71. After female workers from G were barred from entering the polling station to participate in the election, Aoliwei Company, seeing that the situation was turning against them, withdrew its candidate.

Director Kong anxiously urged the female workers who were on strike: “Hurry up and go into the factory to attend the election meeting—if you’re any later, you’ll miss it. The meeting is about to start. Even if you don’t go in, the union will still be formed, but you’ll lose your say.”

Wang Xinmei looked anxiously at Zhang Jun: "Big Brother, what should we do now? What about the six sisters..."

Zhang Jun interrupted her: “Let’s not talk about that for now. I’ll figure out a way to handle the matter of the six representatives; you all should hurry inside and take part in the election meeting.” With that, he waved his hand, signaling everyone to hurry into the factory.

Immediately, more than 60 female workers rushed into the company's office building.

Aoliwei Company did not anticipate this turn of events. It had originally calculated that Guo Moumou would bar Liu Meizhen and others from entering the premises, prompting the female workers’ union to boycott the election—after all, the female workers had previously clearly put forward two major demands: the establishment of a union and the reinstatement of six representatives. The company assumed the female workers would continue their strike outside the premises, allowing it to manipulate the election and elect a union president supported by the company.

However, when more than 60 female workers on strike, filled with indignation, filed into the election venue one after another, Aoliwei immediately realized that its candidate had no chance of winning. Rather than participate in a campaign doomed to failure, the company decided to withdraw its candidate—a move that would provide a pretext to later deny the legitimacy of the union election and lay the groundwork for refusing to recognize the union.

It is evident, therefore, that Guo Moumou prevented six female worker representatives from entering Aoliwei Company to participate in the election, and it appears he may have had ulterior motives.

72. The Aoliwei Union Is Officially Established!

These union elections were organized and conducted by the Yantai Municipal Federation of Trade Unions and the Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions. According to Director Kong, this is the first time such a model has been implemented in Yantai.

The voting results were in line with everyone’s prior expectations, with votes highly concentrated. Wang Xinmei, Yu Huifang, Jiang Yuqiu, Wang Fangfang, and Zhang Huilin all received more than 90 percent of the votes and were successfully elected; among them, Yu Huifang received more than 95 percent of the votes. After the five were elected as members of the Trade Union Committee, the assembly simultaneously elected three members to the Financial Review Committee.

Once the list of committee members was finalized, Yu Huifang, considering that she was nearing her due date and would find it difficult to handle a heavy workload, proposed that Wang Xinmei serve as the union chair. After discussion among the five members, the following positions were finalized: Wang Xinmei as union chair, Yu Huifang as union vice chair, and Jiang Yuqiu and two others as union committee members.

The Aoliwei Union was thus officially established. Throughout the election, Zhang Jun, Liu Meizhen, and six other female worker representatives remained outside the factory gates, quietly awaiting news from inside.

At 6:00 p.m., the good news broke: all five candidates who had been previously agreed upon were elected to the union committee. Upon hearing the news, the six female workers could not contain their joy and cheered with delight.

The female workers have finally triumphed. Tonight is sure to be a joyous occasion for every female worker at Aoliwei. Their struggle to establish a union has finally succeeded, thereby marking a glorious chapter in the history of China’s labor movement! China’s first union ever established through a strike has been born!

Before long, Wang Xinmei and her group strode out of the office building and said excitedly to Zhang Jun, “Big Brother, you’ve finally won.”

Zhang Jun suppressed the surging emotions in his heart and replied, “This isn’t just my achievement—it’s a victory for all of you, a victory that all the workers have fought for together!”

The female workers embraced one another, celebrating together this hard-won achievement that had weathered many storms.

73. The labor union proposed continuing the strike; after weighing the situation, Zhang Jun dissuaded them.

On the evening of October 20, 2006, the newly appointed union chairpersons, Wang Xinmei and Yu Huifang, proposed a plan after consulting with their coworkers: to continue organizing the strike in the name of the Aoliwei Union until Liu Meizhen and the other five female worker representatives were permitted to return to the factory premises.

When the name “Aoliwei Union” came from the union president’s lips, Zhang Jun was overcome with a flood of emotions, and tears welled up in his eyes. The grassroots union—long-awaited by everyone and born out of the workers’ independent struggle—had finally been established.

Zhang Jun politely declined the proposal. The Aoliwei union had just been formed and was still in its early stages; it urgently needed careful nurturing and steady development. The protests, which had continued for several days, had already left all the female workers physically and mentally exhausted, and they were in desperate need of rest.At this stage, the core objective of forming the union had already been achieved, and it was not advisable to further escalate the conflict. It would be more prudent to pursue Liu Meizhen and the other five workers’ demand to return to work through legal channels, and he would take the lead in following up on related matters.

74. Aoliwei Company Refuses to Recognize the Newly Formed Union, and Tensions Between the Two Sides Continue to Escalate

Following the completion of the Aoliwei union election, Aoliwei Company publicly stated that the union was formed through a strike and is therefore an illegal organization; the company does not recognize it and refuses to grant the union any authority related to collective bargaining or the protection of workers’ rights.

Zhang Jun clarified his position to the Aoliwei Union and all female employees: Aoliwei Company has no authority to determine whether the Aoliwei Union is legitimate. The union election was presided over and supervised throughout the entire process by the Yantai Municipal Federation of Trade Unions and the Fushan District Federation of Trade Unions. All employees participated in the voting in accordance with the law, and the establishment process and organizational structure fully comply with legal provisions, making it a legitimate grassroots enterprise union.

With this statement, Aoliwei has taken the lead in directly challenging the union, further escalating tensions between labor and management and setting the stage for a prolonged conflict.

75. Initiate arbitration proceedings to seek reinstatement for six female workers

Zhang Jun drafted a labor arbitration petition on behalf of Liu Meizhen and five other female worker representatives, which was officially filed with the Fushan District Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Commission in Yantai City in late October 2006. This action was also in response to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions’ earlier recommendation to resolve labor disputes through arbitration.

The female workers’ arbitration claims are clear: they seek a ruling that Aoliwei Company’s termination of their employment was unlawful, demand that the employment contracts remain in effect, and request that the six workers be reinstated to their positions.

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