Asia Transnational Corporation Monitoring Network
Indonesia secretariat
August 29, 2018
Premier Li Keqiang
The State Council of the People’s Republic of China
No. 8, Yuetan South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
Peoples’ Republic of China 100017
Email: premier mail.gov.cn
Premier Li,
I am writing to you on behalf of Asia Transnational Corporation (ATNC) Monitoring Network, to strongly condemn the arrests and detentions of a number of Shenzhen Jasic Technology Co., Ltd. workers in Guangdong province on July 27 2018.
We would like to express our deep concern to their current conditions and query the legitimacy of their respective arrests. By establishing their own trade union to defend their labour rights in a lawful manner, the arrested workers are merely exercising their rights to freedom of association as guaranteed by Article 3 of the 1992 China Trade Union Law. Thus, such arbitrary arrests and detentions are blatant violations of their basic labour and civil rights.
The right to freedom of association is protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 20). And according to Article 2 of International Labour Organization Convention No. 87, workers shall have the right to establish and to join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorisation. As a member of the United Nations and ILO, the People’s Republic of China is obliged to respect and observe the basic principles of freedom of association. Regrettably, your government’s recent exercise of state power to suppress the aforementioned workers to organize their own union in accordance with the law and instructions from the upper-level union demonstrated a contrary to such principles. Moreover, we regard Article 9, 10, & 11 of the 1992 China Trade Union Law is in itself a violation of freedom of association. Under such stipulations, trade unions are impossible to be organized independently in accordance to the principles as laid down by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and ILO Convention No. 87.
Under such circumstances, we would like to call on the Chinese Government to:
1. To immediately release all the aforementioned arrested JASIC workers and their supporters;
2. To drop all criminal charges on the aforementioned arrested JASIC workers and their supporters;
3. To remove all measures placed on the aforementioned arrested JASIC workers and their supporters that may restrict their civil liberty.
4. To allow the aforementioned JASIC workers to form trade union without any state hindrance.
Sincerely,
On behalf of Asia Transnational Corporation (ATNC) Monitoring Network
1. Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), Cambodia
2. Independent Democracy od Informal Economy Association (IDEA), Cambodia
3. Cambodia Food and Service Workers Federation (CFSWF), Cambodia
4. Ecumenical Institute for Labour Education and Research (EILER), Philippines
5. Network of Transformative Social Protection (NTSP), Philippines
6. Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN), Philippines
7. Workers Assistance Center (WAC), Philippines
8. Konfederasi Persatuan Buruh Indonesia (KPBI), Indonesia
9. Lembaga Informasi Perburuhan Sedane (LIPS), Indonesia
10. Konfederasi Serikat Nasional (KSN), Indonesia
11. Konfederasi Pergerakan Rakyat Indonesia, Indonesia
12. Inkrispena, Indonesia
13. Parti Sosial Malaysia (PSM), Malaysia
14. Committee for Asian Women (CAW), Malaysia
15. Environic Trust, India
16. Van Thu Ha, Labour Activist, Vietnam
17. Labour Education Foundation (LEF), Pakistan
18. National Free Trade Union (NFTU), Sri Lanka
19. Yokohama Action Research (YAR), Japan
20. Japan Transnational Corporation (JTNC) Watch, Japan
21. Textile and Garment Workers Federation (TGWF), Bangladesh
22. Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), Korea
23. Centre for Workers Education (CWE), India
24. Yaung Chi Oo Workers’ Association (YCOWA), Myanmar
25. Focus on Global South, Thailand
26. Sekolah Demokrasi Ekonomika (SDE), Indonesia