With the collapse of the old state industries in China, private and foreign companies are settling in. Workers in these factories are laboring long hours under illegal conditions. Instability is high with protests, wildcat strikes and disputes over unpaid pensions, corruption, and intolerable hazards. Unions are strung by tight political control and are mandated to simply help the workers adjust to the changes being made. The government is looking to grow out of the problem as the benefits of the economy spread.
See "Workers' Rights Suffering as China Goes Capitalist", ERIK ECKHOLM, The New York Times, August 21, 2001