NLC Hosts Distinguished Chinese Labor Law Expert
Liu ChengThe American Center for International Labor Solidarity and the National Labor College recently hosted Professor Liu Cheng for Shanghai Normal University to discuss the evolution of the new draft contract labor law in China. Cheng’s visit to the NLC on March 27th was the culmination of a multi-state tour meeting with union leaders and members of Congress.
- For the report by Global Labor Strategies analyzing the impact of transnational corporations on the first draft of the Contract Law go to: UNDUE INFLUENCE: Corporation Gain Ground in Battle Over Chinas New Labor Law
- An article placing Liu Cheng's visit in the context of the international debate on the Contract Law is at http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/03/280/
- If you wish to offer a comment about the draft Contract Law, please send it by May 15 to Professor Liu Cheng at liuchengss@126.com
- To subscribe to a bi-monthly posting of (translated) articles on labor topics from inside China, please send a notice to chinalabornews@gmail.com
Liu Cheng's tour included nearly 45 events over 17 days, in the Bay Area, Boston, Amherst, New York and Washington DC. A partial list of the many sponsoring organizations, and their key contact, includes:
- Chinese Progressive Association, San Francisco - Alex Tom
- UC Berkeley Institute for Industrial Relations, Berkeley - Katie Quan
- Alameda County Central Labor Council, Oakland - Michael Eisenscher & Wendall Chin
- Santa Clara County Central Labor Council, San Jose - Louis Rocha
- Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, Boston - Russ Davis
- Verite, Amherst - Dan Viederman & Erin Klett
- Chinese Progressive Association, Boston - Lydia Lowe
- Harvard Law School, Labor & Worklife Program, Cambridge - Elaine Bernard
- Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston - Monica Halas
- IUE-CWA Local 201, Lynn - Jeff Crosby, Steve Early & Rand Wilson
- CUNY, Joseph S. Murray Institute, New York - Greg Mantsios
- Cornell Labor & Employment Law Program, New York - Esta Bigler & Sean Sweeney
- The Workmen's Circle, New York - Ian Dreiblatt
- NYU School of Law, US-Asia Law Institute, New York - Daniel Ping Yu
- UNITE-HERE, New York - Wilfredo Larancuent & May Chen
- Center for Constitutional Rights, New York - Vincent Warren
- International Commission for Labor Rights, New York - Jeanne Mirer & Ashwini Sukthankar
- National Labor Committee, New York - Charlie Kernaghan
- Labor Notes, New York - Mark Brenner
- New York Jobs with Justice, New York - Adrianne Shropshire
- AFL-CIO, Washington DC - Richard Trumka & Barbara Shailor
- National Labor Relations Board, Washington DC - John Higgins
- Communications Workers of America (CWA), Washington DC - Tony Daley
- United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), Washington DC - Chris Townsend & Bob Kingsley
- US State Department, Washington DC - James Viray & Samuel Chang
- Senator Byron Dorgan's Office, Washington DC - Gabriel Adler
- House Progressive Caucus, Washington DC - Bill Goold
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Washington DC - Andy Stern, Anna Burger & Judy Scott
- National Labor College, Washington DC - Pete Hoefer & Pat Greenfield
Special gratitude is extended to Earl Brown of the Solidarity Center for his invaluable guidance and assistance, to Brendan Smith and Tim Costello of Global Labor Strategies for their serious and strategic research, to Eli Friedman for translation and logistical support, and to Harvard Law School / Labor & Worklife Program, SEIU and the AFL-CIO for financial support of the tour.
For additional information, or if you are interested in follow-up activities bearing on labor issues in China, please feel free to contact Ellen David Friedman at ellendavidfriedman@hotmail.com.
