Remembering the power of labor during the pandemic

May 1, 2020

They are the healthcare workers in our hospitals taking care of our loved ones. They are the sanitation workers keeping our streets and parks clean and collecting our garbage. They are the public transport workers keeping subways and buses going for those of us without cars. They are the people in delivery centers packing goods we order online while sheltering at home. They are the farm workers and meat packers working to ensure we have food on the table. They are workers in factories making our personal protective equipment (PPE), thermometers and ventilators. The list could on.

In my first blogpost of 2020, I'd like to use the occasion of International Workers Day to remember the power of labor in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by highlighting the situation of workers in China. In countries like the U.S. we are reminded of this power by reading reports of workers on the frontlines organizing for better personal protective equipment, payment of wages and hazard pay, paid leave, etc. In China, where this pandemic began and where much of our PPE is produced, news about worker grievances and protests rarely gets out thanks to heavy censorship, and the fierce repression of Chinese labor activists and organizations over the last few years. Thanks to reporting by organizations like China Europe Association for Civil Rights and China Labour Bulletin, we have some idea of how workers, and the organizations and individuals seeking to assist them, are responding during the pandemic.

Workers at a hospital construction site in Wuhan

Workers whose livelihoods are being threatened are organizing and protesting

Migrant workers in Wuhan where the epidemic began were pressed into action in early February to build hospitals to isolate and contain patients with COVID-19. Unable to return to their homes for the Chinese New Year holiday, many worked overtime with inadequate PPE to construct these hospitals. Later some of these workers organized to demand payment of wages owed to them for their work.

In the first half of March, thousands of financially struggling taxi drivers in several provinces staged protests demanding a reduction in their vehicle rental fees. While some of the organizers were fired, in many cases, they successfully forced concessions from their employers and the local government.

Even healthcare workers in some hospitals have posted online demands for payment of promised government subsidies.

Mutual-aid groups, worker organizations and volunteers are offering assistance and advocating for worker rights

In their struggles during the pandemic, workers have been abandoned by China’s only union, The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), a party-controlled organization which was set up to represent workers but often functions more as an arm of the government.

In the void left by the ACFTU, civil society groups – mutual aid groups, worker organizations, and volunteers – have emerged to offer assistance to workers and call attention to vulnerabilities faced by workers and their families.

A number of self-organized mutual-aid groups composed of students and social workers in a dozen cities came together to fund raise for PPE for sanitation workers, and to draw public attention to the contributions made by these workers.

Other volunteer groups have called attention to the “digital divide” facing children of rural migrant workers whose classes were transferred online yet who lack the equipment or internet connections enjoyed by students living in the cities.

The few worker organizations that have not been suppressed are also providing assistance. Organizations working with domestic workers have started a hotline for counseling and information about epidemic prevention. Others have opened legal aid hotlines for workers seeking information about their labor and employment rights during the pandemic.

As workplaces start back up, reports have emerged about employers opening up too soon and without providing workers with adequate PPE. In a case of a state-owned factory in Fujian that required its employees to show up before the official re-opening date, workers posted complaints to the local government online and said they would refuse to show up for work. In another case, student interns in Shenzhen were told to show up for work even though they were still owed wages. When they complained to the local government, the factory was ordered to stop its operations.

These stories from the front lines in China give us a fleeting glimpse into the pressures that workers in China face and represent only the tip of a very large iceberg. Still they remind us of the contribution of Chinese workers who make much of what we depend on, including the PPE that keeps us healthy and safe.