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June 22, 2007

The AFL-CIO and Chinese Unions

Today's post contains a few questions I'm hoping some of my readers might be able to answer.

This WSJ article on American labor union officials and labor activism in China is an interesting read.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is a government department. Its management does not take its cue to any degree from laborer members, who, by the way, must, without exception, join. There are no benefits to speak of - except perhaps for the annual ticket to see a movie (forget a first run) and perhaps a box lunch.

[Here is a video interview with Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union, speaking on his union's involvement with Chinese unions. Thanks to Bob Kapp for the onpass.]

It strikes me as incredible that American union officials have any sway without explicit approval and active participation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the highest levels – and certainly the encouragement of labor activism in general is not at the top of the Party's “to do” list.

So here are a few questions to my readers:

1) Can anyone point me to research on CCP control and oversight of the ACFTU? Is anyone working on AFL-CIO involvement in the Walmart “unionization?” The WSJ story does not refer to sources other than foreign union spokesmen, and I wonder if scholarship has been done on the subject.

2) This may be well out in left field, but it strikes me that there exists some American legal stricture upon union mobilization in connection with Communist controlled labor unions. Am I mixing something up? Call this a junior moment, if you will, but some legal thread somehow perhaps related to COCOM of years ago is telling me some federal prohibition exists.

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