The emerging approaches to settle strikes in China

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the dynamics of settling strikes in China since the 1990s within the current constraints of political resources and industrial-relations institutions. The regulation of labour relations in China has been strengthened, and the priorities of the party-state have shifted from stressing capital attraction to social stability. Labour shortages have tilted the power balance to be more in favour of workers. Employers can no longer rely solely on the endorsement of the local government in settling the strikes as they did in the 1990s. We conduct the case studies of strikes in two wholly foreign-owned enterprises and investigate how the two companies prevented and resolved the collective disputes of workers. We compare three waves of strikes in each of the two locations that occurred between 1994 and 2012. In both locations, employer responses have swung from passive to proactive coping and building trust. These inputs have played a decisive role in both the prevention and final resolution of conflicts over time. Our study revealed the complementary interactions between collective negotiation and HRM as an emerging effective approach in preventing and settling the strikes. Our study supports the current view that China’s dispute-resolution system has evolved in the last two decades towards greater formalisation and institutionalisation.

KEYWORDS:

• China’s industrial relations
• strikes in China
• dispute resolution and human resource management

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Xiaoyu Huang

Dr. Xiaoyu Huang is an Assistant Professor of Management in the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration at California State University, San Bernardino. She earned a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations and Human Resources from University of Toronto. Her research has been published in Human Resource Management, Human Resource Management Journal, the International Journal of Human Resource Management, Applied Psychology, Personnel Review and Journal of Organizational Change Management, etc.

Lihua Zhang

Dr. Lihua Zhang is a Professor of Human Resource Management in the School of Labor and Human Resource, Renmin University of China. Her research interests are in the areas of transformational leadership, cross-culture management, organizational change, and human resource management in China. Her research has been published in the field's top journals such as Organization Science and Organizational Dynamics. She is also among the pioneers in introducing case studies to China. She has trained many Chinese professors on case methodology in the past three decades.

Wei Huang

Dr. Wei Huang is an Associate Professor of Labour Relations in the School of Labor and Human Resource, Renmin University of China and Academic Fellow of International Center for HRM at the University of Cambridge. Educated at the University of Cambridge, his research has been concerned with collective bargaining and employee participation, global supply chain and decent work, international labor standards and corporate social responsibility, non-governmental organizations and social enterprises, as well as pay system.

Jinqiang Zhu

Jinqiang Zhu is currently a lecturer at Minzu University of China. He received his Ph.D. from Renmin University of China. His research interests include leadership, corporate culture, and counter-productive work behavior. He has published in Asian Business & Management, South African Journal of Business Management and numerous Chinese journals.

Montgomery Van Wart

Dr. Montgomery Van Wart is a Professor of Public Administration in the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration at California State University, San Bernardino., as well as a university administrator. He is author of over 100 publications and has books on leadership, human resource management, ethics, and government-business relations, among others.

Ge Qin

Ge Qin is currently a PhD candidate in Renmin University of China. Her research interests include counter-productive work behaviour, organisational citizenship behaviour.