Every few months, there is another report of a major mining accident in China, in which dozens of miners die. But such tragedies are just the tip of the iceberg. The deterioration of working conditions in China continues every year, with nearly non-existent enforcement of wage, overtime, safety and health and environmental laws.

The exploitation of Chinese workers by their government and multinational corporations in China suppresses wages and business costs. These unfair trade practices lead to job loss, lower wages and exploitation of U.S. workers, as well as our Chinese brothers and sisters.

In 2004, the AFL-CIO filed the first workers’ rights case against the Chinese government. Six weeks later, four Bush administration cabinet members held a press conference to reject the petition. Over the next two years, nothing changed for Chinese workers, so the AFL-CIO submitted a new petition to the White House in 2006. On July 21, 2006, the White House rejected the second petition. 

• Read the statement by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumka on the Bush administration's rejection of the 301 petition against the Chinese government.
• Find out which members of Congress supported the AFL-CIO petition on China (PDF).
• Trade with China: Learn the facts (PDF).
• AFL-CIO petition on China:
  • Executive Summary (PDF)
  • Full petition (PDF, 813 KB)
  • Petition in sections  
    • Introduction and Summary (PDF, 49 KB)
    • Petitioners (PDF, 85 KB)
    • Statute and Regulations Applicable to this Petition (PDF, 122 KB)
    • The Model of Economic Development Embodied in Section 301(d) (PDF, 123 KB)
    • The Regimentation of Factory Workers and Repudiation of Free Labor Markets by the Chinese Government and Global Corporations (PDF, 164 KB)
    • The Chinese Government’s Persistent Pattern of Denying Workplace Rights and Standards (PDF, 323 KB)
    • Background to the Burden on U.S. Commerce (PDF, 199 KB)
    • The Burden on U.S. Commerce (PDF, 300 KB)
    • Action by the USTR and the President (PDF, 128 KB)
    • Appendices (PDF, 187 KB)
• Read about the Bush administration's record on workers' rights in China (PDF).
• Read about the Bush administration's broken promises on workers' rights in China (PDF).
• Key elements of the petition (PDF).
• Q&A about the petition (PDF).