China’s Staff and Worker Representative Congress System and the Management of Teachers’ Performance Pay

Worker Congresses in China: Do they matter?

“…While the impact of Congresses in China is an area that is under-researched, there are a number of studies that outline their evolution and role (Estlund, 2014(Estlund, , 2017Feng, 2012;Hong, 1984;1 The provisions were jointly established by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the Ministry of Supervision, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce on Feb. 13, 2012. Lee et al, 2016;Long et al, 2022;Schipani & Liu, 2018). Worker Congresses in China have an erratic history.…”

“…Recently, however, Worker Congresses appear to be experiencing a modest revival or comeback (Estlund, 2014(Estlund, , 2017Hong, 1984;Long et al, 2022;Schipani & Liu, 2018). This could reflect a variety of strategic inter-related purposes: to provide an institution that allows employees to voice their suggestions to management (Schipani & Liu, 2018); to provide an alternative platform to unions that can contain workplace conflict in a way that is consistent with the pro-worker ideology in the Communist Party (Estlund, 2017;Hong, 1984); and to act as a representative of the workers as a more effective means to manage their discontent and suggestions (Ding et al, 2002).…”

What sort of workplace democracy can democratic management achieve in China?

“…China's workers have lost the job security and welfare benefits that they had in the planned economy, resulting in a significant increase in labour unrest and a shift in IR in China from individualism to collectivism (Brown & Chang, 2017). The Party-state and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) have promoted DM to establish a fair and effective coordination mechanism of labour relations and to curb other forms of worker activism (Long et al, 2022). DM was extended to all enterprises operating in China under the Company Law revised in 2006 (Chan & Unger, 2009) and the Provisions on Enterprise Democratic Management 2012 (DM Provisions, 2012).…”

“…Party‐led democratic management (DM) in the state sector has progressively expanded from state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) to private enterprises to curb worker activism (Elfstrom & Kuruvilla, 2014; Kuruvilla, 2018; Long et al, 2022). A September 2018 speech by a vice minister of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security spurred this shift: he urged private enterprises to adopt DM, saying that business owners and their employees shall jointly run enterprises following the principles of “cooperating to build mechanisms, cooperating to create enterprise performance, and sharing gains and risks.” He also stressed the central role of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in DM.…”

“…Two quantitative studies revealed a positive relationship between employees' experiences with DM and their attitudes, behaviour, and performance (Huang et al, 2016; Wang, 2018). A case study of state schools indicated that DM enhanced teachers' ability to participate in performance pay distribution and resolve mild workplace grievances (Long et al, 2022).…”