No More “Made in China” 

Video- 10 Key Points.

1. Working conditions in China have been very harsh, labour laws were barely enforced and workers suffered
poor health and safety standards and worked long shifts with barely any breaks in between. Where workers
tried to seek redress for the exploitation they got little to no justice. Organisations claim to have improved
conditions but an investigation by NGO’s had found such claims to be untrue.
2. The working class in China has started to express anger and an awareness by staging protests and work
stoppages over the unfavourable working conditions and it is no longer business as usual for the big
factories and government who are now realising that the issue can no longer be ignored. The
workers are demanding higher salaries and more comfortable working conditions in proportion
to the GDP.
3. These issues have led to a workers revolution. The workers represent a large population of the
working class who live in Chinas major cities. Unlike in the past where people left the rural areas
to come to the cities to work so as to send money back to their families, this generation of new
workers have a different motivation which is to pursue a more modern lifestyle.
4. Trade unions in China have failed to protect the rights of workers. Lawyer’s referred to as
barefoot lawyers are making an effort towards remedying these defects.
5. Social tensions in the southern part of China have resulted in an increase in the minimum wage.
Higher salaries and reduced economic activities have led to businesses closing down. The
challenge of business owners remains how to maintain productivity without giving in to union
demands. These changes are signalling that the days of fast and cheap labour and products from
China is coming to an end.
6. The level of education among these workers has also increased and this has presented more
occupation options for them there by leading to labour shortages. To meet demands, factories
are moving from china to other countries like Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh where
workers do the same job as those in China for a fraction of the salary resulting in higher profits
for the companies.
7. Chinese investors are helping the economy in Cambodia but this growth has little to no impact in
improving the lives of the workers. Cambodian workers have the freedom of association and are
able to form unions but Chinese investors take advantage of the corrupt system to meet their
own ends. Uprising over the years have in both china and Bangladesh has led to slightly higher
wages.
8. Some countries deliberately keep workers’ salaries low so as to attract foreign investors believing
that this will consequently help the economy as in the case in Bangladesh which has grown to
become the second largest textile exporter in the world much, of course, to the detriment of the
workers in the textile industry.
9. Unions in the textile industry are banned by the government in Bangladesh but underground
movements are being discreetly organised to make demands for better working conditions.
10. These manufacturing operations in China, Bangladesh and Cambodia in the quest to lower
production and manufacturing costs by looking for faster and cheaper labour, no longer seems
sustainable given the growing revolution and the sweeping trend of globalisation.