The Labor Politics of Market Socialism

Labor has become an economic and political challenge a China plagued by unemployment among the ranks of state the proclaimed masters of the Chinese state. Five and a quarter million urban state workers are officially registered as unemployed, and another estimated twenty million have become surplus or off-duty (xiagang) workers (Zhongguo laodongbao, 9 Nov. 1996). Labor officials have responded by launching a nationwide reemployment campaign since mid-1995 to absorb these laborers, mainly by developing labor-intensive, tertiary sectors such as food services, transport, domestic services, retailing, and tourism (Guangdong laodongbao, 3 Dec. 1995). Official recognition of the massive number of the unemployed and the redundants, who are referred to as the two categories of staff' the Chinese press, reveals only the tip of the iceberg. The plight of the state workers is also to be found the increasing number of impoverished workers, the new urban poor whose wages or pensions are falling far behind the rising cost of living. A survey of thirteen provinces has found that more than 10% of workers are in dire straits five provinces and 5% to 10% another six. Unpaid salaries and pension entitlements have affected the lives of millions