On the first day of the Chinese New Year in 2025, January 29th, the human rights organization “China Labor Bulletin” released a data analysis report on strikes in China, showing that in 2024, there were more labor protests and they were more widespread. The construction industry still saw the highest number of labor protests, while the number of protests in the manufacturing industry increased.
The report, titled “Analysis of Strikes in China by China Labor Bulletin,” revealed that there were 1,509 documented labor strike incidents in 2024, a decrease of nearly 20% from the 1,794 incidents in 2023. However, this data remains relatively high compared to the years from 2019 to 2022.
According to the report, the three provinces with the highest number of labor rights incidents were all in the eastern coastal region: Guangdong (346 cases), Shandong (106 cases), and Zhejiang (101 cases). However, inland provinces also experienced numerous labor protests, including Henan (80 cases), Hebei (69 cases), and Shaanxi (59 cases).
In terms of industries, the construction industry still had the highest number of labor protest activities (733 cases, accounting for 48.6%), while the number of cases in the manufacturing industry (452 cases, 30%) increased from 2023. Following these were the service industry, transportation, and logistics.
The report’s conclusion stated that in 2024, issues such as economic environment, geopolitics, and industrial competition exacerbated the neglect of workers’ rights. In this scenario, both unions and businesses have an urgent responsibility to protect workers’ rights. Simultaneously, multinational companies must also be accountable for labor rights violations in their supply chains.
Han Dongfang, host of the labor communication program on Radio Free Asia who led the writing of the report, mentioned that the 1,509 strike incidents do not fully reflect the severity of strikes in reality. The statistical method mainly relies on clues of strike events obtained from social media, where workers post videos, including their actions and requests for help, all of which are verified before being posted online.
Han Dongfang pointed out that there are likely more strike events that go uncounted, as not all worker collective actions are posted online. China Labor Bulletin has limited manpower, making it challenging to conduct comprehensive surveys, especially as it is difficult to access official data from the Chinese government.
Li Qiang, head of the New York-based labor organization “China Labor Watch,” believed that the number of labor protest events should be higher than in previous years. He stated, “Based on the current situation of Chinese companies going bankrupt and the conditions reflected by workers, including wages and job hunting difficulty, analyzing these situations indirectly shows that China’s employment environment is worse than last year.”
Li Qiang analyzed that the reason the data might not reflect this trend could be related to the Chinese government’s control over the internet. He explained, “Their (Chinese network) algorithms now cause the labor rights information to disappear quickly after it is released, making it difficult to find again. The method they (China Labor Bulletin) use can only record some cases in a very short time but cannot comprehensively record how many labor protests there are.”
(This article was referenced from Radio Free Asia’s report)