And in the US. Wisconsin & OWS were important but not enough for government to tell business to raise wages.
On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 12:11 PM, Tony Rolfe <mr.tony.rolfe at gmail.com> wrote:
> Where do we find evidence of a confident assertive working class in
> China? I'll admit I've been tuned mostly to Arab Springs, OWS,
> Wisconsin, Greek protests, UK riots etc...
>
> I'll assume there are convincing labour movements in China, but what
> clear-cut evidence of this do we have available from a US/western
> vantage point?
>
> When labour is in short supply and workers are confident of finding
> work, I would say that their inclinations towards any sort of action,
> individual or collective, will be determined mostly by cultural norms.
> Low-level tech workers in Silicon Valley are not contemplating
> forming unions just because the NasDaq hit 3000 yesterday.
>
> BTW property values in China have inflated rather dramatically in big
> cities, and (this is conjecture) but rents have probably ratcheted up
> to match. A demand for minimum wage increases doesn't seem so radical
> if you can't afford adequate shelter--household formation. That's an
> economic breaking point, not a sign of advanced class consciousness,
> right?
>
> On 3/16/12, Marv Gandall <marvgand at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> On 2012-03-16, at 1:14 PM, c b wrote:
>>
>>> michael perelman
>>>
>>> Yes, China wants to develop its consumer base, but other countries are
>>> having to respond to the demand for higher wages because of pressure
>>> from below. Are Asian elites more advanced or are they responding to
>>> working class pressure that is non-existent here in the US.
>>>
>>> ^^^^^^
>>>
>>> CB: China's CP leadership is no doubt more advanced than the US bourgeois
>>> elite.
>>
>> Anyone yet mention that Chinese manufacturers on the coast are experiencing
>> labour shortages and have had to pay higher wages or relocate inland or to
>> neighbouring countries where labour is cheaper? The more the interior
>> industrializes, the more disincentive there is to migrate, pressuring
>> coastal wages even more. As China moves up the value chain, wages are also
>> rising to meet the demand for more highly skilled workers. Where labour is
>> in short supply and workers are confident of finding work, they are more
>> inclined to engage in job action and other forms of protest for better pay
>> and benefits.
>>
>> So there's nothing inherently more astute about Asian bosses of big
>> state-owned or private firms. Their needs require that they make concessions
>> to their workers. US capitalists aren't faced with a confident, assertive
>> working class in a rapidly expanding economy where permanent manufacturing
>> jobs are plentiful, as they once were. Now American workers are scrambling
>> to find work, and it is not they, but their employers, who are demanding and
>> winning concessions in the ongoing struggle between the classes.
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-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com