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Opinion / Raymond Zhou
Employee rights at core
By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-01 07:42
When an expatriate manager goes bananas over a small incident, does it
signify something larger?
The Southern Metropolis Daily, a Guangzhou-based newspaper, reported that
the French manager of a Dongguan company pulled out a pistol and fired a
shot at the ceiling during a meeting.
"Pierre", who manages a French-invested manufacturer of wood products,
carries a gun and is not afraid to use it. According to several workers'
accounts, he had fired shots on at least three occasions, mostly to draw
attention or calm down an unruly crowd.
The paper could not reach Pierre for confirmation. But it did talk to the
local police, who said they had to report to higher authorities before
determining how to pursue the case because it involved a foreign citizen.
As you can imagine, this has unleashed another spate of
anti-foreign-employer sentiments. One media comment was simply titled,
"How can foreigners run wild in China?"
While this is certainly not the first reported case of abuse by a foreign
manager or employer, it is by far the strangest. Previously it was either
a Korean or Japanese manager who resorted to harsh disciplinary measures
in dealing with Chinese employees, but this Pierre acted as if he were a
little Napoleon wielding absolute power in his own mini-kingdom.
Let me add that I'm assuming everything in the report is true, since I
cannot verify it independently. This is a small technicality that many
readers tend to ignore. Some of my earlier columns aroused controversies
because readers skipped over my claim of assumption.
If the report is to be believed, what Pierre did was insane, not to
mention illegal. In China, only very select authorized groups are allowed
to carry firearms. This trigger-happy French executive reminds one of
some notorious despots who made overdramatic scenes with their power.
Coincidentally, Pierre did not leave until one of the "smart" guys at the
meeting started applauding him while the rest sat "stunned". This could
be a scene from a movie.
Could something like this happen in the real world, in the 21st century?
If it did happen, as the paper said it did on August 18, the reason is
other than the kind of "foreign superiority" that netizens and online
pundits denounce, but kowtowing to whoever controls one's fate. The
nationality of a person with this kind of braggadocio is of little
relevance, if any. It is essentially an employer-employee relationship
that is at the core of this incident and is warped beyond belief.
We Chinese people can put up with a lot of abuse. Some people call it
"resilience" and deem it a virtue. Some private enterprises employ
quasi-military management styles. We've all seen restaurant workers being
lined up and "trained" as if they were soldiers. And we've heard of some
lines of workers, such as waiters and hair-washers, being ordered to
render their services while kneeling down.
Even in the US, Chinese-run businesses have been reported to defer
payment and otherwise act in violation of labor laws and ethics. Even
today, there is still the lingering notion that a non-State-owned
enterprise could be Dickensian in treating its employees.
Fortunately, in the past decade, we have gained a heightened sense of
employee rights. More and more people have the guts to stand up to
abusive bosses, whether Chinese or expat.
While the legal environment is working in their favor, another factor is
against them. If your job is highly replaceable, you'll be amazed how
much maltreatment you can take. And it's not just a Chinese
characteristic.
When employees are armed with legal knowledge, a gun-toting boss will
think twice before going berserk.
Email: raymondzhou@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 09/01/2007 page4)
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