A majority of the mobile telephones, toys and clothes that Swedish consumers buy are made in China, a country without freedom of union organisation. All the signs indicate that it is the Chinese workers who are the force behind the progress towards human rights in the Chinese workplace through their actions the workers have - despite their lack of democratic rights - forced the Chinese government to strengthen the labour law and to arbitrate in labour market conflicts. Fair Trade Center attempts to show how companies, international unions and NGOs can contribute to the Chinese workers’ efforts. Fair Trade Center describes the different methods used by Swedish unions, a company like Hewlet Packard, as well as by multi stakeholder initiatives in order to improve communication between employees and employers in China.
A majority of the mobile telephones, toys and clothes that Swedish consumers buy are made in China, a country without freedom of union organisation. All the signs indicate that it is the Chinese workers who are the force behind the progress towards human rights in the Chinese workplace through their actions the workers have - despite their lack of democratic rights - forced the Chinese government to strengthen the labour law and to arbitrate in labour market conflicts.
Fair Trade Center attempts to show how companies, international unions and NGOs can contribute to the Chinese workers’ efforts. Fair Trade Center describes the different methods used by Swedish unions, a company like Hewlet Packard, as well as by multi-stakeholder initiatives in order to improve communication between employees and employers in China.
The report entitled 'Strategies for strengthening human rights in the Chinese workplace' is intended for companies, trade unions and NGOs. The Swedish version was published in December 2009; now the English translation is also available.