The Labor Law provides for the right to strike under certain circumstances. The law requires that management and labor resolve labor disputes through the enterprise's own labor conciliation council. If that fails, the matter goes to the provincial labor arbitration council. Labor courts, which were established in 1996 within the people's court system, have heard a small number of cases but still are in the early stages of development and lack sufficient personnel because of government budget constraints. The government-controlled labor unions stipulate written procedures for managing labor disputes that permit unresolved disputes to be arbitrated before a court.
Unions have the right to appeal a council decision to the provincial people's court and to strike.
However, the law prohibits strikes at enterprises that serve the public and those that are important to the national economy or national security and defense. These functions are defined by the government and include electrical production, posts and telecommunications, railway, maritime and air transportation, banking, public works, and the oil and gas industry. The law also grants the government the right to suspend a strike considered detrimental to the national economy or public safety. Collective bargaining Workers must have the approval of the provincial or metropolitan branch of the VGCL to organize unions in their enterprises, but they also can bargain collectively through the party-approved unions at their enterprises. In the past, the State generally set wages, since most employees worked for state companies.