The economic condition of the working class in China

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Industrial Hazards Raging in China
By Zhang Kai, October Review, 29 February 1996. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions finds that there is a serious industrial hazard problem, such as work with poisonous substances and fire hazards, in both the People's Republic and in Taiwan.
Xin Qiao Electronics
By Li Qiang, China Labor Watch, n.d. [2000]. A report based on Li Qiang's experiences working at the Shengzhen factory in 1999 and 2000, when 400 people went on strike to protest the factory's working conditions.
Labor Rights and Wrongs: Some U.S. firms work to cut abuses in Chinese factories
By Robert Collier, The San Francisco Chronicle, 17 May 2000. Do trade and corporate investment help improve the human rights situation and pave the way for democracy in China, or are U.S. firms simply profiteering from government repression, taking advantage of 20-cents-per-hour wages and the Chinese government's denial of workers' rights?
Free trade v. slave trade: Brutal Chinese working conditions benefit Wal-Mart, others
By Jon E. Dougherty, WorldNetDaily.com, [24 May 2000]. Evidence documenting inhumane sweatshop conditions in factories that manufacture products exported to the United States for major companies including Nike, Wal-Mart, Timberland, Huffy, JanSport and the Kathie Lee (Gifford) label.
China OKs Wage, Salary Guidelines
AP, 21 December 2000. Workers in Chinese state industries, once among China's most privileged people, will find pay increasingly linked to performance under new wage and salary guidelines.
Chinese Mines Exploit Workers' Desperation
By Philip P. Pan, The Washington Post, 9 September 2001. Workers in China are still portrayed by the government as masters of a socialist state. But they often toil in Dickensian conditions, without independent unions or other political institutions that might temper market forces. Economic reforms have also weakened China's top-down political system; even when Beijing wants to help workers, it often cannot force obedience from local officials hooked on profits, tax revenue and bribes.
Many Rural Cadres Unpaid Due to Shrinking County Tax Collections
China News Digest, 5 March 2002. Many cadres in China's rural areas are owed thousands of yuan in back wages. The main reason may be a decline in the price of agricultural products, which cut farmers' incomes and, in turn, lowered the revenue raised by county governments.