64. As dawn broke, news spread that a labor union was about to be formed, and several media outlets followed up with reports on the strike; Guo XX prevented six female worker representatives from returning to the factory to participate in the union election.
On the evening of October 19, 2006, as the workday was drawing to a close at Aoliwei Company and the striking female workers were preparing to leave one by one, the Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions called Zhang Jun to inform him that the relevant parties had finalized the arrangements and would begin the process of establishing a union the following day.
After days of grueling perseverance, the female workers finally saw a glimmer of hope.
The incident has continued to attract attention from mainstream media; *China Women's News* published a related report, and CCTV's Morning News also provided a brief update on the matter. Public opinion from all sides continues to grow, providing strong support for the female workers' efforts to defend their rights.
Just as preparations for the union election were underway, another controversy arose. Guo XX, a labor inspector, prevented Liu Meizhen and five other female worker representatives from entering the factory premises to participate in the union election. This act directly cut off the six representatives’ ability to participate in the union’s formation, and subsequent developments resulted in their being unable to return to their jobs; Guo XX’s actions thus became the key factor leading to the six female workers losing their jobs.
65. Aoliwei posted a notice announcing the fourth dismissal of Liu Meizhen and five other female worker representatives.
October 20, 2006, was an extraordinary day: on this day, China’s first grassroots labor union—established through a strike and truly belonging to the working class—was to be born. However, on that very day, Aoliwei posted notices for the fourth time at the company entrance and other locations, announcing the dismissal of six workers, including workers’ representative Liu Meizhen.
After arriving at work in the morning, staff members from the Yantai Municipal Federation of Trade Unions, the Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions, and labor departments at both levels arrived one after another at the Aoliwei Company factory to continue negotiations with Aoliwei Company regarding the formation of a labor union.
The female workers remained puzzled: Since forming a union is a legitimate right of workers, why must they obtain Aoliwei Company’s consent? Why can’t the higher-level trade union directly convene a meeting and oversee the election to establish the union?
Suddenly, a female worker in the crowd called out, “Here comes ‘Chewing Gum’—this doesn’t look good!”
“Chewing Gum” was the nickname the female workers gave to Guo Moumou.During previous interactions, Guo Moumou would often chew gum loudly, displaying a dismissive demeanor; white foam would occasionally appear at the corners of his mouth, and the smell—mixed with the sweet scent of gum—was unpleasant. He also had a habit of squinting as he surveyed everyone during conversations, coming across as extremely arrogant. Combined with a series of confrontational words and actions in the past, the female workers had a very poor impression of him.
66. The Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions proposed resuming work immediately, but the female workers unanimously rejected the proposal.
The female workers are still unclear about the final outcome of the negotiations between the Yantai and Fushan District trade unions, government departments, and Aoliwei Company. This morning, staff from the Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions approached the striking workers to convey the following message: the trade unions hope the female workers will return to work first, and then proceed with the process of establishing a union.
No sooner had the words been spoken than they sparked opposition from the female workers. Jiang Qingqing, a workers’ representative, responded loudly: “We will absolutely not return to work until a union is established; only then will we be willing to return to our posts.”
Wang Xinmei followed closely behind and said loudly, “Aoliwei has repeatedly broken its promises. We no longer trust the company; we have no choice but to rely on ourselves.”
The other female workers chimed in one after another, insisting on continuing the strike until a union was formed.
Seeing that the female workers remained resolute, the staff from the All-China Federation of Trade Unions had no choice but to return to the office building to continue negotiations with Aoliwei Company.
67. Officials from the Labor Bureau contacted the police with the intention of summoning Zhang Jun
Around noon, several female workers rushed over anxiously to tell Zhang Jun, “You’d better hide right away—that jerk from the Labor Bureau is on the phone calling the police, claiming you’re inciting workers to gather and cause a disturbance, and demanding that the police come arrest you.”
Zhang Jun looked in the direction the female worker was pointing and saw Shi Moumou holding a cell phone, apparently engaged in a heated conversation with the police.
Although the Ministry of Public Security of China issued and implemented the “Notice of the Ministry of Public Security on Cooperating with Labor Administrative Departments to Properly Handle Issues Such as Collective Petitions and Strikes by Enterprise Employees Arising from Labor Disputes” on December 19, 1993—which stipulates in its first provision that “under normal circumstances, public security and armed police forces shall not be deployed” against employees—the police ultimately did not intervene.
68. The Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions Again Tried to Persuade Female Workers to Return to Work, but to No Avail
At 2:00 p.m. on October 20, 2006, Director Kong of the Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions and his delegation arrived at the entrance to the Aoliwei Company factory grounds. A female worker informed Zhang Jun—who was playing cards with the striking female workers—that staff from the Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions had arrived.
Zhang Jun had spotted the group long ago, but after several unsuccessful attempts at communication, he had lost hope in the local union officials and continued to sit quietly playing cards, making no move to approach them.
Director Kong walked up behind Zhang Jun and said in a displeased tone, “Zhang Jun, look at yourself—this is no way to behave. We’re all here, and you’re still just sitting there.”
Zhang Jun reflected to himself that, in order to promote the formation of the labor union, it would be unwise to completely strain relations with officials from the higher-level labor union; maintaining a basic level of communication was essential. He quickly stood up and apologized: “I’m truly sorry—I didn’t notice Director Kong and his party arriving.”
Director Kong got straight to the point: “All right, all right! Just tell the workers to get back to work at the company right away.”
At this point, Zhang Jun finally resolved the doubt in his mind: The All-China Federation of Trade Unions had previously called to ask whether female workers could be mobilized to return to work; it turned out that the local trade union had relayed information to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, exaggerating its ability to lead the actions of all female workers.
Zhang Jun said frankly, “Director Kong, why do you keep saying I can get everyone to stop the strike? Why don’t you just go talk to those female workers on strike yourself?” With that, he left and walked off into the distance.
Director Kong then called a meeting with all the female workers to persuade them, proposing that they return to work first and then work toward establishing a union. He warned that a prolonged strike could result in the dismissal of the entire workforce, which would ultimately prevent the union from being formed.
Wang Xinmei immediately retorted, “On what grounds? On what grounds does Aoliwei have the right to fire us just because they say so?”
The female workers collectively rejected the proposal to resume work. No matter how Director Kong tried to persuade them, they refused to budge. Finally, the workers dispersed, leaving Director Kong standing alone, creating a very awkward scene.
69. Aoliwei is preparing to establish a labor union and has launched an internal election for the position of union president.
At 3:00 p.m. on October 20, 2006, Yu Huifang sent a text message to Zhang Jun stating that the company was indeed preparing to form a labor union, had nominated a manager surnamed Xin as a candidate for union president, and was asking the factory workers to vote for him.
Upon learning this, Zhang Jun immediately devised a response plan. He first gathered the striking workers and reiterated the previous plan for selecting candidates, emphasizing that they must consolidate their votes to avoid splitting the vote and giving Aoliwei Company an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
A female worker asked with concern, “Since Aoliwei Company has also put forward candidates, will the person we’ve nominated be eliminated?”
Zhang Jun did a rough calculation: There were nearly 120 female workers in the entire factory, plus about 20 management and support staff who sided with Aoliwei Company, for a total of just under 140 people. Of these, 60 female workers were on strike outside the factory, while more than 50 remained inside—most of whom secretly supported the striking side;In addition, there were key figures such as Yu Huifang and Zhang Huilin operating undercover within the factory grounds. According to information the two had gathered discreetly, at least thirty workers inside the factory had already explicitly declared their support for the five candidates nominated by the striking female workers. If the election process were conducted fairly, their chances of winning would be very high. After hearing this analysis, the female workers all expressed their agreement.
70. Guo Moumou interfered with the labor union election and prevented six female worker representatives from entering the venue to vote.
At 4:00 p.m. on October 20, 2006, Director Kong arrived at the strike site carrying a staff roster to compile a list of union members. He first had a brief conversation with Zhang Jun, informing him that the election had officially begun and urging the striking female workers to return to the factory as soon as possible to cast their votes. Zhang Jun noticed that the names of six female worker representatives, including Liu Meizhen, were clearly listed on the roster.
At that moment, Guo So-and-so hurried over to Director Kong and said, “What’s this, Old Kong? Let me see your list.”
Director Kong, looking taken aback, handed the list to Guo Moumou. Guo Moumou immediately spotted the names of Liu Meizhen and five other female worker representatives, curled his lip, and said bitterly, “These six have already been fired by the company, so they shouldn’t be on this list! Cross them off!”
Director Kong said, “Is that okay? Should we just leave their names on there?”
Guo So-and-so glared and said, “I said I’d scratch it, so I’ll scratch it!”
Guo (surname only) pointed at Liu Meizhen and five other female worker representatives in front of the Aoliwei Company security guard and shouted, “Let me tell you this—listen carefully. You’ve all seen today’s announcement, right? The company has already fired the six people listed there, so you must guard the gate closely. Under no circumstances are you to let these six people return to participate in the union election—otherwise, you’ll be in big trouble!”
Director Kong shook his head in exasperation. He decided to let the female workers slide, but he snapped at Guo: “You’re full of it!” “Who do you think you are, declaring in advance that those six women aren’t company employees?”
According to Article 29 of the Regulations on Labor Security Supervision: “Where an employer violates the Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China and engages in any of the following acts, the administrative department of labor and social security shall order it to correct such violations:(1) Obstructing workers from lawfully joining or organizing trade unions, or obstructing higher-level trade unions from assisting or guiding workers in establishing trade unions;” As a labor inspector, Guo XX should have supported and assisted the six female worker representatives in returning to Aoliwei Company. However, not only did he fail to provide support, but he also unlawfully and arbitrarily obstructed them, blatantly exposing his despicable true colors as a union-busting agent.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Guo Moumou turned and ran back into the Aoliwei Company office building. Before fleeing, he didn’t forget to turn his head and cast a gloating glance at Liu Meizhen and the others; he let out a contemptuous laugh and ran off.
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