This thesis is a study of Chinese workers in the white goods industry, in particular workers in refrigerator factories in Anhui Province. It explores the change of factory regime and its impacts on workers during the development of the white goods industry and the process of marketization and privatisation. There have been a certain number of academic research studies on factory regimes in European and North American settings, and in recent years, research into China's industrial relations has increased. In contrast, changes of factory regimes based on a particular industry have been largely ignored by foreign and Chinese scholars. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the impact on the workers and the trade unions of the change in factory regimes in the process of China's transition towards a market economy. This thesis utilises qualitative and quantitative research methods, but mainly uses qualitative methods. Case studies were conducted in two companies in China. Eighty- three semi-structured interviews with workers, managers, trade union officials and scholars were completed. Structured interviews were conducted with 50 workers, and 50 managers responded to a questionnaire survey. In addition, secondary data referring to the Chinese white goods industry, both in Chinese and English, were collected mainly from statistical information published by government agencies and business bodies. It is argued that market relations rather than ownership transformation play a crucial role in the change of factory regime. It is not always true that the workers benefit from the good performance of the enterprises under the market economy with Chinese characteristics. In the context of the market economy, China's trade unions have retained their traditional concept. Their fundamental change is ultimately dependent on reform within the Party. Furthermore, the division of labour with Chinese characteristics makes for additional difficulty in the formation of China's working class.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:583787 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Zhao, Wei |
| Publisher | Cardiff University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://orca.cf.ac.uk/54315/ |
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