On the morning of July 9th, the third Sino-German Trade Union Seminar was held in our school. Reiner Hoffman (President of the German Trade Union Federation), Jiang Guangping, (Vice Chairperson, Member of the Secretariat and Party Member of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions), An Jianhua (head of the International Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions), Xu Enyi (Inspector of the International Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions), Liu Xiangbing (Deputy Party Secretary and President of our school) and Wu Wanxiong(Vice President of our school) attended the seminar. Members from relevant departments of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and representatives of teachers from our school also participated in the seminar. The seminar was chaired by Vice President Wu Wanxiong.
President Liu Xiangbing extended a warm welcome to the delegation from the German Trade Union Federation. He introduced our school's history, operating philosophy, disciplines and majors, think tank development and external exchanges and presented souvenirs to the delegation on behalf of our school.
Anders Bosch, head of the European and International Department of the German Trade Union Federation, said that both China and Germany are responsible for the development of the world economy. The world is currently in an era full of instability, both China and Germany must maintain the existing order and improve the surrounding environment.
An Jianhua, head of the International Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, pointed out that China and Germany need to face new situations and new problems together, learn from each other’s working experience and further promote the exchanges between the two sides.
The seminar was divided into two topic discussions. The two sides discussed about how to view the nature of employment in the platform economy, how to define the relationship between the platform and employees, how should a female employee balance her career and family and the female employment issues.
Discussion of the first topic "how to better protect the rights and interests of female employees" was chaired by An Jianhua, head of the International Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Erika Klaus-Scheny, the chairperson of the German Police Union made a report on "Protection of Women's Rights and Interests", discussing the status quo and reasons for the protection of women's rights and the anti-violence against women activities in the world. Heike Hausfeld, Chairperson of the Workers' Union of Bayer, focused on the "Gender Equality in the Workplace" and introduced the German Corporate Organization Law, the Law on Equal Participation of Men and Women in Leadership Positions, Transitional Part-time Employment and Salary Transparency Law. Tang Xiaoqing, Deputy Director of the Female Workers Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, introduced the protection of the rights and interests of Chinese female workers from aspects such as the promotion of the improvement of national and local laws and regulations, the launch of rights protection month for female and the introduction of women's lounge and nursing rooms. She mentioned that China has set up hot lines and online channels to protect the legitimate rights of the female workers when there is an infringement.
The second topic "tasks and challenges faced by trade unions with the emergence of new technologies, new patterns and new models" was chaired by Alexander Kallweit, the representative of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in China. Monica Brand, Chairperson of the German United Services Trade Union Committee, made a report on "Getting Decent Job Through Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence-Trade Union Requirements", demonstrating the impact of digitalization on employment through cases of artificial intelligence application. Lin Jing, Professional Assistant of the Secretariat of the European and Global Workers’ Committee of Volkswagen, delivered a report about "The Challenges Automation, Digitalization and Electrification Brought to Volkswagen’s Workers’ Representative Organizations", elaborating on the development of automation, digitalization, electrification and their impact on the employment situation of the Volkswagen Group. Qiao Jian, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Division of our school, gave a report on "Employee Participation under China's New Employment Patterns". He talked about the labor disputes under China's new employment pattern, the participation of employees in the Internet era and the trade union’s task of better promoting the protection of the rights of workers under the new pattern. He used many cases as example to illustrate the new form of employment in the digital economy, the status quo of new industry workers, existing problems and recommended policies.
Established in October 1949, the German Trade Union Federation is the largest national trade union in Germany. It has 8 industrial trade unions and more than 6.4 million members. It has joined the European Trade Union Confederation and the International Trade Union Confederation and is of great significance in the political and economic life of Germany. The German Trade Union Federation is one of the first major western trade unions to develop cooperative relations with the Chinese trade unions. At present, the German Trade Union Federation and its subordinate IG Metall have both established long-term and stable relations with the Chinese trade unions.
(International Exchange and Cooperation Division
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office)