Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue:
A57-W16
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A57-W16
Release Date: March 31,
2004
发布日：2004年3月31日
Topic: Mr. Wei JingSheng Attends Press Conference
on Worker's Rights At AFL-CIO
标题：魏京生出席美国工会劳联产联记者会，强调中国工人的基本权利
Original
Language Version: English (Chinese version at the
end)
此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
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Mr. Wei JingSheng Attends Press Conference on Worker's Rights At AFL-CIO
On Mar 16, AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial organizations), one of American's largest labor unions has filed a
petition, on behalf of labor under Section 301 of the Trade Action of 1974, to
urge Bush Administration to take action to pressure the Chinese government to
improve working conditions for Chinese workers.
In the media meeting at
AFL-CIO Washington headquarter, Mr. Wei Jingsheng gave the brief talk on
workers' rights violations in China. AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney, AFL-CIO
Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumka, AFL-CIO Chief Economist Thea Lee, and
Columbia University law professor Mark Barenberg who drafted the
petition，participated the meeting.
Mr. Wei Jingsheng says that the
situation in China may be even worse for workers than the AFL-CIO filing
indicates. "The lives of the workers are miserable," he said, "The Chinese
government takes the rights of workers and makes them work for minimum salary
just to make money. But they don't use the money to help the workers, but use
the money to purchases weapons." Mr. Wei Jingsheng suggested American Government
should take legal action to stop Chinese government to suppress
workers.
Mr. Wei Jingsheng said: "The reason Chinese products are so
cheap is that workers have no rights." He said that low-ranking Chinese workers
often have to handle harmful chemicals that are forbidden here and even in
China,"and workers die from that all the time." Mr. Wei used the reliable
details to tell the reports how Chinese government has failed to enforce any of
the internationally-recognized worker's rights standards cited by the Trade Act
of 1974, among them the right to join unions (not the Unions owned by the
government), freedom from force labor, freedom from child labor, and standards
for minimum wages, maximum hours of work, and workplace safety and health. Some
issues far beyond what American people can image, such as toxic and dirty
working environment, unbelievable highest death rate in world history in mines
and factories in China, as well as lack of basic benefits for laid-off workers,
including no healthcare insurance, retirement plan or any reasonable
compensation, that leaves laid-off workers live under the poverty.
Mr.
Wei also mentioned that after China became WTO member, it doesn't change the
unfair trading situation between American and China since Chinese products can
get into American market with large amount but not vise versa because China
doesn't have a true free market.
Under the law, Bush administration has
45 days to decide whether to accept the petition. If it accepts the petition, it
has 60 days to hold a hearing and one year to decide what actions to take. The
AFL-CIO is seeking immediate action by the Bush administration to impose trade
remedies against China, such as sanctions or tariffs and to negotiate an
agreement that connects China's progress in enforcing workers' rights with trade
sanction relief.
Many reporters participated the press conference and at least two dozens of media reported the event, including major US newspaper such as Los Angles Times and Chinese newspaper World Journal.
We supports AFL-CIO to file the petition, because we believe that this is
important to the welfare to both American workers and millions Chinese workers
who don't have basic human rights including rights of unionization to protect
their own interest. In a long run, it is an action for a real globalization ?an
equal, fair and democratic society.
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中文版
Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue:
A57-W16
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A57-W16
Release Date: March 31,
2004
发布日：2004年3月31日
Topic: Mr. Wei JingSheng Attends Press Conference
on Worker's Rights At AFL-CIO
标题：魏京生出席美国工会劳联产联记者会，强调中国工人的基本权利
Original
Language Version: English (Chinese version at the
end)
此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
魏京生出席美国工会劳联产联记者会，强调中国工人的基本权利
3月16日，全美工会劳联产联（AFL-CIO）向布什政府提交了指控中国违反工人权利而造成不公平交易的请愿书。这个请愿书是基于美国1974年设立的美国贸易法301条款而制定的，它敦促布什政府给中国当局施加压力，提高工人工资，改善工作条件。
当天，美国劳联产联在其华盛顿总部召开了记者招待会。魏京生出席了会议，并对记者扼要叙述了中国政府违反工人权益的事实。劳联产联主席约翰斯韦利（John
J. Sweeney），劳联产联财务书记杜文嘉(Richard L. Trumka)，劳联产联总经济师泰利(Thea
Lee)以及负责起草请愿书的哥伦比亚大学法学教授马克巴瑞博格(Mark
Barenberg)等人也出席了记者招待会。
魏京生先生说，中国工人的状况比劳联产联请愿书中描述的还要糟。“中国工人的生活非常悲惨。中国政府剥夺了工人的基本权利，使得他们常常在最低工资下长时间劳动。中国政府从工人们身上压榨赚得的钱，不是用来改善工人的状况，而是用来向各国购买武器。”魏京生提议美国政府应该用法律行动来阻止这种行为。
魏先生还说：“中国产品价格低廉的原因就是因为中国工人没有他们自己的权利。”他说底层工人常常在对身体有害的化学物质环境下工作，这种恶劣环境不仅在美国是非法的，而且在中国也是非法的，“工人们因为有害物质中毒而死亡的情形时有发生。”魏先生用来源可靠的细节告诉记者，中国政府根本没有履行国际公认的工人权利标准，这些基本权利在1974年的美国贸易法里有详尽论述，其中包括加入非政府控制的工会，禁止强迫劳动，禁止使用童工，制定最低工资及最多劳动时间，工作环境的安全和健康等等。有些情形远远超过美国人民可以想象的，比如毒害和肮脏的工作环境，世界最高工人死亡率，以及下岗工人缺乏基本权利，包括没有医疗保险、退休金以及必要的遣散费，因此在贫困线上苦苦挣扎。
魏先生还提及，中国加入了世界贸易组织后，使得中国贸易更加不公平。中国的商品可以自由进入美国的市场，而美国的商品不可以自由地进入中国市场，因为中国没有一个真正的自由市场。
按照法律，布什政府要在45天做出回应，决定是否接受请愿书。如果接受，政府有60天的听证期，并有一年的时间决定采取何种行动。美国劳联产联希望布什政府采取及时地措施，改变和中国贸易的关系，比如实行经济制裁，和中国政府谈判，制定出改善中国工人权益的具体措施。
我们支持劳联产联的提诉，因为我们相信这不仅对美国工人有利，而且保障了成千上万中国工人的基本利益，包括组织自己的工会为自己争利益的权利。从长远的观点来看，这是一个走向国际化，造就公平和民主社会的重大行动。
（魏京生基金会首发，请注明出处。）
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