On 1st and 2nd May, lorry drivers at Chiji Steel, a subsidiary of a private steel manufacturer based in Wuzhou, Guangxi province, went on strike for two days in protest against relentless arbitrary fines. According to the workers, Chiji Steel is notorious in Wuzhou for being a ‘rogue factory’ that withholds wages under various pretexts. Extreme workloads and hazardous working conditions meant that in March alone, at least three employees died at work due to overwork. They therefore demanded an end to arbitrary fines and improvements to their working conditions. On 2 May, some workers reported that their demands had been met, although the precise details remain unclear.
On 11 May, more than a hundred strikers at Chinasoft International in Xi’an (Shaanxi province) were protesting against the threat of pay cuts, forced transfers and other measures designed to pressure employees into resigning voluntarily in order to avoid paying severance pay. A management representative met with the strikers gathered outside the headquarters and negotiated the terms of compensation, but a sudden phone call brought the talks to an abrupt halt.
On 16 May, more than 2,000 pupils at Wenshang No. 1 High School in Jining (Shandong province) protested against what they described as ‘unreasonable oppressive policies’ by the school’s management. According to the pupils, the immediate trigger for the incident was the school’s unilateral decision to push back the weekend finishing time from 3.50 pm to 5.50 pm in order to increase the time allocated to exam preparation. For many years, the school had operated a system of ‘one day off every four weeks’! A reform in 2024 introduced one day off per week, but not the two days recommended by the authorities.
On the night of 15 May, discontent spread rapidly across the campus and the pupils quickly organised themselves through word of mouth, discussing their demands and drawing up a concrete plan of action.
On the morning of 16 May, pupils on the third floor poured out of their classrooms en masse, shouting “Give us our holidays!”, before gathering in the school playground. More than 2,000 first- and second-year sixth-formers quickly joined the movement. A message circulated amongst the pupils, which read: “ Thousands of pupils, united in a shared anger, must stand firm in their convictions, fight with reason and justice, and never submit to unjust oppression!” Within an hour, the school management finally relented and announced the reinstatement of the original finishing time of 3.50 pm. The pupils then returned to their classrooms following the success of this protest.
Excerpts from “The Newsletter”, a publication of the China Investigation Commission To subscribe, write to comenchine@wanadoo.fr
International Workers Committee - Comité ouvrier international - Comité obrero internacional 