(5)
right and left wings of organised labour in Canton led to the passing
of regulations by the Canton Government for the settlement of disputes
among the labourers. These regulations prohibited the use of arms
by labourers. On 23rd September the Political Council of Canton
decided to terminate the boycott of Hong Kong. After considerable
military success, a split between the moderates and extremists in
the Kuomintang culminated in April, 1927, with the expulsion of the
Communists from the party by Chiang Kai Shek, the closing of the
Shanghai General Labour Federation, and the suppression of the
Communists in Canton. In December, 1927, occurred a Communist
coup d'etat at Canton, which received no popular support and was
quickly suppressed.
11.
"Prior to the inception of the Republic there were no trade
unions in the modern sense, and their history for the last twenty-
five years is a history of Chinese politics with their rise to power
in the radical revolution of 1925-6 and their subsequent decline
to practical impotence. In 1926, there were 180 labour unions in
Canton of which only 74 originated from guilds, the remainder being
new organisations. They were mostly under two labour federations,
the Kwangtung Provincial Federation of Labour Unions and the Labour
Congress, which were the Right and Left or Communist Wings. The
total union membership was 290,620. Of these 77,932 were members
of the Kuomintang. These figures may be contrasted with those of
a survey made in 1937 when in 43 Chinese cities 1,051 unions were
found with a total membership of 912,399. +
By article 224 of the Provisional Penal Code of the Chinese
Republic to organise or take part in a strike was a criminal offence. This article was repealed by the Kwangtung Provincial Authorities.
Y.L. Lee. "Some Aspects of the Labour Situation in Canton."
"Chinese Labour Conditions in 1937" (in Chinese).