Kraft's China unions says relocation violates law

Breanna Fehr, March 25, 2008. 5:30 p.m. Labor Problems

A labor union at Kraft Foods in China said that the company violated Chinese labor by not consulting workers about a relocation of its headquarters. The relocation of the headquarters threatens up to 340 people’s jobs. Since the beginning of March the company has been having talks about moving its headquarters from Beijing to Shanghai.

According to Chinas new labor law, a company is required to consult with its staff before making any major decisions that may affect employee interest. Kraft announced its plans for relocation abruptly which bothered workers. Since workers were kept in the dark about such an important decision they decided to unionize. After unionizing the workers stated examining legal options for saving their jobs. The union says that Kraft has hurt the interests of Chinese employers and is demanding that Kraft apologize for violating the law and that workers are given a voice in the relocation process.

A company spokeswoman said that half of the 250 non-sales staff in Beijing would be offered jobs in Shanghai and the other half would be offered severance pay that is more generous than required by Chinese Law.

I think it’s really important that the workers are working together to help resolve some of their problems. The company would have gotten away with not talking to its employees about the relocation if the workers hadn’t gotten together and demanded that they talk with them; after all it is the law. This just proves that the only way these laws will be enforced is if people work together to promote them because Kraft only cared about the law after the workers brought it to their attention. I think this should set a precedent for Chinese workers, because of them unionizing they got the company to offer them jobs and severance pay. If the workers kept quiet about their problems about losing their job than they probably would have never been offered the jobs or severance pay.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSPEK33478320080325?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=10004