Monday, June 11, 2007

Modern Slavery in China


A funny and yet sad cartoon about the "modern slavery" in China!

As the states enterprise in China are privatized, more and more workers are working until ever improvished conditions with not employee protection despite the presence of some employee protection laws. These so-called labor laws in China have never been respected because of the corruption of local communist officials who often receive bribe money from factory owners.

The most serious labor problem is China, however, is not labor abuse, but forced retirement or layoff with little or no compensation. Privatized factories may be sold to real estate property developers and factory workers will be laid off regardless of the number of years they have worked for the factories. Their retirement pensions are often forfeited, as factory owners flee to escape their responsibilities.

The lack of retirement protection for middle aged citizens is often complicated by recent forced eviction by real estate developers who collude with local communist officials to expropriate land with little compensation. It is not uncommon that many middle-aged citizens become homeless and jobless in big cities despite the high rate of economic growth in these cities!

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