Taking Workers' Fundamental Rights Seriously: A Study on the Chinese Labor Law from the Perspective of International Core Labor Standards

Abstract

China is undergoing rapid economic growth and, in tandem, experiencing social transformations and rising social unrest. Important stresses arise for Chinab s systems to ensure job security and the protection of workers. Labor related problems that were thought to have long disappeared under socialism have resurfaced. As such, urgent needs arise for Chinab s legal system, especially those that deal with labor rights, to reform. In the writerb s view, the international core labor standards -- as crystallized by eight ILO fundamental conventions -- can and should serve to guide Chinab s legislative reform. Although these conventions never force a signatory party to obey their standards, its power to influence the Chinese labor laws and system change is beyond doubt. Accordingly, the writer conducts a comprehensive study on the Chinese labor legislation from the perspective of eight ILO fundamental conventions, to find out the gap between them and provide feasible gap-filling solutions.