US Corporations Opposing Chinese Rights
November 22nd, 2006 by Stephen
US-based corporations are opposing legislation to
give Chinese workers new labor rights.US-based global corporations like Wal-Mart,
Google, UPS, Microsoft, Nike, AT&T, and Intel,
acting through US business organizations like the
American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and
the US-China Business Council, are actively
lobbying against the new legislation. They are also
threatening that foreign corporations will
withdraw from China if it is passed.China’s Draft Labor Contract Law would provide
minimal standards that are commonplace in many
other countries, such as enforceable labor
contracts, severance pay regulations, and
negotiations over workplace policies and
procedures. The Chinese government is
supporting these reforms in part as a response to
rising labor discontent.
US companies in China make the claim that in so doing they improve workers rights in that country. But here is the truth of the matter – the capitalist greed ethic drives these companies to export their production to the cheapest country, and to interfere in the politics of those countries to keep production cheap.
