This article is for Verifiers and Verifier Bodies. We explain how to answer questions about Freedom of Association and Trade Unions in China. Please read carefully and apply this guidance to all verifications in China.
- Background information on Freedom of Association and Trade Unions in China
- CAF questions related to Freedom of Association and Trade Unions in China
- How to Verify the 28 CAF questions in v1.7
Background information on Freedom of Association and Trade Unions in China
While workers in China have the right to join or form a union, every union must report to and be part of one legally mandated body called the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).
As a general principle, the core labor standard conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) should be applied in an SLCP assessment, regardless of whether a specific country has officially signed (ratified) them or not.
This guidance focuses ILO Convention C098 - Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) and ILO Convention C087 - Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) Because China hasn't officially signed these specific international rules, independent trade unions cannot be freely formed or joined.
When answering CAF questions about trade unions, Verifiers must first evaluate the questions against the ILO conventions, then against Chinese national law. Whichever standard is stricter is the one that must be applied. This is explained below.
CAF questions related to Freedom of Association and Trade Unions in China
There are a total of 28 law-based questions in CAF v1.7 dedicated to Trade Unions, Freedom of Association, and Collective Bargaining. These questions must be evaluated against the legal requirements.
How to Verify the 28 CAF questions in v1.7
First, assess if the facility has/had a union or not within the 12 months of the assessment period.
If the facility has or had a union present during the assessment period, follow Scenario 1 and the guidance in Table A:
If the facility doesn’t or didn’t have a union during the assessment period, follow Scenario 2 and the guidance in Table B:
Note: According to the Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China, higher-level unions may dispatch personnel to guide or assist employees. However, since these individuals are not workers of the facility itself, their presence does not constitute 'union presence' within the SLCP scope. As SLCP questions focus specifically on the active presence of a union or affiliated facility workers within the facility, external activities or guidance from higher-level unions remain outside of the scope.