时代周刊：经济复苏助长中国劳资纠纷

影音王

　　当全球金融危机在2008年突然爆发时，普遍存在这样一种担忧，即工厂裁员会给中国带来社会动荡。然而这一幕并未发生，其中部分原因是由于在国家经济发展趋缓的情况下，中国工人们能够忍受低廉的报酬，甚至能够忍受失业。但是现在，中国经济开始反弹，工人们就没那么有耐心了。
　　最近几周，本田在中国的一些工厂和供应商遭遇了一系列的罢工事件。6月4日，这家日本汽车制造商以加薪24%的代价平息了在佛山的变速箱工厂持续2周的罢工事件。紧接着，部分隶属与本田的一家佛山排气管工厂（佛山丰富汽配公司）本周又发生了罢工事件。本田公司在东京的一位发言人透露，本田与罢工工人已达成了某种协议，且工人们已经回到了的生产线上。但在广东中山固力本田制锁厂的罢工事件仍在继续。
　　不只是本田公司面临着困扰。在离上海不远的昆山，台资橡胶产品制造商KOK书元机械公司的2000名工人发起了罢工运动，据《中国日报》报道，6月7日，在罢工工人与安保人员的冲突中，有50名工人受伤。
　　与美国、日本和欧洲相比，中国近来的经济增长势头非常强劲。尽管如此，由于中国工人们对加薪和改善工作环境的呼声越来越大，中国将面临越来越多的劳资冲突。“相较于经济下滑期，经济快速增长期的劳资冲突会更多一些，这听起来有些难以理解，”香港非政府组织中国劳工通讯的发言人杰弗里·克罗塞尔说道。在去年的经济下滑时期，也许中国工人们愿意相信在薪资和工作环境问题上，他们的老板们有迫不得已的苦衷，因而愿意接受低薪和减薪，但是现在，克罗塞尔说，情况有了变化。“当经济再次腾飞，这些工人们在薪资不变的情况下被迫延长了工作时间。显然这激起了他们的愤怒和不满。”
　　为苹果、惠普、索尼、戴尔等企业生产电子产品的台资制造业巨头富士康在中国经历了工人“N连跳”连锁自杀事件，其在6月1日宣布为工人基本工资加薪30%。富士康在中国南方制造业中心深圳拥有42万名员工，今年内已有9名员工跳楼身亡，另有2名跳楼重伤。此外，富士康在河北的一家工厂今年1月有一名员工跳楼身亡。6月6日，富士康再次宣布深圳的部分员工的月薪将在今年秋季增至2000元人民币（290美元），比之前宣布的加薪方案又增加了60%。
　　由于中国的沿海地区需要留住并吸引劳动力，在今年，大约30个中国的省份和城市已经或将要提高最低工资标准。苏格兰皇家银行的首席中国经济学家贝哲民说道，提高最低工资已经酝酿了好几年，“早在2004就提到过提高最低工资，但随后的经济危机使得相关动作暂时停滞，但并没有消除。现在这一趋势已经开始恢复。”
　　来自国内外再次高涨的呼声加快了加薪的步伐。同时，在中国政府5860亿美元的经济刺激计划下，中国中部地区经济欠发达的省份开始了一轮基础设施建设热潮。这就分流了沿海省份的一部分劳动力，内地的一些工人不再背井离乡地前往沿海城市从事制造业。此外，虽然中国劳动力丰富，但工厂和建筑业偏爱20多岁的年轻劳动力，但这一年龄段的劳动力人口在今后数年中将不断减少，这也形成了工资上涨的压力。
　　短期内，加薪会给中国出口商带来很大压力，因为他们的利润率有限。但这对中国的整体经济形势是有好处的。“我们已经看见低成本的制造商们正在退下舞台，这是个好现象，”贝哲民说，“这不是中国想要的商业模式。”并且加薪最终能促进中国的国内消费，对政府来说，这是促进经济增长的重要动力。
　　与此同时，世界其他地区需要适应更贵的中国商品。暂时还没有迹象表明中国的贸易伙伴们找到了更为廉价的替代品。此外，中国的出口总额在今年5月增长了48%。若是你在某家中国工厂工作，这可是又一个要求涨工资的理由。

英文原文：


　　As Economy Improves, China Labor Unrest Is Growing
　　By AUSTIN RAMZY - Fri Jun 11, 2:05 am ET
　　When the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, one oft-cited fear was that factory layoffs in China would lead to social unrest. That didn't happen, in part because Chinese workers proved willing to endure stagnant wages and unemployment as the national economy slowed. But now that Chinese growth has rebounded, workers aren't so patient.
　　In recent weeks, Honda has seen a series of strikes at its Chinese factories and suppliers. The Japanese automaker resolved a two-week work stoppage at a transmission plant in the southern city of Foshan on June 4 after offering a 24% pay increase. That was followed this week by workers walking off the line at an exhaust parts factory in Foshan that is partly owned by a Honda subsidiary. Employees have since returned to work at that plant, Foshan Fengfu, after an undisclosed agreement was reached, a Honda spokeswoman in Tokyo said. But another strike at a Honda joint venture that produces automobile locks in Zhongshan, Guangdong, is continuing.

　　The troubles aren't Honda's alone. In Kunshan, a city near Shanghai, 50 workers were injured on June 7 in a clash with security guards, the state-run China Daily reported, after 2,000 people went on strike at KOK Industrial, a Taiwanese-owned factory that produces rubber products.
　　While China's recent growth has been strong, especially when compared with the U.S., Japan and Europe, it faces the prospect of rising strife as workers demand higher wages and better working conditions. "You tend to see more labor unrest in economic boom times than economic downturns, which sounds strange," says Geoffrey Crothall of the China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based NGO. While workers may have been willing to give their bosses the benefit of the doubt during the 2009 downturn and accept low wages or pay cuts, now, says Crothall, times have changed. "The economy is booming again and the same workers are forced to work longer hours, but pay is same. Obviously they are angry and frustrated."
　　Foxconn, a Taiwanese company that manufactures electronics for Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Dell and others, announced a 30% increase in base wages on June 1 after a string of suicides this year at its Chinese factories. The company has 420,000 workers at its plants in the southern manufacturing center of Shenzhen, where nine workers have died after jumping from buildings this year and two more have injured themselves in suicide attempts. Another jumped to his death at a Foxconn factory in Hebei in January. On June 6 the company announced some workers in Shenzhen would see their base salaries rise this fall to 2,000 renminbi ($290), an increase of about 60% over the previously announced wage hike.
　　This year about 30 Chinese cities and provinces have increased or are expected to increase their minimum wages as coastal regions try to attract and retain workers. The wage hikes have been years in the making, says Ben Simpfendorfer, chief China economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland. "It's a resumption of a trend that first emerged in 2004," he says. "The economic crisis delayed it temporarily, but didn't eliminate it."
　　The recovery of both domestic and external demand has helped drive up salaries. At the same time, China's $586 billion stimulus package helped boost infrastructure development in interior provinces that have traditional lagged economically. That's kept some workers from traveling to coastal manufacturing regions for work. And while China has a huge labor pool, factories and construction sites favor workers in their 20s. That population will decline in the coming years, putting further pressure on wages.
　　In the short run, the wage increases will strain Chinese exporters who often subsist on narrow profit margins. But that should have benefits for the country's overall economy. "You're already seeing low-cost producers going out of business. That's a good thing," says Simpfendorfer. "This isn't a business [China] wants to be in." Rising wages will also ultimately help China increase domestic consumption, which the government says it wants to become a more important driver of economic growth.
　　At the same time the rest of the world will have to get used to higher prices on Chinese-made goods. For the time being there are few signs that China's trade partners have found a suitable substitute for cheap imports; meanwhile, the value of Chinese exports in May grew 48%. If you're working at a Chinese factory, that's another reason to ask for a little more cash.
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