Wow ... a surprise, and then - not so much

The NYT reports:

China is planning to adopt a new law that seeks to crack down on sweatshops and protect workers’ rights by giving labor unions real power for the first time since it introduced market forces in the 1980’s.

Cool. About time, too.

But the very next paragraph takes a bit of the glow off.

The move, which underscores the government’s growing concern about the widening income gap and threats of social unrest, is setting off a battle with American and other foreign corporations that have lobbied against it by hinting that they may build fewer factories here.

Well, duh. I guess. I mean, the whole point of building a factory in China has always been that the workers had no rights compared to American workers. It was nice and cheap over there, and if the workers were basically powerless, well, that meant the shareholders and executives got richer.

Some of the world’s big companies have expressed concern that the new rules would revive some aspects of socialism and borrow too heavily from labor laws in union-friendly countries like France and Germany.

The Chinese government proposal, for example, would make it more difficult to lay off workers, a condition that some companies contend would be so onerous that they might slow their investments in China.

Because being able to fire people easily gives you more power over them. It lets you set hours and wages that no one would work if they had a choice, if it wasn't so easy to fire them and get some other desperate person to take their place.

On Friday, Global Labor Strategies, a group that supports labor rights policies, is expected to release a report in New York and Boston denouncing American corporations for opposing legislation that would give Chinese workers stronger rights.

“You have big corporations opposing basically modest reforms,” said Tim Costello, an official of the group and a longtime labor union advocate. “This flies in the face of the idea that globalization and corporations will raise standards around the world.”

Ah, Tim, Tim, Tim. But then, surely you never really believed that, did you? I mean, who does?

“If you really abide by the Chinese labor laws,” said Anita Chan, an expert on labor issues in this country and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University, “migrant-worker wages would go up by 50 percent or more.”

Ah, that dreaded stat: the unanchored percentage. 50%! 50%!!! Consider that the average monthly wage for a migrant worker in China is RMB300-RMB500 ($37-$62), that means we're talking about $17-$31 a month more. I think WalMart, Nike, Dell, et al., can afford that.

And maybe the fact that virtually every brand in some types of merchandise say 'made in China' on them won't be quite so dispiriting any more.

In fact, maybe some of those jobs will come back to America.

...Oh, who am I kidding. If they have to quadruple those wages - $250 a month - they'll still be making money hand over fist.

And that's the American dream.