China Steps in to Regulate Brutal '996' Work Culture
China steps in to regulate brutal '996' work culture:
Chinese tech tycoon Jack Ma famously said it was a "blessing" for anyone to be part of the so-called "996 work culture"- where people work 9am to 9pm, six days a week.
Now, China's authorities have issued a stern reminder to companies that such punishing work schedules are in fact, illegal.
In a joint statement published last Thursday, China's top court and labour ministry detailed 10 court decisions related to labour disputes, many involving workers being forced to work overtime.
The cases covered various scenarios across a wide range of sectors, from tech to the media and construction. The one thing they had in common? The employers had lost.
"Legally, workers have the right to corresponding compensation and rest times or holidays. Complying with national working hours is the obligation of employers," the notice warned, adding that further guidelines will be developed to resolve future labour disputes.
[...] According to China's labour laws, a standard work day is eight hours-long, with a maximum of 44 hours a week. Any work beyond that requires extra pay for overtime.
But this has not been well enforced. In many of the country's biggest firms - particularly in the thriving tech sector - employees often work far longer hours and are not always compensated.
Employers Can't Require People to Work 72 Hours a Week, China's High Court Says
Employers Can't Require People To Work 72 Hours A Week, China's High Court Says:
Workers in China have earned a victory over employers' onerous work schedules, as the Supreme People's Court says a common schedule that requires people to work 12 hours a day for six days a week is illegal.
In recent years, several worker deaths have been linked to such schedules, which are common in the tech industry and in other sectors, such as logistics.
One case highlighted in the high court's recent decision revolves around a man named Zhang. He was hired by a courier company last summer, working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week — the schedule that has become notorious under the shorthand "996" label.
Under Chinese law, monthly overtime totals are essentially limited to 36 hours. Zhang refused to work illegal amounts of overtime — as dictated by his schedule — and was fired. The courier company said Zhang failed to fulfill the requirements of his probation period. But he disagreed, and an arbitration panel ordered his former employer to pay him a month's salary of 8,000 yuan (about $1,237).
The high court affirmed that decision last week, saying that Zhang had been fired illegally and that the company's work policies run afoul of the law.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Opportunist on Tuesday September 07 2021, @08:59AM (9 children)
And I don't mean spend 996 in his luxury office but down on the sweatshop floor. Without knowing that it's gonna end in a week or two but that it will continue.
And then discuss this "blessing" with him.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @10:10AM (1 child)
He's in no position to make proclamations anymore. [archive.is]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Opportunist on Tuesday September 07 2021, @12:56PM
You don't dip your hand in Winnie's honey pot.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday September 07 2021, @01:52PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Tuesday September 07 2021, @02:25PM (5 children)
I think people like Jack are part of the problem. His success is largely based on luck but supported with a crazy work ethic. I can't find any sites saying what he works today but I strongly suspect he went through those hours earlier in his career.
So you have a CEO who has dedicated their life to the company and they expect the same from their subordinates. That dedication probably helped the CEO's startup succeed when their was only a handful of employees, but that level of dedication should not be mandatory. Solving the 996 culture needs assistance from the government and it will be interesting to see the solution. I'm not sure if Europe's solution of mandating a maximum number of hours per week is the correct implementation: while I would love to only work 40 hours a week by law, I suspect startups and innovation will struggle to compete on the global scale without people like Elon Musk dedicating their life to the goal.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Tuesday September 07 2021, @04:35PM (1 child)
Of course, when Ma was putting in those crazy hours, he did so with a certain expectation of big rewards that people working for him have no actual shot at getting as a reward for their commitment. The company will never reward their dedication like it rewarded Jack.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:22PM
Precisely.
I would gladly work 996 if I was doing it with my buddies on something we're into and that we own. Doing it to get a "Well Done" from a guy riding on my back, uh no.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday September 07 2021, @08:37PM (2 children)
It's easy to be committed when you know what you do you do for yourself.
I did have projects where I worked more than 100 hours per week for weeks. Those were projects that I did because I wanted to, because I know who I did it for and because I was personally invested in them, and I wanted them to succeed. Expecting that from a salaried employee is ridiculous.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:45PM (1 child)
The idea is to get the bright-eyed bushy-tailed shiny new employees to Believe In The Teaching(tm). If you don't think it's happening at your workplace, I advise you to look in your Inbox.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Wednesday September 08 2021, @06:28AM
I don't have time to read spam.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:11AM (26 children)
my gut feeling is that the current chinese form of government won't last for much longer.
but strange things keep happening, it's not acting like a purely authoritarian "my way or the highway" government.
putin, lukashenko --- them I can understand. they take everything that they can, and putin is actually rational (although a complete psychopath, and his goals aren't very clear).
the chinese government is enslaving certain classes of people, fucking up hong kong and threatening taiwan.
at the same time, they seem fairly serious about climate action, there are several genuine anti-corruption moves, and they are fighting the super-rich (rather than getting on their good side).
it would be easy to dismiss this as a powergrab, but it's not that simple: they're not confiscating property and throwing the rich in jail; they are working to make them less rich in the long term by reinforcing the power of workers.
why would a totalitarian government give the gift of time to its people?
I can't reconcile these different actions as coming from a single agency, which tells me that I don't really understand China or its government.
Jackie Chan is an asshole for what he said about Hong Kong though. I won't change my mind about that.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by isostatic on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:27AM (19 children)
> at the same time, they seem fairly serious about climate action
China commissioned 38.4 GW of new coal plantsin 2020, over three times the 11.9 GW commissioned in the rest of the world.
Chinaʼs coal fleet grew by net 29.8 GW in 2020,while in the rest of the world net capacity decreased by 17.2 GW.
China initiated 73.5 GW of new coal plant proposals in 2020, over five times the 13.9 GW initiated in the rest of the world combined.
Chinese provinces granted construction approval to 36.9 GW of coal power projects in 2020, over three times the capacity permitted in 2019 (11.4GW).
China now has 247 GW of coal power underdevelopment (88.1 GW under construction and 158.7 GW proposed for construction) – a 21% increase over end-2019 (205 GW), and nearly six times Germanyʼs entire coal-fired capacity (42.5GW).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @10:18AM (15 children)
thank you. I think I've heard some of this before, I'm not sure why I didn't think about it.
but you also have to take into account that they are testing a thorium reactor, and they are planting trees.
when I said "they seem serious", I was thinking of the fact that many european countries promise a lot of things, but they don't provide any realistic plan to deliver on those promises.
whereas China doesn't seem to promise as much, possibly because they intend to keep their promises.
https://www.livescience.com/china-creates-new-thorium-reactor.html [livescience.com]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-20/china-announces-mass-tree-planting-to-increase-its-forests/100395780 [abc.net.au]
I agree that in the long term this coal-burning capacity won't do them (or anyone else) any good.
but, if I'd suspect any government attempting to carry out a proper cost/benefit analysis (i.e. "short-term gain vs long-term loss", which one is better?), it would be the Chinese government.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 07 2021, @10:45AM (14 children)
To even begin to understand China, you need to be able to count the existential threats they have experienced just in the past few hundred years. Take at least a shallow dive into each of those threats. Then, stand back and put yourself in that position: the most recent revolution threatened to kill your parents off, the next previous threatened to kill off your grandparents, your great grandparents were threatened by the next previous. When you reach the generations that weren't constantly threatened with death, they were probably just so much brute labor, less valuable than slaves could ever be. Drop all Judeo-Christian values, drop all western values before you start studying - they share no religious values with us.
By comparison, Russia is very Jewish, very Christian, and very Western. It's comparatively easy for westerners to understand Russia. Most of us still miss the mark, because we haven't experienced the loss of most of a generation due to genocide, or the loss of most of another generation due to invasion.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @11:13AM
The threat of erasure to you and your entire family as been a thing since the Qin Dynasty of 2000 years ago.
Worries me that is practically human selective breeding towards brutal authority and slavery. :/
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @11:16AM (9 children)
Sorry, but that's a very bullshit argument to make. You seem to assume that Chinese are somewhat completely weird people that have nothing to do with modern society. If you actually traveled, ANYWHERE for that matter (and driving to Mexico doesn't cut it), you would notice that people EVERYWHERE share the same values you talk about as "Judeo-Christian values".
Did you ever stop and think that "Judeo-Christian values" are just natural values that arise in any society? It doesn't matter which book you call your bible, the values in it are THE SAME.
There are larger differences between individuals inside your "Judeo-Christian values" group than there is between the groups of people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:29PM
Thanks - finally some sense. Hoomans the world over know what bullshit is and what fair is. They are just coerced to pretend otherwise, like when Kim Jon-XX hits 18 holes in 1. It's a broken human that isn't internally rolling their eyes at that, and I do believe there are plenty of these tragic lost souls propping up bullshit salesmen. I prescribe 100x THC capsules or psilcybin. With these becoming legal, we are definitely entering interesting times.
(Score: 2, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:16PM (5 children)
No, I said that their society was born of a different value system. They don't have Sunday School, don't sing Jesus Loves Me, don't do Kumbaya.
I never said they were weird, didn't call them monsters, didn't suggest that their government is any more monstrous than our own. I said they are different, and I gave a starting point for understanding how different they are.
Millions of people my age in China participated in that Cultural Revolution I mentioned. Do you understand the people who could drag their parents and teachers into the street, to be beaten to death by the mobs? It's hard enough to understand western/Christian mobs dragging people who were "different" (Jews, Catholics, Blacks, Aboriginees) out into the street to be shot, hanged, or whatever. Let me say that again. Millions of people living in China right now dragged their own teachers, parents, and grand parents into the street to be killed. Do you understand them?
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @07:47PM
Umm.... civil war anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @07:50PM (2 children)
Civilized white men cannot comprehend the mind of the savage.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 07 2021, @08:07PM (1 child)
Thanks for the idiocy, I guess. FWIW I've often commented on the fact that China has a continuous 5000 year history to learn from - unlike more savage countries that have pull in history from multiple civilizations to see 5000 years in the past.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:20PM
Bad news if you think the US is less savage . . . .
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @08:57PM
Most Americans don't either.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Tuesday September 07 2021, @10:23PM (1 child)
The Aztecs.
[drops mike]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 08 2021, @12:49AM
Source [red-coral.net]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @01:16PM
"the most recent revolution threatened to kill your parents off, the next previous threatened to kill off your grandparents, your great grandparents were threatened by the next previous. When you reach the generations that weren't constantly threatened with death, they were probably just so much brute labor, less valuable than"
Yes, but perhaps today an economic revolution as in the 996 discussion might suffice. Hopefully, the point it that even if a revolution is required, they can do it this time without losing yet another generation. Sadly, their pushes outside the country seem to say that forces inside are slow learners.
Perhaps the 996 discussion should morph to a 9962 discussions. Where the 'two' says the 72 hours is ok if you double the pay and it is voluntary.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday September 07 2021, @04:01PM (1 child)
Given that we're also speaking of the government's point of view rather than a generic citizen, they have a long, long history of governments rising and falling. That falling part probably weighs heavily on their minds.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:33PM
I would hazard most of China does not know its own history, only the flowers and kittens version. What's the point of the censorship otherwise?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:12PM (2 children)
Consider that a coal plant is basically two separate systems;
One converts a working fluid, usually water, into a gas/vapor using a heat source and generates power using it. This part of a power plant does not give a shit about how the working fluid is heated.
The second part is just a coal fired heat source to boil water. If the heat source part that boils the water is built to be replaced from the start a coal plant can be converted to a nuclear based power plant without much extra effort. And China has been working on this for decades [energycentral.com].
How would the world react if China started building dozens of nuclear power plants?
China is currently leading the world in Thorium fueled MSR development. If these new coal plants are built right China could convert them to nuclear without much effort as MSRs don't need the huge containment buildings that LWTR need. An MSR can be a sealed self contained heat core that get put in place, run for a decade or so producing heat right in the perfect range for power generation. Then it gets swapped out for a new core with the old one getting sent off for refurb/refueling.
Say what you will about China's current government, economy and culture but one thing they have been very good at as a people over the years is taking the long view and following through on plans that take years or decades to complete. China has the resources and assets to play the long game. Like chess master who will simply stall their opponent while setting up a perfect victory a hundred moves ahead. All that extra generating capacity is China looking forward to what they will need in decades, and the extra capacity would mean they could take a plant off line completely while it is converted later.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @07:55PM
> they have been very good at as a people over the years is taking the long view
ummmm it seems it's always around the corner, always 50 years away, just one more revolution
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Wednesday September 08 2021, @11:53AM
> How would the world react if China started building dozens of nuclear power plants?
Err, with glee probably, especially as the costs for new nuclear plants would drop dramatically at that scale.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Opportunist on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:55AM (2 children)
I think it's a mentality thing. I don't dare to pretend I understand Chinese mentality, but that combination of communism and confuceanism sure is a weird one.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:35PM (1 child)
Is it weirder than the combo of Republicans and Jesus?
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday September 07 2021, @08:39PM
It's less self contradicting, tbh.
That communist/confucianist thing, that is.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @11:05AM (2 children)
USSR-style "power" is his goal, though he doesn't understand that 1970s are gone and US is not really to be fought with anyway. So he's kind of stuck between his 1970s vision of Russia and local corruption and police state he uses to keep in power.
Chinese government is about stability of the country and this the party in power. Although Xi is fucking that up, really. The personality cult is really at odds of what China was suppose to be. They may just stop with their primary goals and go crazy for the Xi-hero and try military takeover of Taiwan or something. That would be a HUGE mistake. So only you are correct in the sense that Chinese government will not last much longer -- it may be replaced with a crazy Xi-personality cult instead.
The one thing you have to understand about Chinese government policy is that they view only one thing as super important -- make sure there is no public strife. So they try to make sure there is no public protests about ANYTHING -- this is why they have the laws against "trouble makers and rumors". The downside is they (like most of Asia) have determined that nationalism is a great way of keeping people in check - if you are not happy, you must be against China. And then this is used by local party cronies to suppress opposition. This is similar to the current Republican party politics - party above country.
Cracking down on the (temporarily) rich is just part of making sure that party is in power. In US, $$$ is power, but in China, the party is in power and they determine who is allowed to be rich. Also, Taiwan policies are long term and the problem is more with Chinese nationalism getting out of hand. The nationalists they have raised are now starting to take over and they are blind to criticism -- as they were taught. And Xi is actually driving this because he wants a 'legacy'.
Anyway, China is not much different to USA. Look at USA's policies before the radical-right took over the Republican party (you can pick anytime from Regan to today, depending on flavour you enjoy). China is following the same path. The danger is when people put party above country, or power above world cohesion, you end up with bad shit as a possibility. Nazis didn't murder Jews because they woke up one day and thought how great it is to murder babies and old people -- it happened because people kept putting power and win-at-any-cost mentality over the good of society. Hitler was a product of this and the rest too. And while history doesn't repeat, it certainly rhymes.
They are very weak on international stage and only any relevance in the South China Sea because some in China believe they can throw their weight around and bullying is actually a good way to do diplomacy. Trump was actually a god-send for them as that was the only time when China started to try to fill the vacuum left by USA in international politics. But they fucked that up badly (mismanaged COVID opportunity, south china sea, tying politics to trade like with EU trade deal, etc) since they have very little experience in dealing with outside world. They think that talking to dictators is how you get something done quickly and they don't understand how it possibly is failing like it is.
/end rambling
As for Chinese policies on climate change, don't assume anything like that is true. You actually have to see results and not just listen to propaganda.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday September 07 2021, @01:41PM (1 child)
The current Emperor of China has always had a "cult of personality". This seems to be nearly uniformly true of monarchs. They don't all have the same personality, but even Charles I of England had a "cult of personality". Certainly his successor, Cromwell, did. They were very different cults, but they were there.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:41PM
And now England has a cunt of dubious personality.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday September 07 2021, @02:18PM (31 children)
Shouldn't China be a pro-business country? Don't they want their economy to grow?
I would point out how many people in the US are secretly supportive of how the economy of the American South was built on the back of slavery and those wonderful plantations. Now excuse me, I've got to watch Disney's movie "Song of the South" where all the slaves are happy and singing.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Tuesday September 07 2021, @02:55PM (7 children)
Contrary to what you may have heard, Song of the South [imdb.com] doesn't have any slaves in it. Unlike modern industry, which apparently does.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday September 07 2021, @04:40PM (6 children)
Interesting. I am inclined to believe you. Too bad it is practically impossible to view the movie. I have only the most vague recollections from childhood. Disney has pretty effectively memory holed this movie. Too bad that one of their most popular songs (Zipiety Doo Dah) is from that movie.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:30PM (3 children)
I remember well enough to say that my impression as a 6 year old was primarily that Uncle Remus was a cool old dude who cared about the kids and told good stories. The other adults seemed too wrapped up in their own stuff to have time for the kids.
As an adult I know that it was set in the reconstruction era, so there were no slaves.
I have no idea why anyone would expect characters from a story set in the late 19th century to have modern attitudes or mannerisms.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:30PM (2 children)
> I have no idea why anyone would expect characters from a story set in the late
19th1st century to have modern attitudes or mannerisms.FTFY (for those harping on about Judeo-Christian values)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday September 07 2021, @08:17PM (1 child)
Are you complaining that someone is trying to portray Jesus as a non-white and non-Republican, and worst of all, non-US Citizen? That seems sacrilegious.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:52PM
More like, why the fuck is some Bronze Age scrawl relevant but not a pre-1940s racist movie?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:40PM (1 child)
https://www.torlock.icu/tor/37183236.torrent [torlock.icu]
https://limetor.com/Song-of-the-South-1946-35mm-1080p-BluRay-x265-HEVC-AC3-SARTRE-torrent-15853694.html [limetor.com]
https://torrentproject2.se/t3-4765557/Song-of-the-South-1946-35mm-1080p-BluRay-x265-HEVC-AC3-SARTRE-torrent.html [torrentproject2.se]
It isn't the healthiest of torrents, but it's alive. If you really want to watch it, you can. It appears that it will take an hour and a half to download on my slow connection, YMMV.
Aren't we all tech-minded people? Isn't the internet designed to route around damage/censorship?
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @07:59PM
Route around this [disneyporno.net]
(Score: 1, Touché) by khallow on Tuesday September 07 2021, @03:22PM (12 children)
"China" isn't a single thing here. It's a standard conflict of interest between a precariously perched elite (and supporting bureaucracy) and everyone else. Sure, the elite wants their economy to grow, but they want to stay in power even more.
Azuma and a host of ACs already have the cryptobeliefs angle covered. We don't need more crazies here telling us what we truly believe.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday September 07 2021, @04:01PM (2 children)
"cryptobeliefs" is new to me. I'll have to look that one up.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @04:21PM
Related to cryptofascism. Basically lusers calling khallow a Nazi for supporting moderate-right policies.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by khallow on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:20PM
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:32PM (8 children)
You're a nasty piece of work. Why don't you do a TMB and harikiri your account?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:43PM (7 children)
It is always refreshing to hear from the inclusive, tolerant left.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:23PM (1 child)
trump's success showed us that tolerance requires a line and you lot jumped right over it with a fascist POTUS and an attempted coup on 1/6
you traitors will get what's coming to you
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:53PM
Molon labe, asshole.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @09:57PM (4 children)
Bullying specific posters when they are not even on the thread is trash. Garbage. Unless it's Runaway... but he posts on every thread so he's always fair game.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday September 08 2021, @12:17AM (3 children)
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 08 2021, @12:34AM (2 children)
You are advertizing your trashiness. It's the downward spiral of the RWNJ.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday September 08 2021, @05:18PM (1 child)
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 14 2021, @03:26AM
"Bullying specific posters when they are not even on the thread is trash. Garbage. Unless it's Runaway"
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday September 07 2021, @04:30PM (1 child)
Yeah, I'm sure it's that simple. /s
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:45PM
lol it's the Why Do You Hate America? of the 2020s.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:12PM (7 children)
They want the economy to grow but there are limits to the social cost they are willing to pay for it. Something the U.S. could stand to learn from (not claiming China is some paragon of virtue, just that this one decision seems to be right).
You can interpret that as benevolence to the people or as a belief that ultimately a mass uprising is a greater threat to political power than a few ticked off billionaires.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @05:50PM (3 children)
Well maybe. It strikes me as the politicians reclaiming the moral high ground. If Jackshit Ma gets traction with his moral philosophy of working hard then the government loses its status. They can't be having that, so they move to "protect" the people. Fortunately in this case it seems a good thing but that's purely by coincidence. If Jack Ma was pronouncing 4 days weeks and paid vacation, the govt would step in to preserve the sanctity of hard work.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:12PM (2 children)
Enforcing labor laws is protecting people, no quotes necessary. Should be asking why they weren't enforced before!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:35PM
Sure OK. The quotes are there because anything they do will be to "protect" the people, whether it protects them or not.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday September 08 2021, @01:44AM
What labor laws? China rules by fiat not by laws.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday September 07 2021, @06:52PM (2 children)
And here we have a ticked off "billionaire" trying to start a mass uprising. China is showing us how they handle it
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday September 07 2021, @08:47PM
I'm guessing support for 996 will be limited among those who actually would have to do those hours and not get rich.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday September 08 2021, @05:20PM
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Wednesday September 08 2021, @01:08AM (1 child)
I would have expected the CCP to break the arms of anyone who complained about working conditions, knowing China's government as well as I do.
This is strange, out of character behavior for China, especially considering it will have a measurable hit to GDP and economic output, though I believe the hit to be well worth it.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 08 2021, @05:16PM
The business owner class led by Ma has been complaining about their working conditions for a while and this is meant to reign them in by curtailing their accumulation of wealth and power. The target group is different and the arm breaking is figurative but make no mistake about it, this is business as usual.