was to match the international standards set by the World Trade Organization and other economic entities. The ACFTU that was established to protect the interests of national and local trade unions failed to represent the workers, leading to the 2010 crackdowns. However, these strikes were centered around foreign companies.[1][2]
One of the hallmarks of China's socialist economy was its promise of employment to all able and willing to work and job-security with virtually lifelong tenure. Reformers targeted the labor market as unproductive because industries were frequently overstaffed to fulfill socialist goals and job-security reduced workers' incentive to work. This socialist policy was pejoratively called the iron rice bowl. The iron rice bowl in 1978 ended collective farming and was then replaced by the "household responsibility system". It provided an informal market for farmers to increase prices above government ceilings placed on goods.[3]
In 1979–1980, the state reformed factories by giving wage increases to workers, which was immediately offset by sharply rising inflation rates of 6%–7%. In the previous year, the inflation rate only rose a small one percent. This was largely because of two elements, price controls were adjusted and there was limited economic reforms that regarded SOEs expenditures. The state remedied this problem, in part, by distributing wage subsidies.
The reforms also dismantled the iron rice bowl, which meant it witnessed a rise in unemployment in the economy. In 1979, immediately after the iron rice bowl was dismantled, there were 20 million unemployed people. Official Chinese statistics reveal that 4.2% of the total urban workforce was unemployed in 2004, although other estimates have reached 10%. As part of its newly developing social securitylegislation, China has an unemployment insurance system. At the end of 2003, more than 103.7 million people were participating in the plan, and 7.4 million laid-off employees had received benefits.
The 10-percent sample showed that approximately three-fourths of the labor force worked in the agricultural sector. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in the mid-1980s more than 120 million people worked in the non agricultural sector. The sample revealed that men occupied the great majority of leadership positions. The average worker was about thirty years old, and three out of every four workers were under forty-five years of age. The working population had a low education level. Less than 40 percent of the labor force had more than a primary school education, and 30 percent were illiterate or semi-literate.
In mid-1982 the overall unemployment rate was estimated to be about 5 percent. Of the approximately 25 million unemployed, 12 million were men and 13 million were women. The unemployment rate was highest in the northeast and lowest in the south. The unemployment rates were higher than those of East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific island countries for which data were available but were lower than the rates found in North America and Europe. Virtually all of the unemployed persons in cities and towns were under twenty years of age.
By the 1990s and 2000s, agriculture has remained the largest employer, though its proportion of the workforce has steadily declined; between 1991 and 2001 it dropped from about 60% to 40% of the total. The manufacturing labor force has also become smaller at a slower rate, partially because of reforms implemented at many of the state-run enterprises. Such reforms and other factors have increased unemployment and underemployment in both urban and rural areas. Women have been a major labor presence in China since the People's Republic was established. Some 40–45 percent of all women over age 15 are employed.
China's estimated employed labor force in 2005 totaled 791.4 million persons, about 60% of the total population. During 2003, 49% of the labor force worked in agriculture, forestry, and fishing; 22% in mining, manufacturing, energy, and construction industries; and 29% in the services sector and other categories. In 2004 some 25 million persons were employed by 743,000 private enterprises. Urban wages rose rapidly from 2004 to 2007, at a rate of 13 to 19% per year with average wages near $200/month in 2007.
In the Seventh National Population Census conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of China the population in China is 1.4 billion. China's population growth has slowed since the 20th century and has maintained a mild growth in population. The average household size in China is 2.62 people, this can be attributed to the rise in better work opportunities and conditions for those living in the city. In higher education, there were 218.36 million people with a university level of education. In addition, illiteracy rates dropped from 4.08% to 2.67%. The reform and push for education in China has led them to create more skilled workers centered around urban areas. Regarding Urban and rural populations there are 901.99 million living in urban spaces which account for 63.89% of the population compared to 509.79 million people living in rural areas of China which account for the 36.11% remaining percent. The continuous shift between rural workers migrating into cities for more opportunities continue. This can be attributed to growth in industrialization, information, and agricultural modernization. Many of these rural residents permanently left their homes to gain permanent urban residency.
However, not all have been able to move the transition smoothly. The number of people who fall under the "floating population" meaning they are living in an area that is not where they are originally registered from totals 492.76 million. Of this population 124.84 million work in other provinces in China from where they live. Furthermore, this exhibits that China needs to reform much of their labor as migrant workers are moving all around the country in search of work. This is a result of market forces penetrating into China in the early eighties that have brought on a plethora of issues, one of them including the "floating population". The basis for these workers are that they theoretically could not access housing and other things that urban Hukous could access.[4]
As of at least 2024, China has one of the lowest retirement ages among major world economies, with many working women eligible for retirement at 50 and men at 60.[5]:167
All-China Federation of Trade Unions
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) was established in 1925 to represent the interests of national and local trade unions and trade union councils. It is China's only legal union.[6]:161 As of early 2024, it has 300 million members and one million officials, making it the world's largest union.[6]:161 Membership is open to those who rely on wages for the whole or a large part of their income, a qualification that excludes most agricultural workers. In theory, membership is not compulsory, but in view of the unions' role in the distribution of social benefits, the economic pressure to join is great. The lowest unit is the enterprise union committee. Individual trade unions also operate at the provincial level, and there are trade union councils that coordinate all union activities within a particular area and operate at county, municipal, and provincial levels. At the top of the movement is the ACFTU, which discharges its functions through a number of regional federations.[7]
In theory the appropriate trade union organizations have been consulted on the level of wages as well as on wage differentials, but in practice their role in these and similar matters has been insignificant. They have not engaged in collective bargaining or general strikes, as their principal duties have included assisting the party and promoting production. In fulfilling these tasks, they have had a role in enforcing labor discipline. From the point of view of the membership, the most important activities have concerned the social and welfare services.[8] Thus, the unions have looked after industrial safety, organized social and cultural activities, and, provided services such as clinics, rest and holiday homes, hostels, libraries, and clubs. They also administer old-age pensions, workers' insurance, disability benefits, and other welfare schemes. More recently, however, reforms of the social security system have involved moving the responsibility for pensions and other welfare to the provinces.[9]
Trade union law
The Trade Union Law in China mandates all trade unions in China to be linked to the Chinese Communist Party. According to Article 4 of Trade Union Law of the People's Republic of China, which was passed in 1992, and revised in 2001 and 2009, "The trade union must abide by and uphold the Constitution, take the Constitution as the fundamental activity criterion, center on economic construction, adhere to the socialist road, adhere to the people's democratic dictatorship, adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, adhere to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, adhere to reform and opening up, carry out work independently in accordance with the trade union charter."[10]
Generally, labor disputes must go through arbitration before they can be litigated in court.[6]:179
In China there exist labor laws which, if fully enforced, would greatly alleviate common abuses such as not paying workers. In 2006, a new labor law was proposed and submitted for public comment. Enacted in 2008, the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China permits collective bargaining in a form analogous to that standard in Western economies, although the only legal unions would continue to be those affiliated with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the Communist Party's official union organization. The new law has support from labor activists, but was opposed by some foreign corporations, including the American Chamber of Commerce and the European Chamber of Commerce. There is some expectation that the law would be enforced.[who?][11][12][13] In 2010 a substantial increase in labor related cases brought to court in 2008 was reported.[14]
As per article 36 and article 41 of newly amended Chinese Labour law, the permissible working hour has been set that legally restricts employers from forcefully making workers overwork. According to the article 36 of the law, laborers can not be made work for more than 8 hours a day making 44 hours a week.[15] However, the laws have been violated frequently and are not strictly enforced by regulators.[16][17] A 2019 survey showed the actual average work time to be about 47 hours, with about 62% reporting actually working more than 40 hours a week.[18] In 2021, the Chinese government announced that it would regulate the 996 working hour system.[19]
In 2020 a law was introduced which banned the use of multiplayer video games for the purposes of organizing a labor union.[20] In the same year, due to COVID-19 Pandemic, the government allowed enterprises to keep adjustment of salaries optional and thereby enabling the business to refrain from offering wage hike to the workers.[15][21][22]
Foreign companies
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has increased from $1.8 billion in 1983 to $691.9 billion in 2006 . According to BBC China has overtaken the US as the world's top country for direct foreign investment. Over the years this has been able to happen as the Chinese government has gradually increased the amount of foreign business that can operate in China. As these restrictions are pulled back in China and more foreign companies begin to invest and maybe move their operations that China needs to reform to not allow any malpractices to continue. An ongoing effort to organize Chinese operations of foreign companies succeeded in 2006 at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was the most publicized case in China where they failed to recognize the ACFTU unions resulting in Wal-Mart agreeing to unionize all 62 Wal-Mart super stores. The campaign is projected to include Eastman Kodak, Dell and other companies. It was reported in 2008 that problems with sweatshops persist. By Fall, 2008 it was apparent that union organizing efforts were widespread with emphasis on foreign corporations. Multinational Corporations are the driving force behind China's labor system. However that leads the outcome of this to be uncertain for the future as foreign corporations push for better working environments while also attempting to keep their costs down. It is unclear how to operate and create a sustainable work environment in China.[23][24][25][26][27][28]
Floating Population
China's labor force is highly mobile and there is a significant amount of labor migration.[29]:386
In China, more often than not citizens living in the countryside and rural areas have to move to find work. In China there are an estimated 150 million members of this "floating population" who often find themselves migrating away from their homes and families to urban cities and areas. More often than not these workers spend up to 18 hours a day working in dangerous conditions for only $100 a month. These workers often don't sign a contract so as a result they are offered no vacation time or overtime pay. High population allows contractors and companies to abuse these workers for labor because they are so easily replaceable. However the issue is not whether that Chinese labor standards are too low, because according to the 1994 Labor Law, sought to "require employers to sign contracts with workers that guarantee minimum wage, monthly distribution of wages, a forty-four-hour work week, mandatory rest and vacation, and overtime pay". The Chinese labor laws are even more generous than in some developed countries however, these standards are ignored by both employer and employee often. The reason for which the labor standards in China are not enforced is due to the lack of incentive for any local or national official to do so. Many of these officials' performance evaluations are primarily focused on economic growth within their respective area. Not only this, the motives of these officials are generally viewed above the needs of a highly replaceable, uneducated worker who is from a different part of the country.[24]
Platform economy labor relations
China's platform economy has grown substantially since the early 2010s, with its transactional volume reaching RMB 3.7 trillion in 2021.[6]:155 The platform economy has absorbed a large number of workers from China's decreasing manufacturing workforce and from its population of internal migrant workers.[6]:155 As of 2020, 84 million people worked as platform economy service providers and 6 million were employees of platform companies.[6]:155
In 2018, the ACFTU identified platform economy food delivery drivers among its eight priority groups of workers for protection.[6]:162 It increased its skills training, legal assistance, and provided some medical benefits for these workers.[6]:162
According to China Labor Bulletin, there were 138 strikes by food delivery drivers between 2015 and 2022.[6]:163 Ten percent of these strikes involved over 100 participants.[6]:163 Nearly all of the food delivery strikes documented by China Labor Bulletin involved Meituan or Ele.me, and the worker's demands primarily related to pay increases or pay arrearages.[6]:163
Since the beginning of the 2020-2021 Xi Jinping administration reform spree, administrative bodies and courts have taken an increasingly protective view of platform workers and have issued a series of measures designed to improve their labor conditions.[6]:188
Starting in June 2021 and continuing through at least 2024, China's judicial system has engaged in a propaganda campaign to promote court cases decided in favor of platform economy workers against the companies for which they did work.[6]:182–183 The judicial system's newspapers and magazines have promoted coverage of typical cases and relevant studies.[6]:182–183 Academic Angela Huyue Zhang writes that because court rulings in China do not create precedent, the campaign is a mechanism for guiding courts to tighten regulation in this area, particularly where platform workers lack contracts or have been characterized as independent contractors but are in fact subject to tight monitoring by the platform companies that dispatch them.[6]:183
In July 2021, eight of China's central ministries issued the Guiding Opinions on Protecting Labor and Social Security Rights and Interests of Workers Engaged in New Forms of Employment (Document No. 56).[6]:256 It specifies that when a platform has labor management over workers but does not fully rise to the level of an employer-employee relationship, the platform must enter into written agreements with the workers that are reasonably sufficient describe their rights and obligations.[6]:256
On December 27, 2022, the Supreme People's Court published an opinion regarding employment safeguards.[6]:186 It outlined the following factors for determining the scope of labor relationships in the absence of a written contract between a platform and a worker: (1) working hours and workers' ability to set their own workload, (2) extent of the company's management and control over the labor process, (3) whether the worker must comply with specified procedures, disciplinary measures, or award measures, (4) the continuity of service, and (5) workers' ability to determine whether and how to change transactional prices.[6]:186
Honda strikes and other events in 2010
It has been suggested that portions of this article be split out and merged into the articletitled 2010 Chinese labour unrest, which already exists. (Discuss) (January 2024)
In May 2010 a strike was permitted to proceed against a Honda transmission and parts plant employing 1,900 in Foshan. The strike, which began on 17 May 2010, has resulted in suspension of operations at 4 Honda assembly plants. The main issue appears to be money with a substantial raise being demanded. Wages at the plant currently average $150 a month, a rate somewhat low for the area. The workers involved are mostly young high school and vocational school graduates with no apparent political agenda. A 24% wage increase was offered by Honda which for many workers would be an increase of about 366 renminbi ($54) a month. News reports on 5 June 2010 reported settlement of the strike with a pay raise of about 34% and other benefits giving workers at the plant a wage of about 300 dollars a month.[30][31][32][33][34] A second strike, this time at an exhaust-systems plant, also in Foshan, followed.[35] And a third, at a Honda lock plant in Zhongshan, where workers demanded the right to form an independent union. The strike at the Zhongshan was broken in a few days by a combination of concessions and hiring replacement workers.[36][37][38][39][40]
On 1 June 2010 it was announced by Foxconn Technology Group, a major manufacturer of electronic products for export, that they would increase wages by 30%. For example, a worker previously paid 900 renminbi ($131.77) will be paid 1,200 renminbi effective immediately. Foxconn had been plagued by worker shortages and a number of worker suicides. A few days later a further increase was announced raising wages of employees who have worked for the company for three months to $294 a month.[41][42][43][44] Experts such as Andy Xie believe that there is ample scope for increased wages in China due to its superior infrastructure as compared to competing low wage alternatives.[45]
Toyota
On 18 June 2010 there were news reports of strikes at two Toyota parts plants in Tianjin, both operated by a Chinese subsidiary Toyoda Gosei.[46] On 22 June 2010 it was reported that a Toyota assembly plant had been closed due to a strike at a supplier.[47]
Effective 1 July 2010 the minimum wage in Beijing was raised 20% to 960 renminbi ($140) a month.[48] In Shenzhen the minimum wage will be increased to 1,100 renminbi, about $161 a month in July. In June 2010 there were reports of several other incidents including one in which a government controlled ACFTU union was reported to be negotiating regarding wages with Kentucky Fried Chicken.[49] On 10 June 2010 strikes were reported in 5 additional cities.[36]
A copy-cat strike at a former state-owned, now privatized, textile factory in Pingdingshan, the Pingdingshan Cotton Textile Co., where workers with 20 years service toil for little more than $100 a month was reported on 8 June 2010 by The Toronto Star. According to the Star information about such strikes is not being publicized inside China; information about strikes involving foreign or Taiwanese owned factories often receives more attention.[50]
During the initial Honda strikes the media in China was permitted to report on them, but as strikes spread reporting was suppressed.[38]
State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are an important piece to the Chinese economy. These institutions have gained an important role in the global economy today. In 2000 there were only 27 SOEs in the Fortune Global 500 compared to 2017, there are 102. Only 9 of the 27 SOEs in 2000 were from China compared to 75 of the 102 SOEs they account for in 2017. This increase has led to many more Chinese citizens obtaining stable jobs that also put them at odds with those working at foreign companies.[51]
Forced labor exists in the Chinese system under both legal and illegal guises. Unfree labor in China is not generally addressed by the Chinese authorities, local news organizations, or local NGOs as it is considered a sensitive subject.[52]
Brick kiln slavery
Brick kilns in China, like around the world, have been the site of unfree labor with most enslaved laborers being the youth, the elderly, and mentally disabled adults. Local communities and authorities are often involved in the trafficking of the victims. These workplaces are knows as "black kilns." In 2007 a particularly gruesome case came to light as the result parents organizing to find their kidnapped children.[52]
Forced internships
Students in China's vocational schools are forced to accept minimally paid and unpaid internships at local manufacturing firms, often completely outside the industry which the student is being trained to go into. Students are threatened with having their graduation withheld if they do not participate in these internships. Firms which have faced allegations of using forced student labor include foreign manufacturing giants Foxconn and Quanta.[52]
Construction industry
China's construction industry is closely regulated and many of those working in it are illegal migrants without work permission. Workers regularly face a lack of formal employment contracts, wage withholding, excessive and illegal overtime, and a complete dependence on their employer for food and shelter. Wages are often withheld as long as a calendar year. Around Chinese New Year it is common for workers in the construction to protest their wage arrears. It is estimated that half of Chinese construction workers have had their wages withheld at some point in their career. In 2017 Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced that wage arrears would be eradicated by 2020.[52]
Numerous other allegations of forced labor related to the Xinjiang internment camps have been made since 2017. In addition to working within the camps after release detainees are sent to factories for a mandatory work period often measured in months, people who refuse the forced labor are sent back for additional re-education.[55]
A hukou is a legal document that records basic information for a particular household. The present hukou system was introduced over 60 years ago and is an important tool that the government uses to monitor its population. The system has been criticized for impeding the flow of free labor, resulting in idle workers and ultimately degraded national economic performance.[citation needed] More recently China has been trying to reform this system as a response to the criticisms. How the hukou system works is that each household classifies the residents based on their hometown or where they were born. This especially limits the mobility of Chinese laborers as transference of hukou is only granted in certain cases or when one fulfills the criteria that the government has set. Usually this includes information regarding one's level of education and technical experience. However, this process becomes more complicated in larger cities as many are trying to find work. This has created an imbalance as many flock towards China's cities. As of 2014 there were over 274 million rural workers in cities which accounts for over 36% of the total workforce . Although these workers are in the city, it is harder for them to find and keep jobs compared to those who hold urban hukou. This also leads to them not being able to acquire basic social entitlements including their children. However the Chinese government places hukou reform at the top of their list. This places a rift between the urban hukou and the rural hukou holders as with holding an urban hukou you are offered more opportunities, which would diminish its value if rural hukou owners started to acquire them. However, since 2014 the Chinese government has gradually blurred the lines between urban and rural hukou. China is seeking to also increase the number of urban residents by granting 100 million urban hukou to rural hukou owners by 2020. Furthermore, China has attempted to lessen the requirements for urban hukou seekers in hopes of obtaining a more mobile workforce while also bringing children out of the countryside at the same time because with the lessened urban hukou requirements more children and families can move into the city for a better life.[56][57]
Labour laws, labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, employer, and union.
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Because minimum wages increase the cost of labor, companies often try to avoid minimum wage laws by using gig workers, by moving labor to locations with lower or nonexistent minimum wages, or by automating job functions. Minimum wage policies can vary significantly between countries or even within a country, with different regions, sectors, or age groups having their own minimum wage rates. These variations are often influenced by factors such as the cost of living, regional economic conditions, and industry-specific factors.
A sweatshop or sweat factory is a crowded workplace with very poor or illegal working conditions, including little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting and ventilation, or uncomfortably or dangerously high or low temperatures. The work may be difficult, tiresome, dangerous, climatically challenging, or underpaid. Employees in sweatshops may work long hours with unfair wages, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage; child labor laws may also be violated. Women make up 85 to 90% of sweatshop workers and may be forced by employers to take birth control and routine pregnancy tests to avoid supporting maternity leave or providing health benefits.
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the Industrial Revolution, when mass labor became important in factories and mines. As striking became a more common practice, governments were often pushed to act. When government intervention occurred, it was rarely neutral or amicable. Early strikes were often deemed unlawful conspiracies or anti-competitive cartel action and many were subject to massive legal repression by state police, federal military power, and federal courts. Many Western nations legalized striking under certain conditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The nature and power of organized labor in the United States is the outcome of historical tensions among counter-acting forces involving workplace rights, wages, working hours, political expression, labor laws, and other working conditions. Organized unions and their umbrella labor federations such as the AFL–CIO and citywide federations have competed, evolved, merged, and split against a backdrop of changing values and priorities, and periodic federal government intervention.
Hukou is a system of household registration used in mainland China. The system itself is more properly called "huji", and has origins in ancient China; hukou is the registration of an individual in the system. A household registration record officially identifies a person as a permanent resident of an area and includes identifying information such as name, parents, spouse and date of birth. A hukou can also refer to a family register in many contexts since the household register is issued per family, and usually includes the births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and moves, of all members in the family.
Labour unions emerged in Japan in the second half of the Meiji period, after 1890, as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization. Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by a lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organized factory councils, and political divisions between “cooperative” and radical unionists.
Social issues in China are wide-ranging, and are a combined result of Chinese economic reforms set in place in the late 1970s, the nation's political and cultural history, and an immense population. Due to the significant number of social problems that have existed throughout the country, China's government has faced difficulty in trying to remedy the issues. Many of these issues are exposed by the Chinese media, while subjects that may contain politically sensitive issues may be censored. Some academics hold that China's fragile social balance, combined with a bubble economy makes China a very unstable country, while others argue China's societal trends have created a balance to sustain itself.
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is the national trade union center and people's organization of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest trade union in the world with 302 million members in 1,713,000 primary trade union organizations. The ACFTU is divided into 31 regional federations and 10 national industrial unions. The ACFTU is the country's sole legally mandated trade union, with which all enterprise-level trade unions must be affiliated. There has been dispute over whether ACFTU is an independent trade union or a trade union at all. The federation owns a higher education institution—the China University of Labor Relations.
Japanese labour law is the system of labour law operating in Japan.
Minimum wage law is the body of law which prohibits employers from hiring employees or workers for less than a given hourly, daily or monthly minimum wage. More than 90% of all countries have some kind of minimum wage legislation.
Urbanization in China increased in speed following the initiation of the reform and opening policy. By the end of 2023, China had an urbanization rate of 66.2% and is expected to reach 75-80% by 2035.
Internal migration in the People's Republic of China is one of the most extensive in the world according to the International Labour Organization. This is because migrants in China are commonly members of a floating population, which refers primarily to migrants in China without local household registration status through the Chinese Hukou system. In general, rural-urban migrants are most excluded from local educational resources, citywide social welfare programs and many jobs because of their lack of hukou status. Migrant workers are not necessarily rural workers; they can simply be people living in urban areas with rural household registration.
Labour in India refers to employment in the economy of India. In 2020, there were around 476.67 million workers in India, the second largest after China. Out of which, agriculture industry consist of 41.19%, industry sector consist of 26.18% and service sector consist 32.33% of total labour force. Of these over 94 percent work in unincorporated, unorganised enterprises ranging from pushcart vendors to home-based diamond and gem polishing operations. The organised sector includes workers employed by the government, state-owned enterprises and private sector enterprises. In 2008, the organised sector employed 27.5 million workers, of which 17.3 million worked for government or government owned entities.
Indian labour law refers to law regulating labour in India. Traditionally, the Indian government at the federal and state levels has sought to ensure a high degree of protection for workers, but in practice, this differs due to the form of government and because labour is a subject in the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution. The Minimum Wages Act 1948 requires companies to pay the minimum wage set by the government alongside limiting working weeks to 40 hours. Overtime is strongly discouraged with the premium on overtime being 100% of the total wage. The Payment of Wages Act 1936 mandates the payment of wages on time on the last working day of every month via bank transfer or postal service. The Factories Act 1948 and the Shops and Establishment Act 1960 mandate 18 working days of fully paid vacation or earned leaves and 7 casual leaves each year to each employee, with an additional 7 fully paid sick days. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 gives female employees of every company the right to take 6 months' worth of fully paid maternity leave. It also provides for 6 weeks worth of paid leaves in case of miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation and the Employees' State Insurance, governed by statutory acts provide workers with necessary social security for retirement benefits and medical and unemployment benefits respectively. Workers entitled to be covered under the Employees' State Insurance are also entitled to 90 days worth of paid medical leaves. A contract of employment can always provide for more rights than the statutory minimum set rights. The Indian parliament passed four labour codes in the 2019 and 2020 sessions. These four codes will consolidate 44 existing labour laws. They are: The Industrial Relations Code 2020, The Code on Social Security 2020, The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and The Code on Wages 2019. Despite having one of the longest working hours, India has one of the lowest workforce productivity levels in the world.
The 2010 Chinese labour unrest was a series of labour disputes, strike actions, and protests in the south of the People's Republic of China that saw striking workers successfully receive higher pay packages.
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) spearheads the labour movement of Singapore, which represents almost a million workers in the country across more than 70 unions, affiliated associations and related organisations. Singapore runs on a tripartism model which aims to offers competitive advantages for the country by promoting economic competitiveness, harmonious government-labour-management relations and the overall progress of the nation.
The Fight for $15 is an American political movement advocating for the minimum wage to be raised to USD$15 per hour. The federal minimum wage was last set at $7.25 per hour in 2009. The movement has involved strikes by child care, home healthcare, airport, gas station, convenience store, and fast food workers for increased wages and the right to form a labor union. The "Fight for $15" movement started in 2012, in response to workers' inability to cover their costs on such a low salary, as well as the stressful work conditions of many of the service jobs which pay the minimum wage.
The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considered an instance of class conflict.
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