Jasic Workers Solidarity Group

The Jasic Workers Solidarity Group (Chinese: 佳士工人声援团) was a student-led labour movement in the city of Huizhou, Guangdong in 2018, to protest labour conditions of factory workers at JASIC International, a welding machinery manufacturer.[1][2] The group of students and disgruntled workers sought to legally form a labour union. Their efforts were, despite initial signs of support, opposed by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, which rarely engages in collective bargaining and has been described as 'ineffective at representing workers'.[3] Unions in China are legal only if they are under the ACFTU. Hence, the Federation's opposition constituted a legal excuse for suppression of the JASIC unionists and their student allies.[4] The movement consisted mostly of left wing students of Peking University and has been characterized as Maoist,[5] feminist,[6] and socialist.

History

In January 2018, the initially American-based Me Too movement began to gain popularity within Chinese academic circles.[7][8] Yue Xin, a student at Peking University, began a campaign against Professor Shen Yang over allegations of rape and sexual misconduct in 1998, that led to the suicide of a female student.[9][10][11][12][13]

In September 2018, workers at the JASIC factory in Huizhou, Guangdong attempted to form a union in protest to poor labour conditions and inadequate pay. The news of workers' protests spread through Chinese social media, leading to a group of forty students to travel to Huizhou to protest in solidarity with the workers. Members of the group have characterized themselves as Marxists and Maoists.[5][14][15][16][17][18]

Members
  • Yue Xin : #MeToo activist at Peking University
  • Zhang Shengye:
  • Chen Kexin
  • Zhang Yunfan: Marxist activist
  • Liu Penghua: One of four Jasic employees who attempted to form a labour union.[19]
  • Li Zhan: Former Jasic employee who supported unionization[20]
  • Mi Jiuping: "Worker-Poet" and one of the central union organizers at JASIC.[21]
  • Yu Juncong: Jasic employee who supported unionization and the author of the first open letter to Jasic Technology.[22]

Reactions

Cornell University announced that it would no longer be co-operating with Renmin University of China after the crackdown on student activists.[5] Human rights organization Amnesty International released a statement condemning the suppression of the striking workers and the detention of student activists.[23]

See also

References
  1. "Two Chinese trade union officials arrested after helping workers: source". Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  2. "Young Activists Go Missing in China, Raising Fears of Crackdown". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  3. "Effort to Form Union in China Meets Ferocious Repression". Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  4. "China: JASIC workers' struggle reveals rising class tensions". Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  5. "China's Leaders Confront an Unlikely Foe: Ardent Young Communists". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  6. "Opinion | The Price of Saying 'Me Too' in China". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  7. "Students Defiant as Chinese University Warns #MeToo Activist". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  8. "'Me Too,' Chinese Women Say. Not So Fast, Say the Censors". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  9. Kuo, Lily (24 April 2018). "Student says Peking University trying to silence her over rape claim petition". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  10. "深圳佳士维权： 中国社媒审查与致习公开信". BBC News 中文. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  11. Lau, Mimi (10 August 2018). "Chinese Maoists join students in fight for workers' rights". South China Morning Post. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  12. 苒苒 (28 December 2018). "高压下崛起的中国左翼青年". BBC News 中文. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  13. 潘毅 (17 August 2018). "观点：深圳佳士工人维权的两大意义". BBC News 中文. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  14. "International News: Latest Headlines, Video and Photographs from Around the World -- People, Places, Crisis, Conflict, Culture, Change, Analysis and Trends". ABC News.
  15. "Police raid student group as support for Shenzhen Jasic workers grows". China Labour Bulletin. 24 August 2018.
  16. Chen, Michelle (4 September 2018). "China's Workers Aren't Fighting a Trade War—They're Fighting a Labor War". The Nation – via www.thenation.com.
  17. Contributor, Guest (1 September 2018). "Shenzhen Jasic Technology: the birth of a worker-student coalition in China?".
  18. Hioe, Brian (31 July 2018). "Dozens Arrested After Worker Protests In Shenzhen". New Bloom Magazine.
  19. "Jasic Detainee #4: Liu Penghua: We Need a Union, Not Just Rights Defense - Labor Notes". labornotes.org. 26 November 2018.
  20. "Jasic Detainee #2: Li Zhan: Standing with Workers through Thick and Thin - Labor Notes". www.labornotes.org. 18 November 2018.
  21. "Jasic Detainee #1: The Story of Worker-Poet Mi Jiuping - Labor Notes". www.labornotes.org. 5 November 2018.
  22. "Jasic Detainee #3: The Story of Yu Juncong: Always Standing Against Injustice - Labor Notes". labornotes.org. 19 November 2018.
  23. "China: Thirty people detained at factory worker protest must be released". www.amnesty.org.
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