China Labour Bulletin (CLB) was a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that promotes and defends workers' rights in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It was based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and was founded in 1994 by labour activist Han Dongfang.

Overview

CLB advocated stronger protection for the rights for Chinese workers, and expressed optimism that their conditions will improve through peaceful and legal action. CLB suppored the development of democratic

trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

in China and the enforcement of the PRC's labour laws. In addition, CLB saught the official recognition in China of international standards and conventions providing for workers'

freedom of association Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membe ...

and the right to free

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

. In 2002 CLB established a labour rights litigation programme designed to give workers the chance to seek redress for their grievances through the PRC's court system. The organization provides legal advice for workers and arranges for mainland Chinese lawyers to handle their cases. By October 2007, it had taken on about 140 cases involving such issues as non-payment of wages,

industrial injury Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

, and redundancy (unemployment) payments. It also addressed the problem of employment

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

, in particular, raising awareness of and combating discrimination against the estimated 120 million

hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the '' hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. ...

positive Chinese. In 2005, CLB set up a programme to promote collective bargaining and the use of factory-wide, legally enforceable collective labour contracts as a means of empowering workers, protecting their legal rights, and enhancing industrial relations. CLB has published five English language and ten Chinese language research reports on a range of issues including the workers' movement in China, migrant workers,

child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

accidents, and the

silicosis Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of Nodule (medicine), nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneum ...

epidemic among China's gemstone workers. In March 2021, CLB documented a series of accidents in the context of workplace safety, which was ignored by the local trade union for allegedly complying to the State's "priorities in eliminating rural poverty and instilling political loyalty". According to China Labor Bulletin, there were 138 strikes by food delivery drivers between 2015 and 2022. Ten percent of these strikes involved over 100 participants. Nearly all of the food delivery strikes documented by China Labor Bulletin involved

Meituan Meituan ( zh, p=Měituán, c=美团, literally "beautiful group"; formerly Meituan–Dianping, literally "beautiful group–reviews") is a Chinese shopping platform for locally found consumer products and retail services including entertainment ...

or Ele.me, and the worker's demands primarily related to pay increases or pay arrearages. On 12 June 2025, China Labor Bulletin announced it would dissolve, citing "financial difficulties and debt issues".

References

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External links

China Labour Bulletin (English)
Human rights in China Human rights organisations based in Hong Kong Organizations established in 1994 1994 establishments in China Labor rights groups Political organisations based in Hong Kong Organizations disestablished in 2025 2025 disestablishments in China

Overview

See also

References

External links