The signature campaign to free the Chinese labour activists detained last month has already been endorsed by 172 organisations, both local and international. 2450 individuals have also endorsed it. We urge human and labour rights supporters to continue to circulate and/or endorse the statement: Free Chinese labour activists now! End suppression of labour organisations. Labour Start has also launched an international appeal.

Petition: Free Chinese labour activists now! End suppression of labour organisations! At least four labour activists remain in criminal detention following a recent crackdown on labour organisations.

  (Photo: ILABOUR.NET) On September 10th 2015, more than one hundred and thirty private substitute teachers representatives from a total of nine provinces, including Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei, Anhui, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Hunan and Hubei, collectively petitioned the Ministry of Education in Beijing calling for the implementation of the spirit of document 8 from 2011, which would allow private off-post substitute teachers to be included in the urban enterprise employees social security and health care system. In addition to this, forty teacher representatives from three counties in Jiangxi province also went to the provincial government to petition for their rights. The provincial government representative responded that since it is at the same level in the hierarchy of governmental power as the Ministry of Education, it can therefore simply ignore the document, and also the provincial government does not have the money.

HKCTU Facebook Page In June 2015, Mizutani (Shenzhen) Factory Co. Ltd, which mainly manufactured stuffed toys for Tokyo Disney, suddenly announced closure of the company and relocated to its branch factory in the Philippines in order to cut costs and maximize its profit. 196 Mizutani workers lost their jobs, and the factory still owed them severance payment, pension funds and housing provident funds.

 China Labor Watch Friday, August 14, 2015 NEW YORK - Workers at Dongguan Baoxing Electronics have been on strike for multiple days to demand compensation after the company announced it would relocate operations to another district in Dongguan. During the demonstration, workers held up a banner directly mentions Samsung as a Baoxing client. An online company profile also mentions that Baoxing, a Korean-invested company, is a supplier to brand companies that include Nokia, LG, Samsung, Fengda, and Coolpad. The factory is located in the Hengkeng Sanhe Industrial Park of Dongguan’s Liaobu Township.

 (This is a translation from the Chinese which was originally posted at: 沃尔玛中国员工联谊会的博客) From March 2015, besides the three great beliefs of respect for the individual, the pursuit of excellence and customer service, each of Wal-Mart’s stores in China  began to publicise a fourth great belief, namely to act with integrity. Prior to this, Wal-Mart’s senior management had already spoken about integrity, however they had only required employees to be concerned with integrity, while themselves acting dishonestly towards employees. Regardless of whether it concerns labour management or union elections, they are very dishonest. More than 90% of employees have profound experiences and strong feelings about this.

  Angelo Young , IBT March 10 2015 3:32 PM EDT A strike at a Chinese factory that makes shoes for Nike, Timberland, Kenneth Cole and other popular brands grew on Tuesday to about 5,000 workers who are demanding their employer pay its government-mandated monthly housing allowance. Workers for Stella Shoe Co., based in the southern industrial city of Dongguan, began the strike on Sunday and were joined Tuesday by hundreds more Stella employees from another facility.   Stella’s  website  says it makes shoes for the European market and has “sound employees” that “enjoy holiday labor law provisions.” Images posted on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging site, show hundreds of workers wearing orange and blue company uniforms gathered around the factory. Some images depict police forces and K-9 units milling around the striking workers.

 ZDNet Summary:The world's second-largest network device maker is striking against its parent company HP, demanding more autonomy. By Liu Jiayi | February 3, 2015 -- 23:44 GMT (07:44 GMT+08:00) More than 3,000 employees at the world's second-largest network device maker H3C Technologies Co Limited have continued their strike into its third week against parent company Hewlett-Packard's nomination of a new chairman. The striking employees are demanding the reinstatement of the fired leader of its workers' representative, and their right to have involvement in the company's management and decision-making process. HP plans to pilot its senior manager Mao Yunan inside H3C, repack its profitable network business with HP's struggling server sector, and sell part of H3C to a new owner while maintaining its status as a major shareholder, according to a report from China Economic Daily, published on February 2.

 The Guardian A Chinese court has heard what is believed to be the country’s first lawsuit over gay workplace discrimination. The plaintiff was fired after he was revealed as gay in a viral online video, and his action was heard last week in the southern city of Shenzhen. “We’re very optimistic,” Liu Xiaohu, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said, adding that the case would definitely have an impact on views of gay rights in China.

In December 26, 2014, four unidentified persons entered the Panyu Migrant Workers Documentation Centre (PMWDC). Zeng Feiyang, the head of PMWDC, was assaulted violently. His eyeglasses were broken and there were bruises near his right cheek bone. PMWDC called the police immediately and demanded that the police file a case for investigation. On December 27, 2014, PMWDC issued a statement sternly condemning violence targeting citizens working for workers’ welfare and demanding the police to pursue, investigate and administer justice according to the law. In a few days, over 20 labour organizations in mainland China and more than 2,000 individuals joined in signing the statement.