From Labour File journal (Special Economic Zones: Their Impact on Labour), Vol 6, Nos 4-5, July - October 2008 (Article- pages 33-35).

Shenzhen is perhaps the best-known of China`s first four Special Economic Zones (SEZs). SEZs were experiments in market reform and foreign investment, marking early steps away from the previous planned, socialist-style economy. After being designated an SEZ in 1979, the movement of goods and people into Shenzhen was restricted in the 1980s and 90s, and the city operated under its own liberal, export-oriented, institutional framework, regarding taxation, investment, etc. Currently, SEZs such as Shenzhen are not significantly different from other manufacturing zones, and people and commodities can move more or less freely in and out. In general, large-scale foreign investment and labour migration are now ubiquitous features of the Chinese industrial landscape.

In fact, foreign-direct investment and export manufacturing, for which Shenzhen is renowned, are now actually moving out of the Shenzhen SEZ because of rising land and labour costs. Instead, the Shenzhen SEZ is now dominated by the booming commercial and service sectors. The city government is now encouraging the growth of higher, value-added operations in the SEZ such as electronics and telecommunications research and development centres in the newly developed Shenzhen Hi-tech Park (keji yuan). When people speak of Shenzhen now, they no longer simply refer to the SEZ but also to the sprawling industrial districts of Bao`an and Long`gang to the city`s north. Henceforth, I shall take Shenzhen to include both the SEZ and these two industrial suburbs.

Shenzhen is a young city made up mostly of migrants, who now vastly outnumber the local population, which, two-and-a-half decades ago, was mainly rural. These migrants include high-flying young professionals as well as poorly paid workers in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, retail, transportation and other services. The manufacturing sector—located mainly in the outer suburbs—includes large numbers of electronics and telecommunications factories. Other industries are printing, toy manufacturing, furniture, garments and metal works.

Migrants from the poorer areas of China make up almost the entire workforce of Shenzhen`s export-oriented manufacturing sector. Their migration is largely short-term, because they are not granted residence (hukou) in the city and, therefore, must pay high fees for basic services such as health care and education for their children. This government policy, hostile to migrants, coupled with the problem of low wages, creates an extremely family un-friendly environment for migrant workers. Many families are separated. Those who have children almost always leave them at home in rural areas to be cared for by grandparents. Most migrant workers are provided with dormitory accommodation by their employers, either free of charge or for a small fee. Dormitory conditions vary, but generally they afford very little privacy, typically with 6 to 12 people living in one room. Some migrant workers—particularly married couples—choose to rent accommodation outside the factory but a large number of couples live separately in their respective dormitories.

In Shenzhen, migrant workers suffer because of the ubiquitous violation of the law. Virtually all migrant workers in the manufacturing sector will have some experience of being underpaid, overworked, injured or put at risk because of employers` negligence of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). They have trouble getting time off from work for personal matters because of the culture of disregard for the rights enshrined in legislation. Government labour inspectorates do not actively police illegal corporate behaviour and may even be complicit in the abuse by employers of the legal rights of the employees. Independent workers` organisations are prohibited; the local branches of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) at the city and district levels are tightly controlled by the local Chinese Communist Party committees, and the local governments do little at the workplace or at the policy level to represent workers` interests. In effect, they work against workers` interests. In Shenzhen, the wages are the highest in the country; but so is the cost of living, and the real value of wages has not kept up with rapid inflation. Working conditions in Shenzhen (and the greater Guangdong province) are generally regarded as being worse than the other areas of concentrated export manufacturing in the Yangtze River Delta region (near Shanghai).

The frustrations of Shenzhen`s migrant workers in the manufacturing sector are spilling out into the public spotlight. Strikes are now extremely common although the workers` demands are almost never political. Many strikes occur over relatively trivial matters such as prices in the factory cafeteria or over cases of blatantly illegal behaviour by managers. That workers are frequently resorting to strikes to resolve these matters demonstrates how poor the state of industrial relations is in Shenzhen (and in China as whole).

Workers` frustrations are also finding their way into the courts. Shenzhen`s arbitration centres and courts are flooded with migrant workers` claims, mostly for owed wages and compensation for occupational injuries or diseases. In some cases, the amount awarded to workers has been incredibly high. In May 2007, a worker in Shenzhen`s Bao`an district was awarded 440,000 RMB (USD 59,657) after being paralysed in a work injury. In December 2006, a worker from Long`gang district was awarded 46,000 RMB (USD 6,237), a repayment for two years of underpaid, overtime work. These are very positive developments. Hefty claims for compensation may gradually help to deter factory owners from blatant violation of the laws—particularly if complemented with higher government fines.

The increasing incidence of labour disputes demonstrates that migrant workers` awareness of their rights under the law has increased in recent years. There are several likely reasons for this. First, there has been a lot of sympathetic media coverage of workers` problems (although strikes and other industrial actions are rarely reported). Second, workers` awareness of the law as a potential tool to protect them has been increased by the creation of three new, high-profile pieces of pro-worker legislation including the much-publicised Labour Contract Law, which will be enacted in 2008. And third, migrant workers have also received the support of a growing number of labour NGOs and because of the city`s proximity to Hong Kong.

In the end, however, migrant workers remain almost completely without any organisation that represents their interests but not without any organisation claiming to do so. Many workers are automatically signed up as members of a workplace ACFTU branch union, a fact of which many are unaware. Taking control of these organisations, or creating their own, will be a significant challenge and achievement for these workers.