The landscape of industrial relations in China has experienced significant change over the last two decades, mainly due to the diversification of ownership forms that has given rise to a proliferation of categories of workers with different needs and expectations that are neither represented nor often officially recognized. However, there have been insufficient studies that analyse the extent, scope and nature of the rising level of labour disputes in China and whether these disputes demonstrate characteristics distinct to ownership forms, size of undertaking or sectors of the economy. This article analyses the extent of and major reasons for the rising level of labour disputes in China and questions if the true level of labour disputes has been captured by official statistics.
Bean, R. (1994) Comparative Industrial Relations. London: Routledge.
2.
Bjorkman, I. and Lu, Y. (2001) ` Institutionalisation and Bargaining Power Explanations of Human Resource Management in International Joint Ventures: The Case of Chinese— Western Joint Ventures ', Organization Studies22(3): 491—512.
3.
Chan, A. (1998) `Labour Regulations in Foreign-funded Ventures, Chinese Trade Unions, and the Prospects for Collective Bargaining', in G. O'Leary (ed.) Adjusting to Capitalism: Chinese Workers and the State, pp. 122—49. New York : M. E. Sharpe.
4.
Chan, A. (2001) China's Workers under Assault: The Exploitation of Labour in a Globalising Economy. New York: M. E. Sharpe.
5.
Chen, F. (2003a) `Industrial Restructuring and Workers' Resistance in China' , Modern China29(2): 237—62.
6.
Chen, F. (2003b) `Between the State and Labour: The Conflict of Chinese Trade Unions' Double Identity in Market Reform' , The China Quarterly176: 1006—28.
7.
Chen, F. (2006) `Privatisation and its Discontents in Chinese Factories' , The China Quarterly185: 42—60.
8.
Chen, Q.M. (2003) `Employment Security and Secured Employment' , Labour Economy and Labour Relations5: 51—6.
9.
Cheng, Y.Y. (2004) `The Development of Labour Disputes and the Regulation of Industrial Relations in China' , The International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations20(2): 277—95.
10.
China Labour Statistical Yearbook (2002, 2005 ) The Ministry of Statistics, China .
11.
China Private Economy Yearbook (2003) The Ministry of Statistics, China.
12.
China Statistical Yearbook (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) The Ministry of Statistics, China .
13.
Clarke, S. (2005) ` Post-socialist Trade Unions: China and Russia ', Industrial Relations Journal36(1): 2—18.
14.
Clarke, S. , Lee, C.H. and Li, Q. (2004) `Collective Consultation and Industrial Relations in China' , British Journal of Industrial Relations42(2): 235—54.
15.
Cooke, F.L. (2001) `Equal Opportunities?: The Role of Legislation and Public Policies in Women's Employment in China' , Women in Management Review16(7): 334—48.
16.
Cooke, F.L. (2002) `Ownership Change and the Reshaping of Employment Relations in China: A Study of Two Manufacturing Companies' , Journal of Industrial Relations44(1): 19—39.
17.
Cooke, F.L. (2004) `Foreign Firms in China: Modelling HRM in a Toy Manufacturing Corporation' , Human Resource Management Journal14(3): 31—52.
18.
Cooke, F.L. (2005a) HRM, Work and Employment in China. London: Routledge.
19.
Cooke, F.L. (2005b) `Employment Relations in Small Commercial Businesses in China' , Industrial Relations Journal36(1): 19—37.
20.
Dicks, A. (1989) `The Chinese Legal System: Reforms in the Balance' , The China Quarterly119: 541—76.
21.
Ding, D. , Goodall, K. and Warner, M. (2002) `The Impact of Economic Reform on the Role of Trade Unions in Chinese Enterprises' , International Journal of Human Resource Management13(3): 431—49.
22.
Ding, D. , Lan, G. and Warner, M. (2001) `A New Form of Chinese Human Resource Management?: Personnel and Labour—Management Relations in Chinese Township and Village Enterprises — A Case Study Approach' , Industrial Relations Journal32(4): 328—43.
23.
Ding, D. and Warner, M. (1999) `“ Re-inventing” China's Industrial Relations at Enterprise-level: An Empirical Field-study in Four Major Cities ', Industrial Relations Journal30(3): 243—60.
24.
Edwards, P. (2003) `The Employment Relationship and the Field of Industrial Relations', in P. Edwards (ed.) Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice, pp. 1—36. Oxford: Blackwell.
25.
Gallagher, M. (2005) Contagious Capitalism: Globalisation and the Politics of Labour in China. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
26.
Goodall, K. and Warner, M. (1997) `Human Resources in Sino—Foreign Joint Ventures: Selected Case Studies in Shanghai and Beijing' , International Journal of Human Resource Management8(5): 569—94.
27.
Howell, J. (1998) `Trade Unions in China: The Challenge of Foreign Capital', in G. O'Leary (ed.) Adjusting to Capitalism: Chinese Workers and the State, pp. 150—72. New York: M. E. Sharpe.
28.
Keith, R.C. (1997) `Legislating Women's and Children's “Rights and Interests” in the PRC' , The China Quarterly149: 29—55.
29.
Lee, E. (1997) `Globalisation and Labour Standards: A Review of the Issues' , International Labour Review136(2): 173—89.
30.
Lee, C.K. (1999) `From Organised Dependence to Disorganised Despotism: Changing Labour Regimes in Chinese Factories' , The China Quarterly157: 44—71.
31.
Levine, M.L. (1997) Worker Rights and Labour Standards in Asia's Four New Tigers: A Comparative Perspective. New York: Plenum Press.
32.
Lubman, S. (1995) `Introduction: The Future of Chinese Law' , The China Quarterly141: 1—21.
33.
Ngai, P. (2005) Made in China. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
34.
O'Leary, G. (1998) `The Making of the Chinese Working Class', in G. O'Leary (ed.) Adjusting to Capitalism: Chinese Workers and the State, pp. 48—74. New York : M. E. Sharpe.
35.
Qian, L. (2003) `Factors that Influence the Work of Labour Disputes Tribunal' , Labour Economy and Labour Relations4: 59—61.
36.
Qiao, J. and Jiang, Y. (2004) `An Analysis of Labour Demonstrations', in X. Yu , X. Y. Lu , P. L. Li , P. Huang and J. H. Lu (eds) Analysis and Forecast on China's Social Development (2005), pp. 296—314. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.
37.
Shen, Q.Q. (2004) `Changing Labour Relations and the Focus of Trade Unions' Work in China' , Labour Economy and Labour Relations3: 35—40.
38.
Smith, C. and Ngai, P. (2003) ` A Transnational Labour Process: The Dormitory Labour System in China ', paper presented at the 21st International Labour Process Conference, University of the West England , Bristol, 14—16 April.
39.
Spencer, R. (2005) ` Unseasonal Strife in Santa's Little Sweatshops ', The Daily Telegraph (3 January): 12.
40.
Taylor, B. (2001) `The Management of Labour in Japanese Manufacturing Plants in China' , International Journal of Human Resource Management12(4): 601—20.
41.
Taylor, B. , Chang, K. and Li, Q. (2003) Industrial Relations in China. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
42.
Thireau, I. and Hua, L.S. (2003) ` The Moral Universe of Aggrieved Chinese Workers: Workers' Appeals to Arbitration Committees and Letters and Visits Offices ', The China Journal50: 83—103.
43.
Walder, A. (1989) `Factory and Managers in the Era of Reform' , China Quarterly118: 22— 43.
44.
Warner, M. (1995) The Management of Human Resources in Chinese Industry . London: Macmillan.
45.
Warner, M. (1996) `Chinese Enterprise Reform, Human Resources and the 1994 Labour Law' , The International Journal of Human Resource Management74: 779—96.
46.
White, G. (1996) ` Chinese Trade Unions in the Transition from Socialism: Towards Corporatism or Civil Society? ', British Journal of Industrial Relations34(3): 433—57.
47.
Worker's Daily (2004), 28 December.
48.
Xu, F. (2000) Women Migrant Workers in China's Economic Reform . New York: Macmillan.
49.
Zhang, K.H. (2003) `Issues of Labour—Capital Relations in the WTO Framework' , Labour Economy and Labour Relations1: 60—3.
