The Roles Played by the Staff and Workers’ Representative Congress in the Formation of Work Regulations

Article 4 of the Labor Contract Law lays down the right of the Staff and Workers’ Representative Congress (SWRC) to deliberate on the formulation of (intra-enterprise) work regulations, but this has become a “soft” law in judicial practice. The judicial criteria for judging the validity of work regulations are in essence determined by the judge’s judgment on their reasonableness. As an important embodiment of Chinese politics, economics and culture, the transformation of the SWRC that accompanied the market economy has not negated its value as an indigenous traditional resource. The SWRC does not just enjoy deliberative rights in the formation of regulations, as clearly specified in constitutional law, but also has rights under the law in local legislation and practice. Hence the system of work regulations is neither a unilateral decision on the part of management nor a contract, but rather an autonomous norm developed through the SWRC mechanism. Given the mandatory nature of Article 4 of the Labor Contract Law, regulations will only be valid after they have gone through a democratic process. The further development of the theory of normative system formation should endow the SWRC with greater rights and integrate it smoothly with the collective contract system to standardize collective labor relations.     

Life Satisfaction of Rural Migrant Workers in Urban China: The Roles of Community Service Participation and Identity Integration

Abstract

China is home to approximately 245 million rural-to-urban migrant workers. The influx of migrants into urban areas has posed various challenges for local social service systems. Recently, increasing number of community services have been developed to meet the growing service demands from the migrant population. However, whether increase in community service use results in improved wellbeing among migrant workers remains critically unexplored. As such, this study examines the role of community service use in migrant workers’ life satisfaction and the potential mediating effect of identity integration in Shenzhen, China. Bootstrapped models were adopted to examine relationship among variables. Drawing from a sample of 1,087 rural-to-urban migrant workers, we found that community service use is positively correlated with both identity integration and migrant workers’ life satisfaction. Moreover, identity integration served as a partial mediator between community service use and life satisfaction. The mediating effect of identity integration was found to increase with age. This study highlights that diverse services should be implemented to address divergent needs of migrants in different age groups. Community service can also serve as a vehicle to foster integration among migrant workers in host communities, especially for older age groups. Future studies may further investigate the relationships between community social capital, community social support, quality of community-based organization and frequency of service use so as to optimize the life satisfaction of migrant workers.     

Case Reading as a Practice and Training Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Protection

This article explores the role of a case-reading tool, developed by the Safe and Together Institute, deployed across five Australian states, and which engaged workers from child protection (CP) and specialist domestic and family violence (DFV) services. It aimed to assess the extent to which DFV is identified in CP case files and to assess the quality of case practice from a DFV-informed perspective, as documented in the case file. The Safe and Together approach to child welfare provides a robust foundation upon which practitioners from statutory and nonstatutory backgrounds can work collaboratively and reach consensus about how best to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children living with DFV. The case reading is both a process of transformative working for practitioners and an analytical tool through which their agencies can affect systemic change.

IMPLICATIONS

• A national audit of 20 child protection case files using the Safe and Together case-reading process indicated that documented child protection practice sits at the lower end of a domestic and family violence-informed Continuum of Practice.

• Analysis indicates a need to improve: child protection engagement with fathers who use DFV, assessments of their parenting role and its impact on children and family functioning; identification of adult survivors’ protective capacities and their impact on children.

• Research in this area may have broader implications for other professions and government policy both nationally and internationally.

     

新生代农民工与城市居民的社会距离分析

本文运用2008年宁波城市新生代农民工调查数据,对新生代主体视角下与城市居民社会距离的现状及影响凶素进行了探讨。分析结果发现：以新生代农民工为主体视角的社会距离建立在融入意愿和排斥预期两个层面基础上;与上一代农民工相比．新生代农民工与城市居民的社会距离在增大。社会经济地位、社会关系网络、居住空间和社会文化会显著影响新生代农民丁的社会距离。要促进新生代农民丁的城市融人,缩短新生代农民工与城市居民的社会距离,需要新生代农民工、城市居民、政府和社会等多方行动者的共同努力。     

家庭结构视角下新生代农民工劳动参与影响因素

农村劳动力供给特别是新生代农民工的劳动参与率是影响经济和社会发展的关键变量。运用Probit和IV Probit模型考察家庭结构对新生代农民工劳动参与率的影响及其机制发现:多代同堂的家庭结构对新生代农民工的劳动参与存在负效应。从性别看,女性新生代农民工劳动参与受家庭结构影响的程度大于男性。因此,重视新生代农民工家庭特征差异,配套采取多种措施促进新生代农民工参与市场劳动,是解决"民工荒"与"就业难"的着力点。     

浙江非公企业劳资矛盾与工会调节作用研究——基于农民工租住地工会的实证研究

随着社会经济的发展,非公有制经济对我国经济的贡献越来越大,非公有制企业的劳资关系问题也日益突出.今天的中国,尽管工会面临着种种困境,但工会的作用仍然很重要.当前迫切需要解决的是工会代表工人利益的有效性问题.农民工租住地工会通过组建工会的方式吸纳农民工精英进入工会管理层,并动员农民工参与社区的公共生活,逐渐使他们产生了“社区认同”,农民工管理发生了由社会被动防控与管理型向主动引导、服务、建设型的转变,由分割向融合的转变,破解工会在农民工集聚的地方如何组织管理与协调劳资矛盾,促成了社区的和谐与稳定.探讨市场经济条件下企业外工会力量的成长或许能为中国工会转型提供一些借鉴和帮助,为转型期创新社会管理提供有益探索.     

新生代农民工城市融入中的社会认同考量

社会认同在新生代农民工的城市融入中至关重要.相比较第一代农民工,新生代农民工在务农经历、教育程度、职业期望、物质和精神要求、市民化意愿等方面有鲜明的群体特征.但目前社会认同困境阻碍着他们的市民化进程,主要表现为制度制约、自身地位制约、社会关系网络制约等.摆脱这一困境,需要政府创造良好环境,城市居民宽容接纳,新生代农民工积极提高自身素质及劳动技能等.只有达到了身份认同、城市认同和自我认同相统一,他们在城市才能感受到“主人翁”归属感,从而加速我国城市化进程.     

结构变迁、怨恨集聚、共同命运与华南地区工人集体行动

在转型中国,当工人提出工资增长等诉求时,场景中个体行动似乎正在消逝,取而代之是大量的集体行动。是什么因素推动了这种行动的产生?在从个体行动到集体行动的过程中,其动员的中观和微观机制是什么?通过研究发现,社会结构变化、怨恨集聚、共同命运和宿舍空间是工人集体行动几个主要变量,其线性序列构成工人集体行动动员机制。我国人均GDP已经突破4000美元,由于社会日渐断裂,从而为工人集体行动提供了机遇;生活中的怨恨集聚为其动员提供了情感动因;集体命运在组织缺失下为集体认同动员发挥了重要作用;宿舍等公共空间为工人集体行动动员提供了独特生态环境。     

大学生与务工返乡青年农村创业刍议

改革开放尤其是党的十六大以来,我国农村经济社会建设在取得显著成就的同时,城乡失衡的矛盾和问题在某些方面也日益突出。如何统筹城乡发展,缩小区域差距成为“十二五”时期重大攻坚课题。立足农村发展实际,对大学生与务工返乡青年农村创业进行相关研究有历史和现实意义,大学生和务工返乡青年创业竞合将成为农村经济社会发展的强劲动力源,是当前统筹城乡发展有效的途径之一。     

Analysis of the Behavior Logic of Young Migrant Workers＇ Flash Marriage when Returning Hometown during Spring Festival——Based on the Case Study of D Village in Henan

基于田野调查,考察了D村青年农民工春节返乡“闪婚”现象,通过对该婚恋模式程序性仪式的展示,力图全面透视当地青年农民工“闪婚”这一婚恋模式的实践背景和行为逻辑,以及在这种行为逻辑背后所彰显的子辈权利意识兴起与父权衰落的农村家庭代际关系变迁。