Chinese workers deserve better

Recent worker unrest in China is a sign of time. The Chinese manufacturing industry has been exploiting cheap labor for decades. Given that there are billions of people in China and millions of them are still in poverty, a shortage of cheap labor was never a big concern to investors and business owners. Now the unlikely problem becomes a reality. If the situation doesn't change soon, today's worker unrest could lead to a greater social and political problem.

I don't believe all manufacturing companies in China are treating their workers like robots or slaves. But, there is no doubt that the benefits they are receiving are far less generous than what the companies could have provided.

A key problem in China is income unbalance. Factory workers often made significant less money than the skilled office workers in cities like Shanghai and Beijing. As the Chinese economy grows rapidly, people's desire for a better quality of life increases. It's understandable that the low-income workers, often come from rural areas, are upset when their purchasing power grows at a significantly slower rate than the wealthier city people.

I'm a believer of capitalism. While businesses are about profits and growth, but they mustn't forget to take care of their employees. Chinese manufacturing companies should take the news about Honda worker strikes and overworked Foxconn employees as an opportunity to re-evaluate their worker treatments. Better working conditions and benefits means happier workers. Happy workers often means an increase of productivity.