Protest police repression against workers’ struggle to establish genuine trade union at Shenzhen factory
chinaworker.info is republishing this statement sent to us by a left-wing activist group in China calling for solidarity from the international workers’ movement with the workers at Jiashi (Jasic) Technology in Shenzhen. Around 30 workers have been arrested for their part in this struggle for basic union rights. chinaworker.info and our Hong Kong sister organisation Socialist Action fully support the demands of the Jasic workers and have been active in raising this issue and protesting the repression by the CCP (so-called Communist) regime against the workers.
Appeal for solidarity
On May 10, 2018, several employee representatives went to the District’s ‘official’ Worker Union with a joint letter for Jiashi workers, complaining about the company’s illegal management and hoping that they could organize their own labor union in the company. The vice chairman of the District Federation of Trade Unions declared that the labor union could be organized by themselves. On June 7, 2018, these employees submitted an application for organizing a union to the District Federation and to its subsidiary Street Unions. The officials instructed that the representatives can first recruit members by themselves.
Under the direction of the District Unions, the representatives prepared an “Questionnaire of Willingness to Join Jiashi Trade Union”, and as many as 89 employees signed to join. However, on July 12, 2018, vice chairman of the District Federation, and other four union officials, together with Jiashi deputy general manager and department managers blamed the representative Mi Jiuping. The vice chairman of District Federation had approved the application one month before, suddenly turned hostile and said it is illegal for Jiashi workers to establish a union.
Violence against workers
On July 16, Liu Penghua, another employee representative was deliberately transferred to a different workplace for no reason. There he was immediately beaten by two unidentified men, who later drove out of the factory without any obstruction! Workers called the police who ignored Liu Penghua’s injury and instead asked him to negotiate with the factory by himself! Liu Penghua was detained by the police station until 12 o’clock p.m that day, with his fellow workers standing at the door of police station and supporting him.
On July 18, the representative Mi Jiuping was also deliberately taken to a strange task by the factory. The section chief Xie of District Union asked Mi to write a statement that the establishment of Jiashi union has nothing to do with the District Federation, and Mi Jiuping refused firmly! That afternoon Mi was asked to transfer his working post immediately. As Mi did not agree with such a sudden decision, the factory instructed several security guards to throw him out of the factory! An enthusiastic co-worker, Yao was also threatened and hit by the supervisor, as he wanted to help Mi. In the evening, Mi and Yao were both illegally fired.
On July 20, Mi Jiuping and Liu Penghua arrived factory at 7:40 a.m. and wanted to work as normally, but were maliciously blocked by security guards and thrown out of the factory. Around 10:30 a.m. the police officers came and beat Mi and Liu again, but let the security guards (offenders) go!
More than 20 fellow workers came at noon to the police station to ask for release, and were dragged by a group of heavily armed police officers brutally into police station and detained for 24 hours.
On July 26, several worker representatives were beaten by the factory security guards once again and taken away of cell phones, in which there were the evidence against the company illegal actions, the company’s managers believed. And the coming police warned the beaten workers to obey orders, letting the beaters as unpunished as last time!
And the next day Jiashi factory restricted worker representatives and other activists’ personal freedom and handed over them to local police station. Coworkers who went to police station asking for release were also arrested. In the evening, police even intruded into representatives Liu Penghua and Guang Hengshu’s houses and took their family members away! There were totally over 30 people, including union initiators, their families and supporters.
International solidarity
By August 13, 2018, they are still detained which has drawn attention of the whole country. People from all around have written open letters to Yanziling Police Station’s superior department, Shenzhen City Government, requiring to release them immediately and to investigate illegal conducts of Jiashi Company and local police station seriously.
We are appealing for international solidarity so that the local authority would set them free as soon as possible and that foreign friends who care for workers’ cause in China could know more about it: Chinese workers with increasing class consciousness will never end their fighting!
Long live internationalism!
Red salute!
Video of protesting Jasic Technology workers and students singing “The Internationale”:
