罢工 (labor strike / bàgōng) is a refusal to work by employees. It is a form of protest aimed at forcing an employer to resolve grievances or to accede to employee demands.
Why it is blocked: Though striking itself is not technically illegal under Chinese law, the right to strike was removed from the Chinese constitution in 1982 (not that strikes were greatly tolerated before 1982). Therefore, unless a striker breaks other laws in conjunction with the work stoppage (which would probably be nearly unavoidable), he is technically free to do so without facing punishment. Of course, since the laws do not protect strikes, work stoppages are obviously not encouraged, though there have been times where central authorities have sided with workers in efforts to pressure local officials and employers to resolve unrest.
According to statistical yearbooks, in 2009, there were 684,379 labor disputes, 320,000 of which were officially dealt with in the court system. Workers are also able to take their grievances to their local trade union—but it operates as a mediator and not necessarily on the worker’s behalf. Though there are no official figures for the number of strikes, it’s been estimated that there are roughly 30,000-40,000 each year. Strikes do take place and in recent years some have been well-publicized (for instance a series of strikes in late-2011) and even successful (for example, the strikes in factories which produced Japanese auto parts and at the electronics manufacturer Foxconn in summer 2010) and there have been experiments in southern China with legalizing strikes. However, work stoppages, particularly ones that attempt to involve more than one workplace are strongly and often violently suppressed with beatings by hired thugs, mass arrests, and prosecution of organizers. Domestic media are usually barred from reporting about strikes. (For a great at-a-glance look of strikes that have been reported in recent years, see the the excellent China Strikes crowdsourced map.)
