Constitution of the Chinese Trade Unions
October 30, 1993
(Adopted at the 12th National Congress of Chinese Trade Unions on October 30, 1993)
General Provisions
The Chinese trade unions are mass organizations of the Chinese working class which are under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and formed by the workers of their own free will. They serve as a bridge and link between the Party and workers and an important social pillar of the state power and represent the interests of the trade union members and workers.
With the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as the fundamental principle for their activities, the Chinese trade unions shall, in accordance with the Trade Union Law of the People's Republic of China and the Constitution of the Chinese Trade Unions, act independently, and exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations in accordance with the law.
The working class is the leading class of China, represents the advanced productive forces and relations of production, serves as the main force in the reform and opening-up and in socialist modernization drive and is a powerful and concentrated social force maintaining the social stability. The Chinese trade unions shall hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, act in accordance with the Party's basic line of centering on the economic construction, upholding the Four Cardinal Principles and sticking to the reform and opening-up, fully perform their social functions and, while maintaining the overall interests of the people of the whole country, seek better ways to reflect and protect the specific interests of the workers, rally and mobilize nationwide workers to start undertakings through arduous effort and self-reliance and strive for the construction of China into a prosperous, powerful, democratic and civilized modernized socialist country.
The major social functions of the Chinese trade unions are to maintain the legitimate interests and democratic rights of the workers; mobilize and organize workers to take an active part in the construction and reform and to complete the economic and social construction tasks; represent and organize workers to take part in the management of the State and social affairs and in the democratic management of enterprises, institutions and State organs; and to educate workers to constantly improve their ideological and ethnical qualities and their scientific and cultural levels, so as to build up a contingent of well-educated and self-disciplined workers with high ideals and moral integrity.
In the course of the development of the socialist market economy, the Chinese trade unions shall, when protecting the political rights of the workers, safeguard the labor rights and material and culture benefits of the workers, take participation in the coordination of the labor relationship and coordinating social contradictions as an important task, and strive to promote the long-term stability of the economic development and the society.
The Chinese trade unions safeguard the socialist state power of the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the worker-peasant alliance, assist the People's Government in carrying out its work and give play to the role of democratic participation and social supervision in the course of government's exercise of State administrative powers.
In enterprises and institutions, the Chinese trade unions shall support the administrative authorities to exercise their administrative power according to law, organize workers to participate in democratic management and democratic supervision, establish a consultation system with the administration of such enterprises and institutions, safeguard workers' lawful rights and interests, arouse workers' enthusiasm and promote the development of enterprises and institutions.
The Chinese trade unions shall carry out the principle of combining union organizations formed along the industrial line with those formed on the locality basis, and stick to the system of democratic centralism.
The Chinese trade unions shall persist in building themselves on mass and democratic basis, maintain close ties with the masses of their members and rely on them to carry out the trade union work. The leading bodies of trade unions at various levels shall persistently place the focal point of their work on the primary level, serve the primary level and workers wholeheartedly to increase the vitality of the primary trade union organizations and build trade unions into the "home of the workers".
The enterprises and institutions run by trade unions shall stick to the principle of serving the reform and opening-up, the development of social productive forces and the masses and workers, and lastly the promotion of the development of labor movement in China.
The Chinese trade unions shall strive to consolidate and develop the worker-peasant alliance, adhere to the patriotic united front and strengthen the great unity of the people of all nationalities throughout the country, including the compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, Taiwan province as well as overseas Chinese with a view to promoting the reunification of the motherland and making it prosperous and strong.
In international affairs, the Chinese trade unions shall stick to the principle of maintaining the independence and making extensive contacts and develop friendly relations with the international trade union organizations and those of various countries on the basis of independence, equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs and strive for the world peace, development and workers' rights and interests as well as social progress together with the workers and trade unions all over the world.
Chapter I Membership
Article 1 Membership of trade unions is open to all manual and mental workers, irrespective of their nationality, race, gender, occupation, religious belief or educational level, in enterprises, institutions and State organs within the territory of China on condition that they rely on wages or salaries as their main source of income and accept the Constitution of the Chinese Trade Unions.
Article 2 For admission to the Chinese trade unions, the worker shall submit an application voluntarily, which will be approved by a grassroots trade union committee after discussion by a trade union group, whereupon a membership certificate will be issued to the applicant.
Article 3 Trade union members enjoy the following rights:
1. To elect, to be elected and to vote;
2. To criticize any organization or personnel of the trade union, to demand the removal or replacement of any incompetent union personnel and to supervise the trade union work;
3. To make criticisms and suggestions concerning problems in the state and social life, and to demand that trade union organizations faithfully convey them to the departments concerned;
4. To demand that trade unions give them protection when their legitimate rights and interests are infringed upon;
5. To enjoy the preferential treatment provided by trade union-run institutions in the fields of culture, education, sports, tourism and convalescence and recreation, and to enjoy various awards given by trade unions; and
6. To participate in the discussions on trade union work and issues of concern to workers at union meetings and through trade union-run newspapers and journals.
Article 4 Trade union members shall fulfill the following duties:
1. To learn the basic knowledge about politics, economics, culture, science, technology and trade unions;
2. To take an active part in democratic management and make great efforts to fulfill production and work assignments;
3.
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