Since reform and opening-up to the outside world, Chinese Government has focused on establishing and maintaining harmonious and steady industrial relations. It has already set up a regulative system of industrial relations tentatively around labor market developing, including labor policy datum, labor contract management, collective bargaining, collective agreement and dealing with labor dispute. And it has realized legalization and standardization of adjustment of industrial relations tentatively. The main contents of development of Chinese industrial relations at present are as follows:
1.1 Implementing new-type labor employing system which takes labor contract system as its main content
According to the law and regulation, employing unit and laborer should sign a written labor contract in order to set up industrial relations, fixing the rights and obligations of both sides. The contract includes contract term, work content, work conditions, labor compensation and so on; The signing and changing of labor contract should follow the equal, voluntary and consensual principle, the labor contract will have legal effect immediately after signing it according to the law, the parties concerned must fulfill the obligations that the labor contract stipulated. The law and regulation have also made other stipulations, such as the standard of economic compensatory payment that the employer should pay the laborer when violating and canceling the labor contract; the compensatory responsibility and standard when both sides violating “labor law” about the stipulations of labor contract; the term and procedure that the employer cut down the personnel. At present, the labor contract system of China has already been set up basically, the market employment mechanism that the employing units choose the right person independently and the laborers choose jobs on their own has been formed tentatively. By the end of 2002, the numbers of the employees signed labor contract have reached in the state-owned, collective-owned, foreign-invested enterprises of the whole cities and towns, which amount to
% of the total workers in the same caliber; the numbers in the rural collective-owned enterprises have reached , the numbers in the private enterprises have reached .
1.2 Pursuing collective bargaining and collective agreement system, establishing the self-coordinated mechanism of industrial relations in enterprise
“Labor law” and “union law” stipulate that the workers and enterprise can sign a collective agreement on labor compensation, work hours, rest and vacation, labor safety and health, insurance and welfare, etc. “Collective agreement stipulation” has made complete stipulations on the procedure, subject, management and dealing with labor dispute of signing collective agreement. Generally, the union representatives who are standing for workers sign the collective agreement equally with the enterprise; In the enterprise where is no union, representatives recommended by the workers will sign the collective agreement with the enterprise. Government doesn’t intervene in the bargaining process between employers and employees, but the collective agreement must send up recommendation to the labor and security department in local government to verify and put on record after signing. By the end of 2002, in the whole country, the collective agreements that has sent to the labor and security department are up to , which involve employees. Through pursuing collective bargaining and collective agreement system, it has strengthened the union’s function which stands for employees to participate in the industrial relations coordination, it has maintained employees’ legitimate rights and interests on the whole, it has also prevented and reduced the emergence of the labor dispute.
1.3 Setting up and amplifying the dealing with labor dispute system to prevent and deal with the labor dispute effectively
In China, the dealing with labor dispute system is composed of three procedures: labor dispute mediation inside the enterprise, labor dispute arbitration and people’s court trial. According to the law and regulation, after the labor dispute took place between employer and employee, the Labor Dispute Mediation Committee(LDMC) inside the enterprise can mediate it. If the mediation doesn’t be agreed with, one party can apply for arbitration to the labor dispute arbitration organization (one party can also apply for arbitration directly and doesn’t through mediation); the party that did not agree with arbitral result can sue to people’s court. The labor dispute arbitration implement the principle of apanage domination, the people’s government at county level should set up the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee(LDAC). The LDAC is made up of three parts: representatives of labor and security department, representatives of the same level union, representatives of employer; the LDAC dealing with the labor dispute implements arbitrators and arbitration tribunal system. By the end of 2002, in the whole country, it has already established LDMC, LDAC; the team of dealing with labor dispute is made up of full-time and part-time mediators and arbitrators. In 1994, every level of Chinese LDAC accepted 19,098 cases altogether. By 2002, the amount of cases has already risen to 155,000. The cases accepted and ended by the LDMC in the enterprises are about , the cases accepted and ended by the LDAC are about .
1.4 Making and perfecting labor standard to provide labor policy datum for industrial relations adjustment and employees’ rights and interests maintenance
At present, through the way of legislation, China has set up a labor standard system basically, including work hours, rest and vacation, special labor protection about female worker and underage worker, labor safety and health, etc. For example, in the respect of working hours and vacation, our country implements the system that the work hours are no more than 8 a day and no more than 40 a week; and stipulates that the employer should guarantee the laborer having a rest at least one day every week, employer should arrange vacation during legal festival in accordance with the law, and establish the system of annual vacation with pay. In the respect of special labor protection about female worker and underage worker, it stipulates that the employer should forbid arranging for female employee engaged in the work in the mine or the pit, and the work of fourth physical labor intensity that the country stipulated and other forbidden work; The employer can’t arrange for underage employee between 16 and 18 engaged in the work in the mine or the pit, the work in the poisonous and harmful environment, the work of fourth physical labor intensity that the country stipulated and other forbidden work; It stipulates special labor protective policy respectively in menstrual period, pregnancy period, childbirth period and nursing period for female employee.