China's government might, just might, be starting to pay attention to worker's rights. They are, at least, talking about labor rights, rather than profits. And, the targets are: McDonald's, KFC under fire for labor rights violations
American fast-food giants McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) are being bombarded for their work contracts which offer their part-time Chinese employees just four yuan per hour, well under the state requirement, state media reported.
An employee is entitled to no less than 4.3 yuan per work hour, said a rule released by the Guangzhou city government last November. The hourly pay averages 7.5 yuan in the city.
more after the fold
The labor laws in China, apparrently, provide that part-time employees do NOT have to be paid the regular minimum wage. They can, instead, be paid a lot less.
"Part-time employees don't need to undergo a one-month probation period."
And McDonald's and KFC have been paying their employees at most about 4 yuan/hour instead of the 7.5 yuan that is the law. (current exchange rate: approx. 7.7 yuans to a dollar) They have all most 3,000 outlets in China and employee almost 200,000 people.
I'm sure that many companies in China using this same dodge to get out of paying their employees the full amount.
However, there is a movement to help Chinese workers.
But, Zhu Yongping, a Guangzhou lawyer, has begun to move for the rights of employees.
He told the paper that the work contracts have 'seriously violated' the legal rights of employees.
OF course, McDonald's and KFC are fighting back:
Cui Minghuan, Manager of KFC'S Guangdong market, refuted the claims of rights violations, saying the current rule of the minimum hourly rates of pay for the non-full-time employees implemented in the province is not applicable to the part-time employees working for KFC.
"KFC does not breach relevant laws in China."
Cui said these part-time employees are neither full-time workers nor non-full-time workers. "Their hourly rates of pay cannot be measured by the rule."
Why is this important, besides a basic concern for worker's rights?
China has thousands of 'disturbances, riots, protests' each year. See my diary: Thousands riot in China for more details.
This attempt to force McDonald's and KFC into helping their workers is, hopefully, the start of a program to help ALL Chinese workers. China is, hopefully, going after NON-Chinese employers first, to set an example, then later on, they can go after Chinese employers.
The report came just days after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in his work report to the congress in early March, called for more efforts to implement the minimum hourly wage system in a bid to protect the workers' rights.
The minimum wage system aims to protect the rights of Chinese employees. For example, Bejing has set a minimum wage about 550 yuan per month, while the economic hub Shanghai has a minimum wage about 650 yuan.
The central government has beefed up efforts to protect the rights of its huge crowd of employees to quell any likelihood of unrest and maintain social stability.
If you, at least, appear to be helping the workers, hopefully, they won't riot....
thank you for reading
jeff