8 Sep
2016
8 Sep
'16
12:38 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 8, 2016
Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org>
mahajanr(a)rfa.org
Radio Free Asia e-Book by Labor Advocate Han Dongfang Uncovers 'Dark Side of
China's Economic Rise,' Proposes a Way Out
Workers interviewed share personal accounts of falling victim to unfair
system
WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia (RFA) published an e-book today that highlights
the struggles and challenges faced by China's workers during the country's
dramatic economic rise. "China's Workers Wronged," available for a free
download on RFA's website <http://www.rfa.org/english/bookshelf> , is based
on 88 interviews with Chinese workers conducted in recent years by China
Labor Bulletin Executive Director Han Dongfang for RFA.
"China's workers' struggles are an underreported story that deserves more
attention," said Dan Southerland, RFA's Executive Editor. "Han Dongfang
brings the dark side of China's economic rise to light."
"With this e-book, RFA makes available to our audiences an important,
in-depth investigation of a story so often overlooked."
While the rise of China as a global economic powerhouse has been well
documented, less well known is how ordinary workers reaped few rewards
during this period of astounding growth. Their side of the story is subject
to censorship in the Chinese state media and is often underreported in
Western media. Roughly half of Han's interviewees were victims of the
injuries or illness endemic among coal miners, construction workers and
others whose local governments deny them the benefits that are owed to them.
Some interviewees tell of being cheated out of their wages or arbitrarily
reassigned to jobs with lower pay and poorer working conditions. Some are
simply fired without compensation.
Seeking justice through the court system, they often hit a stone wall. As
Han explains in the foreword to his book, China's official trade union is
"in league with the Communist Party and the factory bosses, and does nothing
to represent the workers." Many of these stories are harrowing, but are also
inspiring. The book closes with several encouraging examples of how workers
have come together to defend their legal rights and push for better pay and
working conditions. "Going forward," states Han, "the key task for
China's
workers is to reclaim the trade union and make it an effective bulwark
against employer abuses."
Based in Hong Kong, Han Dongfang has been an advocate for workers' rights in
China for more than two decades. He first came to international prominence
during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 when, as a railway worker, he
helped set up China's first independent trade union, the Beijing Autonomous
Workers' Federation. In 1993, he was expelled to Hong Kong, where the
following year he set up the China Labor Bulletin to promote labor rights in
mainland China. He also has his own radio talk show on Radio Free Asia in
which he conducts regular interviews with Chinese workers and farmers.
# # #
Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and
publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian
languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media.
RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and
expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information
and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by
an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Director of Public Affairs and Digital
Strategy
<mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M:
202.489.8021
