UESF Photo Essay |
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UESF Photo Essay
UESF to China: An Emerging Labor Movement?In December 2008, UESF Political Director Ken Tray participated in a labor delegation to China, paid for by the California Labor Federation. The purpose of their trip was to build relationships with Chinese labor leaders, including teachers’ unions. The following is Ken's photo essay of the trip. All photos were taken by San Francisco Labor Council Executive Director Tim Paulson.
Introduction
When the leaders of the Guangzhou Teachers Union sat across the table from our West-Coast labor delegation and described their challenges, what emerged was an educational and political landscape much like that facing American educators. Mainly we learned that the fight of educators to attain adequate resources, to uphold the craft of teaching in the face of standardized tests, and the moral imperative to find ways that bridge the achievement gap between rich and poor students are among the many issues that cross the Pacific expanse.
Engagement with China’s labor movement was the shared commitment of our delegation that included San Francisco Labor council Executive Director Tim Paulson, SEIU’s Special Assistant to the President Josie Mooney, UCLA Labor Center Chair Kent Wong, and Cal Labor Center Chair Ken Jacobs. Indeed, as we flew first to Shanghai and then on to Guangzhou, to discuss China’s new labor code with local labor federation leaders it became clear that a real movement was beginning to emerge in the People’s Republic. In fact, when wildcat taxi strikes erupted throughout urban China, much to my surprise labor leaders like Guangzhou Labor Federation Chair Chen Weiguang spoke sympathetically about the drivers' demands for wages and social benefits and proposed that government and labor officials must respond with a positive offer.
Many factors will decide whether or not China moves toward real union power and democratization. Also, teacher autonomy and academic freedom are a long way from reality under the rigid party-state structure. And yet, a move toward real trade union movement reform that allows workers to stand-up for just wages and benefits could be an important step away from the present authoritarian regime.
Pictured above: A gift for the leaders of the Guangzhou Teachers Union.
