Recruiting in China

THE government wants the percentage of foreign-invested city enterprises with trade unions to exceed 80 percent by the end of this year, the Shanghai Trade Union said yesterday.

By the end of March this year, 9,063 of the more than 11,600 foreign-invested firms in the city had established trade unions, a threefold increase compared to 2003.

Chen Hao, chairman of the Shanghai Trade Union, said establishment of a trade union could help protect workers' legal rights.

Chen cited Shanghai Uchino, an enterprise with 100 percent Japanese investment, as a good example of a company operating with a union.

The Japanese company was set up in Shanghai in 1995. The trade union was established at the same time. Of its 1,900 employees, more than 1,800 have joined the union.

"Every time we make a rule or plan, we discuss with our employees together," said Ji Weizhong, chairman of the company's trade union. "We have held two staff conferences last year and set every contract term with our workers."

Organized by the trade union, the company also signed a special contract with female employees to guarantee their rights and interests. One of the contract terms stipulates that the company will hold health checks for women every year, and pregnant employees can have extra breaks.

"What we do for them added, but what they do for the company multiplied," said Chen Longbao, the company's manager. "We can benefit more, because when employees are favored by their contracts, they will work harder than before."