Jasic Incident

The Jasic Incident started in Pingshan District, Shenzhen, China on July 27, 2018 when some workers of Jasic Technology Co., Ltd.(abbr. Jasic) who had attempted to form a labour union were laid off. This sparked two weeks of protests and few university students in China wrote to support the protesters. On August 6, the university students gathered outside a police station where the workers were detained. A spokesperson from Jasic denied wrongdoing, stating that it had not mistreated workers, but had fired them when they had tried to form a union.^[1]

Background

Jasic was founded in 2005 and later listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, with services allegedly spread around the world. The company has factories in Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu and other locations, including the Shenzhen plant which employs about 1000 people. Workers said Jasic in Pingshan, Shenzhen was in poor working conditions: wages, social security and housing funds have frequently been cut and defaulted; a draconian fine was also set up; sometimes the schedule is also changed without consulting; there is also a case of overtime. Workers say the company treats them "like slaves".
Started in mid-May 2018, the workers of Jasic reflected these conditions to Pingshan General Labour Union seeking to form a trade union on their own. June, managers of Jasic has set up the "Staff Congress" but, in essence, the candidates proposed by the workers who formed the union were excluded. In Mainland China, trade unions often have to be subordinate to the authorities, sometimes accused of defending the interests of the owner of the factory. According to labour rights experts, at least since 2015. As government lending has declined, labour rights have been slashed. The working class was dissatisfied with the excessive labor intensity and the low wage level.

Details

On July 20, more than 20 Jasic workers and supporters were arrested by police of Yanziling Police station in Pingshan, Shenzhen. The open letter released by these workers on July 21 showed that the leading workers had been beaten or expelled from the 16th. On July 20, they tried to normally go to work but were racked out by ten more security guards, one of which were directly knocked down to the ground and more than 20 workers were arrested. They were released on the afternoon of 21st. July 22nd, the Jasic workers went to Yanziling police station requesting to establish a trade union and severely punish the police, and chorus the Chinese song Unity is Power.
On the afternoon of July 27, 30 workers and supporters who went to Yanziling Police station protest, a total of 23 men and 7 women were arrested again by the police, of whom at least six were detained by the police station in the name of "provoking trouble". 29th, students and left-wing people, youth-dominated, came to the police station and gathered shouting slogans singing Internationale. The videos on social media shows that 15 representatives, including workers and students, were led by Shen Mengyu, a Labour activist in Guangzhou, to appoint CPC Secretary of Pingshan District with an open letter on 30th 4:30. About 30 minutes after announcing the open letter, the group was forced to be summoned after an attempt to enter the District government. There were news that the supporters were released at nine o'clock that night.
On July 29th, Peking University Foreign Language Institute student Yue Xin and other activists published the Peking University Students on the "7-27 Worker Arrest in Shenzhen": the Letter of Solidarity, 30th, some students and alumni of Tsinghua University announced The Letter of Solidarity: To Release the Detained Workers and the Masses Immediately, and other solidarity letters appeared on the Internet. They tend to require Shenzhen police to release the arrested workers immediately and to explain and apologize for the relevant arrests. The letter of solidarity was deleted in less than three hours, but it has already have tens of thousands of readings. In addition, the open letter issued by some activists has received two thousands of agreements, which are mainly from mainland universities and some people. In this situation, Jasic suddenly sounded, saying there is no obstruction on the establishment of trade unions, and said that the Internet message "a malicious slander." Shenzhen Pingshan public security official Weibo also said the police law enforcement behavior is reasonable, which was reproduced later by some of the mainland media but deleted by authorities just in a few days.
A twitter account Labor Research showed, a number of workers, including female workers, who have been released on bail, have disclosed the process of arrest and the violence they have suffered during their detention, including handcuffs causing swelling of the hands, wearing wigs, fetters, not sleeping, beating and causing bleeding injuries, personal and spiritual insults, the report said. And Utopia Village webmaster Fan Jinggang, Mao Zedong Banner webmaster Shimai and other left-wing groups have also organized the alleged 1100 people's solidarity group, expressing to support "the work for the justice of the working class", and went to Yanziling, Shenzhen "with advanced workers for the protest of justice".
According to media reports, July 29, students from more than 20 famous universities in China issued a statement to support the rights of the Jasic workers, Peking University, Renmin University of China and students of other universities issued a letter of solidarity. Pan Yi, a professor at the University of Hong Kong and Professor Qiu Linchuan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has signed up for the release of arrested workers to support workers' self-establishment. "Workers are already aware of the need to have their own legal organization, which is certainly more progressive than the previous movement," Pan Yi said. Li Qiang, the founder of China Labor Watch, said: "They come out to form unions and express the political demands of workers being the masters."
August 1, Amnesty International issued a statement in which a Chinese researcher, Pan Jiawei said the authorities should solve the problem of exploitation of labour rights, and should respect the rights of workers to freedom to form a union. Unless there is evidence that all those involved in the protests have committed internationally recognized crimes, these persons should be immediately and unconditionally released. On the same morning, in Hong Kong, a total of about 30 members of the CTU, the HKCSS and the Street Labour Group marched from Western District police station in Western District to the Central Liaison Office to chant slogans in solidarity with the Jasic Incident. The CTU said it would press for complaints from the international community to continue to support the protest of mainland workers and the establishment of independent unions. As the Central Liaison Office refused to protest letters, the demonstrators posted letters and slogans on the office's door.
August 5, Shaanxi Mao Group leader Zhao Dongmin gave the general chairman Mr Wang Dongming letter warning, requesting intervention, pointing out that workers if forced to violently defend their rights, trade union officials will first be liquidated. On the evening of 5th, the supporting group went to the streets to disseminate leaflets to inform the public about the situation of Jasic workers. The solidarity group, stationed in Huizhou, said there had been a significantly increasing number of people monitering who had been sent downstairs. The landlord said it was threatened by the authorities and asked the Huizhou solidarity group to leave and the latter refused. It is reported that at least 6 Peking University students joined the solidarity group.
On August 6, after several days of trimming and assembling, the group returned to the Yanziling police station and demanded the unconditional release of the detained workers and supporters. On the same day, a 47-year-old veteran party standing Zhang Qinde went to solidarity. He said he was "bound to stand with the working class and work with Jasic workers to get the fight going." In the morning of 6th, a total of more than 40 Communists and retired cadres attended, they are from the "Utopia Village." According to the online news, at noon about 50 people of the solidarity group at the Yanziling police station stated "Workers are not guilty! To form a trade union are not guilty!” showing banners, shouting "Severely punish the mob!", "Workers are not guilty!", demanding the unconditional release of the detained workers and supporters.
Twitter account Labor research said Shenzhen rights lawyer Fan Biaowen and other managed to meet two caught workers, and two lawyers Wen Yu and Huang Sha submitted the meeting formalities in the morning, requesting 48 hours arrangement, but just the afternoon Guangzhou legal department requested them to quit. August 9, the mission issued a woman workers known as "A Ying". She was breastfeeding but arrested by the police and was not allowed to meet with any lawyer during her detention.
In addition, according to Yue Xin's Twitter, August 11, about 7 o'clock in the evening, the core of the labor movement Shen Mengyu was taken by unidentified people claiming to be his "uncle", now unaccounted for. When VOA journalists contacted Yue Xin, she pointed out that the people were not "uncle", but three unidentified people, and the members of the solidarity group "Xiao Hu" reportedly were also taken. In response to this matter, Huizhou Dayawan Economy and Technology Development Zone Public Security Bureau Weibo account issued a message that "after dinner Shen Mengyu was picked by their parents" “the matter is a family internal contradictions, there is no kidnapping". In an interview with BBC reporters, Yue Xin denied this, pointing out that "if the parents have been peacefully picked up, why are the students chasing cars suddenly blocked?" On Twitter, she pointed out that "all four cameras on the main road suddenly broke down" when the solidarity mission demanded access to the surveillance. After Shen Mengyu was taken away, members of the solidarity group quickly reported to the local public security department, but they said they were interrogated by the police as prisoners, and that the police did not make any criminal records except for the administrative records of the cases. On the morning of 13th, VOA journalists contacted Yue Xin, who told reporters that Shen Mengyu was still in a state of loss. Radio Free Asia then called the Yanziling Police Station to inquiring whether Shen Mengyu was in the police station, and the latter expressed unclear. August 12, a founder of Beijing Workers' House, social activist, folk singer Sun Heng released a song "Uncle police, where is Mengyu?" to express strong condemnation on kidnapping Shen Mengyu.
Radio Free Asia, citing people familiar with the situation, on August 13, 30 out of 16 people has been released yet still under surveillance. A detained worker told RFA reporters, through the network, that in a more than 30 square meters of prison in the detention center closed more than 50 people, with bath water cold, holding head or squating when eating or being arraigned-no dignity. On the same afternoon, the left-wing students from Peking University, Nanjing University, BLCU, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine met with the Jasic Workers Solidarity Group. Yue Xin said, "Now we have at least thirty or forty people." They gathered at the Yanziling Police station near the Logan City square and pulled out banners, shouting out "Release Mengyu! Release supporting group! Release the workers!" slogan, denounced the "social black forces", but because of worrying more members were caught, they dare not protest at the police station. August 14, the solidarity group issued a joint statement against the "threat" to the members of the group by some university officials. On August 17, the BBC Chinese web published an article by Professor Pan Yi of the University of Hong Kong. The article points out that Jasic Incident has opened a whole new chapter of China labor movement.

See also

• Index of Shenzhen-related articles

References