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The situation may only get worse, some workers say, if
President Jiang Zemin has his way at the 16th Communist Party's
Congress in November."
Mr. Jiang wants party members to agree to admit capitalists
into its ranks under the rubric of his new political theory - "Three
Representatives" or "San Ge Dai Biao" - which offers a rationale for
China's economic transition.
But some workers fear that such a move would further
distance the party from their interests.
"As long as party officials all support each other, how will
things for the workers change for the better?" says Wang.
A decade ago, a visitor to any state-owned factory or shop In
China would have found half the workforce playing cards or
attending a political meeting -if not absent on a statutory two-hour
lunch break.
Then, long overtime was mostly a feature of export
sweatshops rather than state-owned enterprises. The most
vulnerable workers were the migrants from the villages employed
in foreign-invested factories making shoes, toys, and clothing.
But as state-owned enterprises become private, poor working
conditions and sudden layoffs are increasingly common, analysts
say.
"Even state workers are now on short term work contracts. This
means they are often not fired exactly, the contracts are just not
renewed," Dr. Unger says. "Each time, there is a change of
ownership at a state-owned enterprise, there are massive layoffs and
then the new employers often prefer migrant workers."
The International Labor Organization estimates that Chinese
workers have five times as many accidents in the workplace as US
workers have, although activists say this figure is too conservative.

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