Laws of the People's Republic of China

THE TRADE UNION LAW OF THE
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

  (Adopted June 28, 1950 by the 8th Meeting of the
Committee of the People's Central Government.)

 

 

 

SUBJECT: LABOR & EMPLOYMENT

ISSUING-DEPT: NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS

ISSUE-DATE: 06/28/1950

IMPLEMENT-DATE: 06/28/1950

LENGTH: 2457 words

TEXT:

In order to stipulate definitely the legal status and function of trade union organizations under the power of our new democratic state and to better organize the working classes of the whole country so that they can play their proper role in the construction of our new democratic state, the Trade Union Law is hereby promulgated as follows:

CHAPTER I GENERAL PRINCIPLES

[Article 1] Trade unions are mass organizations formed by the working classes of their own will. All permanent or temporary employees doing physical or mental work in enterprises, government organs, or schools within the boundary of China and earning their living exclusively or mainly from wages have the right to form trade unions.

[Article 2] The organizational principles of trade unions should be democratic centralism, as is stipulated in the Constitution of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions adopted by the National Labour Conference. Trade union committees at all levels should be elected by their general membership meetings or representative assemblies. Trade union members have the right to dismiss their elected representatives or committee members at any time in accordance with the regulations of the Trade Union Constitution. Trade union committees at all levels should make work reports to their general membership meetings and obey the resolutions or directions from the trade unions at a higher level.

[Article 3] Trade unions are mass organizations formed in accordance with the constitutions and resolutions adopted by the National Labour Conference and the national congresses of each industrial trade union (including the trade unions of cultural and educational workers and the trade union of clerks), and therefore have an independent and unified organizational system throughout the country, with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions as their highest leading body. The formation of new trade unions should be reported to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and then be registered with the people's government at their locality.

[Article 4] Any organization whose formation runs counter to the provisions in Article Three of this Law will not be recognized as a trade union, nor is it entitled to enjoy the rights provided in this Trade Union Law.

CHAPTER II THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF TRADE UNIONS

[Article 5] Trade unions have the right to take part in production management and to sign collective contracts with the administrations of state and collectively-owned enterprises on behalf of workers and employees.

[Article 6] Trade unions in privately-owned enterprises have the right to represent workers and employees to hold talks and negotiations with the owners of these enterprises, to attend consultative conferences between labour and employer, and to sign collective contracts with the employer.

[Article 7] Trade unions have the duty to protect the interests of the workers and employees, to supervise the implementation, by the administration or employer, of labour protection, labour insurance, standards of wage payments, rules on sanitation and technical security in factories, and other related rules and mandates provided by government laws, and to improve facilities in relation to the material and cultural life of the workers and employees.

[Article 8] Trade unions at all levels in state and collectively-owned enterprises not only have the right to ask the administrations of the enterprises on the same level to report their work to the general membership meetings or representative assemblies, but also the right to attend meetings of the management committees or administrations of the enterprises of the same level on behalf of the workers and employees.

[Article 9] In order to protect the basic interests of the working classes, trade unions should perform the following duties in accordance with their constitutions or other related resolutions:

(1) To educate and organize workers and employees in upholding the laws and implementing the policies of the People's Government so as to strengthen the people's regime under the leadership of the working class;

(2) To educate and organize workers and employees in cultivating a new attitude toward labour and in observing labour discipline, and to organize production emulation drives or other production movements so as to guarantee the fulfilment of their production targets;

(3) To protect public properties, combat corruption, waste and bureaucracy, and struggle against saboteurs in state and collectively-owned enterprises, government organs and schools;

(4) To carry out the policy of promoting production and benefiting both labour and employer, and to fight against all deeds which run counter to the government's laws or hamper the growth of production in private enterprises.

[Article 10] Governments at all levels should provide necessary housing and equipment for the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the industrial and local trade unions for them to handle official business, hold meetings, foster education, and stimulate recreation activities and other public welfare services, and to bestow on them the same rights in the use of post offices, telegraph, telephones, railroads, highways and shipping, as are enjoyed by government organs at the same levels.

[Article 11] In case the administration or employer of an enterprise has the inclination to transfer or dismiss any members of a trade union committee elected by the masses, they can do so only after winning consent from the said trade union committee and approval from a higher trade union committee.

[Article 12] Committee members or representatives of trade unions at all levels may inspect workplaces and living quarters of all enterprises, government organs and schools (except those excluded for special reasons) within the jurisdiction of the said trade unions so long as they hold documents certified by the said trade unions. Neither the administration nor the employer should refuse such inspections.

CHAPTER III PRIMARY TRADE UNIONS

[Article 13] Primary trade union committees (such as those in factories, mines, and government organs) should be set up in all production units or administrative units such as factories, mines, stores (shops), farms, government organs and schools, if the number of their workers and employees exceeds 25. Those whose workers and employees number less than 25 may elect an organizer. This organizer enjoys the same rights as are provided to the primary trade union committees. The organizational rules for primary trade union committees should be formulated by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions or by the national committees of the industrial trade unions of their respective trades.

[Article 14] No other organizations in production units or administrative units such as factories, mines, stores (shops), farms, government organs and schools may enjoy the rights and privileges provided for primary trade union committees, unless these organizations are set up in accordance with the provisions in Article Three and Article Thirteen of this Law and with the approval of the industrial or local trade unions concerned.

[Article 15] The number of primary trade union committee members to be released from production to take up special duties in trade unions should be worked out in proportion to the total number of workers and employees of the factories, mines, stores, farms, government organs and schools. The proportion runs as follows:

one	200	to	500
two	501	to	1000
three	1001	to	1500
four	1501	to	2500
five	2501	to	4000

One more such member may be added for every 2000 more workers or employees if the total number of workers and employees of a production unit or administrative unit exceeds 4000. If a primary trade union committee of a production unit or administrative unit whose total number of workers and employees is less than 200 intends to appoint a committee member who will be released from production to take up special trade union duties, it should ask for approval from a higher trade union committee.

[Article 16] Once a primary trade union committee is elected, it should notify the administration or employer of the names of its committee members. The administration or employer should on notification release those committee members from production in accordance with the resolutions of the primary trade union committee, so that they may take up special trade union duties.

[Article 17] The wages of the trade union committee members who are released from production to take up special trade union duties should be paid by their trade unions and their pay should not be less than their original wages. These committee members, however, are still entitled to labour insurance and other welfare benefits provided by the administration or employer. When the tenure of these committee members expires, the administration or employer should send them back to their former working posts or assign them to new working posts which offer the same wages as they have formerly earned.

[Article 18] The administration or employer of any factories, mines, stores, farms, government organs and schools should not interrupt the activities of their primary trade union committees, nor prevent them from convening general membership meetings or representative assemblies. But such meetings or assemblies should be held after work. Should special circumstances warrant their convocation during working hours, they may be convened only with the consent of the administration or employer. If there arises the need for certain members of a primary trade union committee who are not released from production to take up special trade union duties and spend some time in trade union activities during working hours, the trade union committee should notify the administration or employer beforehand. The time spent for such activities by one committee member in each month should not exceed two days, and the wages of these members should be paid by the administration or employer as usual.

[Article 19] When circumstances dictate, trade unions may use working hours to elect representatives to the people's representative assemblies or to the people's congresses according to the directives from the people's governments above county and city levels, or to elect representatives to the National Trade Union Congress according to the directives from the trade union committees above provincial or municipal levels. The representatives from private enterprises will receive their wages for the period of their absence from the conveners of the above-said congresses or other meetings.

[Article 20] The administration or employer of production units or administrative units such as factories, mines, stores, farms, government organs and schools, in the case that they employ more than 100 workers or clerks, should provide necessary housing and facilities (such as water, electricity and furniture) free of charge for their primary trade union committees to handle official business. They should also provide or lend places temporarily for the committees to hold general membership meetings or representative assemblies. If a production unit or an administration unit which employs less than 100 workers and clerks has difficulties in providing a suitable place for its primary trade union committee to conduct official business, the trade union committee may set up a separate desk in a public building and hold meetings there.

[Article 21] If the administration or employer of a factory, mine, store, farm, government organ or school plans to employ workers or clerks, it should notify its primary trade union committee of its plan. If the trade union committee finds the plan in contravention with the law of the People's Government or with the spirit of certain collective contracts, it has the right to lodge a protest within three days. If the administration or employer repudiates the protest of its trade union committee and a dispute erupts between them as a result, the dispute should be smoothed out according to the procedure for solving labour disputes.

[Article 22] If the administration or employer of a factory, mine, store, farm, government organ or school decides to dismiss any of its workers or clerks, it should notify its primary trade union committee 10 days beforehand of the names of the workers or clerks to be dismissed as well as the reasons for their dismissal. If the primary trade union committee finds the decision in contravention with the law of the People's Government or with the spirit of certain collective contracts, it may lodge a protest within seven days. If the administration or employer repudiates the protest of its primary trade union committee and a dispute erupts between them as a result, the dispute should be smoothed out according to the procedure for solving labour disputes.

The stipulations in this article and the preceding one do not apply to the personnel employed by the people's governments at various levels.

CHAPTER IV TRADE UNION FUNDS

[Article 23] Trade unions should work out their own budgets and final accounts as well as their own accounting and checking systems according to the principle of independent funds.

[Article 24] Trade unions accumulate their funds from the following sources:

(1) Membership dues paid by trade union members according to the prescriptions in the Constitution of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions;

(2) Allocations from the administration or employer of factories, mines, stores, farms, government organs and schools. The administration or employer of these production units or administrative units should allocate every month two per cent of the total real wages (including wages in currency, wages in kind, and board expenses) of its workers and clerks (not including employer agents of private enterprises) to trade unions as their funds (one point five per cent of these allocations will be used to foster education and culture for their workers and clerks);

(3) Income earned by the trade unions themselves from their cultural and sports activities;

(4) Subsidies given by the people's governments at various levels.

[Article 25] The rules guiding the spending of the funds of trade union committees at various levels will be formulated by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

CHAPTER V SUPPLEMENT

[Article 26] This law will take effect after promulgation by the Committee of the People's Central Government.