China will not have a veto within the WTO and, like all of the other 135 member countries, will be expected to follow its rules. The WTO has unequivocally opposed inclusion of labor and human rights in its mandate, and it is hard to imagine that rejection of China's PNTR status would have forced a change in the WTO's stance. With or without PNTR, trade with China has been increasing, and relations between China and the United States will grow. Since China is too important for the U.S. labor movement to communicate with simply via the U.S. media alone, labor leaders should take a bold step and seek to open up dialogue and cultivate relationships with workers and trade unions in China. While American labor leaders should continue to meet with Chinese political dissidents, it would also be important to meet with other union leaders and workers in China.
China is home of the largest trade union confederation in the world.
Although Chinese trade unions are not independent from the government, they are strong worker organizations with 100 million members, and they reflect great diversity, depending on the industry, sector, geographic area, and individual leaders. The policies of the cold war have prevented the American labor movement from establishing fraternal relations with trade unions in China. It may well be time for AFL-CIO President John Sweeney to consider a similar initiative and reach out to Chinese workers. The reality is that China has undergone tremendous change in the past few decades. The Chinese economic system has rapidly transformed from a centralized, state-run one toward a mixed economy, with a growing market and increasing foreign investment.