China in Crisis: Social Stability Now "More Important Than Economic Development"
Lyndon LaRouche
November 19, 2008 (LPAC)--China's government is so concerned about the impact of the global breakdown crisis on its economy, that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has enacted measures to "help protect social stability." Ministry official Liu Junsheng told the China Daily yesterday that social stability is now "more important than economic development."
In a directive issued on November 17, the Ministry announced that China's provincial and local governments must give "top priority" to keeping workers on the job. Not only the cheap-export-oriented industries, but also China's steel, aluminum, auto, and other basic industries, are laying off masses of workers. The Ministry is demanding not only measures to control the layoffs, but also emergency plans to prevent, or deal with, large groups of unemployed workers. In the export sector, bankrupt foreign factory owners are shutting down and fleeing China, leaving unpaid workers on the streets.
The Ministry wants the local emergency plans to be reported as soon as possible, and called for an "efficient" channel to deal with labor disputes, China Daily reported. Steps must be taken to guarantee unemployment insurance, try to get workers reemployed, and support migrant workers.
Both Shandong and Hubei provinces are now requiring companies to get prior approval for any layoffs of more than 40 workers, a stricter amendment of the national labor contract law, which came into effect in January. This year so far, almost 700,000 workers have lost their jobs in Shandong, a center of export production. China's state-owned companies in finance, oil, power, and telecommunications, have been told to cut wages, not jobs.