China Backs Workers In Tech Battle

 "HONG KONG -- China's communist state has made a show in recent months of supporting the lowest-level workers in the country's bare-knuckle tech industry, an emerging plank in leader Xi Jinping's campaign to shrink the country's wealth gap and usher in a new era of "common prosperity."

The moves also bolster a sweeping effort by Mr. Xi to exert more control over one of the nation's few strategic sectors that is dominated by private capital.

Last Friday, China's human resource ministry summoned 10 of the country's largest digital platform companies -- including internet behemoths Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., ride-hailing provider Didi Global Inc. and food-delivery giant Meituan -- pressing them to improve conditions for the tens of millions of contract workers who keep the country's consumer economy humming.

Officials in the meeting reminded tech executives of instructions Beijing issued in mid-July to improve gig workers' pay and benefits, and to adjust the algorithms used for managing workers to ease workloads and lessen punishment for late arrivals or deliveries.

Under Mr. Xi, the Chinese state has surprised analysts and unsettled markets by taking aggressive action against some of the country's biggest tech companies in recent months, accusing them of violating antitrust, data-security and labor rules.

Increasingly, Beijing has portrayed its actions as the prelude to a new stage in China's development, one in which the tremendous wealth generated in the country's boom years is more evenly distributed.

At least some companies have appeared responsive. The same day as the meeting, Meituan published its algorithm rules through social media and vowed to soften them, for example by designating a range for on-time deliveries instead of hard deadlines.

Meituan is also considering whether to set up a corporate-level umbrella trade union for its workers in addition to establishing more local trade-union branches across China, according to a person familiar with the matter. E-commerce company JD.com Inc. said it formed an umbrella trade union for its workers last month.

Meituan said it had set up a special working group to examine and address its current labor and tech practices. Alibaba and Didi didn't respond to requests for comment.

China's drive to confront labor challenges in the tech sector comes as governments around the world grapple with how to regulate the gig economy and allegations of widespread worker exploitation. In May, the Biden administration blocked a Trump-era regulation that would have made it easier for businesses to categorize U.S. gig workers and others as independent contractors. 

Earlier this year, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that drivers for Uber Technologies Inc. were entitled to benefits such as paid holiday and pensions.

Contract laborers working for China's digital platforms numbered 84 million in 2020 and make up a growing proportion of the urban workforce, according to a think tank affiliated with the country's central planning agency. Most are paid per delivery, work long hours with few benefits and are often docked pay for not meeting strict performance goals. Last winter, one Chinese gig worker died while on the job, and another attempted to suicide by self-immolation in protest of what he said were unpaid fees.

Last year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang triggered a nationwide debate about social equality when he revealed that 600 million Chinese people earned a monthly income of 1000 yuan ($140) and that many of them suffered disproportionately during the Covid-19 lockdown." [1]

Well, witches who rule Lithuania, smoke marijuana, get nervous, change their hairstyles, wrap themselves in a cutting barbed wire, buy water cannons and do nothing good. They hope that no one will notice how stupid they are.

1. China Backs Workers In Tech Battle
Sha Hua.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 17 Sep 2021: B.1.