VZCZCXRO5102
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0307/01 1440907
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240907Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5842
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1096
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0656
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0660
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0765
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0531
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0638
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 6243

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000307 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND DRL 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR KARESH, A. ROSENBERG, CELICO 
LABOR FOR ILAB - ZHAO LI 
TREAS FOR OASIA/ISA-CUSHMAN 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, MELCHER AND DAS KASOFF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI LABOR INSPECTION WORKSHOP 
 
 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for dissemination outside 
USG channels; not for Internet distribution. 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  During a May 17-18 labor inspection workshop 
in Shanghai, Chinese government officials and academics 
attributed weaknesses in China's labor inspection system to a 
lack of resources, lack of training for inspectors and 
inadequate enforcement authority.  They urged that the 
constitution be amended to include more articles on labor 
inspection and that the Labor and Social Security Inspection 
Regulation be upgraded to a law.  U.S. participants emphasized 
the importance of establishing a common understanding in the 
government of the purposes and goals of labor inspection and 
urged that the government work with NGOs and industry 
associations.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) On May 17-18, the National Committee on U.S.-China 
Relations and the Chinese Ministry of Labor and Social Security 
(MOLSS) jointly organized a workshop on labor inspection in 
Shanghai.  The workshop was an activity under the Department of 
Labor's Labor Rule of Law Project.  The purpose of the workshop 
was to provide a venue for Chinese and U.S. labor experts to 
exchange views and experiences on labor inspection, support 
efforts to strengthen the Chinese government's capacity to 
develop laws and regulations to implement internationally 
recognized standards of workers' rights, and promote greater 
awareness of labor law among Chinese workers and employers. 
Meeting attendees included scholars from Chinese law schools and 
research institutes, government officials from labor and social 
security departments and U.S. labor inspection experts, 
including National Committee on U.S.-China Relations' Senior 
Program Officer Ling Li, U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and 
Department of Labor Hour Division's former manager John Fraser 
and the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division's former 
regional manager Teresa Melnyk. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Chinese participants attributed weaknesses in China's 
labor inspection system to a shortage of staff and funding, lack 
of training for inspectors and inadequate enforcement authority. 
 According to MOLSS Department of Rule of Law Director Yan 
Baoqin, although China currently had 21,000 full-time inspectors 
throughout the country, it would take them about 50 years to 
complete labor inspections at all enterprises.  MOLSS Labor 
Inspection Section Director Chen Lan added that Chinese labor 
and social security departments had expanded their work force 
and hired temporary inspectors from trade unions, woman's 
federations and youth federations to manage the numerous 
inspection tasks.  She said, however, that it was difficult for 
inspectors to investigate labor violations in some places 
because economic development was a major priority in those 
areas.  She said it was necessary to promote a common 
understanding of labor inspection and strengthen communication 
between different departments and law enforcement agencies. 
Finally, she suggested revising the constitution to add more 
articles on labor inspection. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Chinese scholars were curious about U.S. labor 
inspection practices. They asked U.S. experts for information on 
how to make standards for piece-rate wages, how to build an 
incentive system for industries to prevent labor violations, and 
about the relationship between NGOs and the U.S. government. 
Both U.S. and Chinese participants agreed that the highest 
number of labor violations occurred in the food industry, 
restaurants, hotels, textile companies and the construction 
industry.  U.S. experts emphasized the importance of 
establishing a common understanding of the purposes and goals of 
labor inspection with government and business leaders.  They 
suggested that Chinese officials work with industry associations 
to create standards for technical matters such as piece-rate 
wage and overtime.  On the margins of the conference, a Chinese 
scholar told FSN Political Assistant that NGOs could play a more 
active role in labor inspections as long as they coordinated 
closely with the government. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Although Chinese participants admitted improvements 
were needed in labor inspection, they said that there had been 
 
SHANGHAI 00000307  002 OF 002 
 
 
some progress in China's labor inspection development and 
pointed to successes in getting back wages paid to migrant 
workers.  According to Anhui Provincial Labor Bureau's Labor 
Inspection Section Chief Wang Jie, Anhui province last year 
secured RMB 20 million (USD 2.6 million) in back wages for 
migrants.  About RMB 16 million (USD 2.1 million) was collected 
from Hefei-based factories.  The factory owners were told that 
they could not go home for the Chinese Spring Festival until 
their migrant workers were paid.  The last case was settled on 
Chinese New Years Eve.  Wang worried, however, that such 
administrative actions would not be effective in the future.  He 
urged the Chinese government to upgrade the Labor and Social 
Security Inspection Regulation to a law and give more authority 
to inspectors. 
 
¶6.  (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Beijing. 
JARRETT