Reforming Labor Relations in China`s State-Owned Enterprises: The Impact of Balancing Measures

Abstract

This article concentrates on the period 1992-99, when the Chinese government carried out its second round of economic reforms. Balancing measures are the focus of this study of labor relations in state-owned enterprises (SUEs). The analysis covers three interconnected areas. The first is policy analysis, summarizing the reform and balancing measures, as well as tracing the interaction of both types of policies in the course of gradual reform, examining the impact that these balancing measures have had on the social and political functions of SUEs. The second is an examination of the influence of the restored social and political functions on internal labor relations in SUEs. The third discusses the emerging division of interests between labor and management in SOEs. This article is based on empirical findings in eight SOEs in Being and Zhangjiakou city, Hebei province. The authors conducted interviews with workers, managers, and the cadres of unions at these SUEs in the summer of 1998 and underwent participant observation in one of these SOEs for three weeks in the summer of1999. Although these SOEs differed in size, at the time when the authors` fieldwork was carried out, there were no changes in their ownership situation (such as selling off the enterprises or establishing joint ventures), nor in their operational style (such as leasing or subcontracting). Hence, the data collected from these SOEs depict the transition of labor relations in SUEs with ”primitive” conditions during the process of reform.