Xu Liuping: Contributing the power of trade unions in further deepening reforms and promoting Chinese-style modernization.

The decision made by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (hereinafter referred to as the 'Decision') outlines a grand blueprint for further comprehensively deepening reforms and promoting Chinese-style modernization, and puts forward important requirements for mass organizations, including trade union work. The leadership group of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (hereinafter referred to as the 'ACFTU') regards studying, publicizing, and implementing the spirit of the plenary session as a major political task for the current and future period, deeply understanding and widely promoting it, and proposing a series of work plans and deployments based on actual conditions to solidly promote the implementation of the plenary session's spirit within the trade union system.

Deeply implement the plenary session's decision to uphold the Party's overall leadership and ensure the correct political direction of trade union work.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reforms and promoting Chinese-style modernization. The 'Decision' strengthens the Party's leadership over reforms and makes important deployments to improve the Party's leadership level in further comprehensively deepening reforms and promoting Chinese-style modernization. Trade unions are mass organizations under the leadership of the Party; only by consciously accepting the Party's overall leadership can trade union work maintain the correct direction, the labor movement continue to develop and grow, and the mass foundation for further comprehensively deepening reforms be solidified.

Trade union organizations must always regard upholding the Party's leadership as the highest political principle and fundamental political guarantee, maintaining the fine tradition of consciously accepting the Party's leadership, further deeply understanding the decisive significance of the 'two establishments', continuously enhancing the 'four consciousnesses', strengthening the 'four confidences', and achieving the 'two safeguards', unifying thoughts and actions with the Party Central Committee's decisions and deployments on further comprehensively deepening reforms and promoting Chinese-style modernization. Improve and perfect the 'first agenda item' system for Party leadership group meetings, enhance the system for reporting major issues to the Party Central Committee, clarify measures for implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches in the annual plan, and report and check the implementation of measures at the weekly meetings of the leadership group and the Secretariat.

From July 29 to 31, 2024, the theoretical learning center group of the ACFTU leadership will conduct special studies on the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Party Congress.

Deeply implement the plenary session's decision to promote high-quality development, organizing and mobilizing hundreds of millions of workers to embark on a new journey and achieve success in the new era.

High-quality development is the primary task in the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country. The 'Decision' focuses on five aspects: developing new quality productive forces suited to local conditions, promoting the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy, advancing the high-quality and efficient integrated development of the service industry, promoting modern infrastructure construction, and enhancing the resilience and safety of industrial and supply chains, striving to improve the incentive and constraint mechanisms for promoting high-quality economic development and shaping new momentum and advantages for development. The working class is the main force in upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and is also the main force in comprehensively promoting Chinese-style modernization through high-quality development.

Trade union organizations should focus on major national strategies, major projects, key industries, and significant initiatives, widely and deeply carry out various forms of labor and skills competitions, and explore innovative forms of competition activities in new industries and new business formats. Focus on new industrialization, strategic emerging industries, and the digital economy, and implement projects for workers to achieve innovation and creation. Improve the organization, operation methods, and institutional mechanisms of competitions, conduct industry-specific and regional labor and skills competitions, innovate the construction of labor and skills competition alliances, and carry out cross-field technological innovation activities. Perfect the mechanisms to stimulate the innovative and creative vitality of workers, continuously carry out mass innovation activities such as technological innovation, technical collaboration, invention creation, rationalization proposals, online training, and the 'five smalls' (small inventions, small creations, small innovations, small designs, small suggestions), deepen the national 'Red Flag Cup' team leader competition, and fully stimulate and mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the vast number of workers.

Deeply implement the plenary session's decision to support comprehensive innovation and deepen the reform of the industrial worker team.

The plenary session made deployments to further coordinate and promote the integrated reform of the education, science and technology, and talent systems, clearly proposing the need to focus on cultivating outstanding engineers, national craftsmen, and high-skilled talents, and building a first-class industrial technical worker team. The reform of the industrial worker team is a major reform personally planned, deployed, and guided by General Secretary Xi Jinping, an important aspect of building a system and mechanism that supports comprehensive innovation, and a reform task that trade unions must implement.
Trade union organizations should benchmark the new requirements of the plenary session, earnestly fulfill their leading responsibilities, focus on prominent issues and weak links, promote the introduction of opinions to deepen the reform of the industrial worker team, and ensure effective implementation, accelerating the process of legalizing the construction of the industrial worker team. Further improve the skill formation system for industrial workers, promote the establishment of a vocational education system that integrates general education and vocational education, and bridge the 'last mile' of policy implementation. Play the main role of enterprises, smooth the development channels for industrial workers, and promote the improvement of policies that allow technical workers' skills and innovative achievements to participate in distribution according to their contributions. Implement the national craftsman talent cultivation project, improve the cultivation system of craftsman colleges, and carry out activities to create model craftsman innovation studios and innovation studio alliances. Actively create a strong atmosphere in society that respects labor, knowledge, talent, and creativity, encouraging more workers, especially young people, to grow into first-class industrial technical workers.

On August 21, 2024, the first national 'Red Flag Cup' team leader competition finals successfully concluded in Changchun, Jilin.

Deeply implement the plenary session's decision to guarantee and improve people's livelihoods, and sincerely provide rights protection services.

General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that reform is meaningful when it is for the people; reform has momentum when it relies on the people. The 'Decision' focuses on improving the quality of people's lives and proposes a series of major reform measures regarding improving the income distribution system, prioritizing employment policies, improving the social security system, and deepening the reform of the medical and health system. As the representative and defender of workers' interests, trade unions must effectively improve the quality of rights protection services and enhance workers' sense of gain from further comprehensively deepening reforms.

Trade unions should conduct extensive and in-depth research on the urgent issues faced by workers, actively provide suggestions in the reform of labor employment, income distribution, social security, and labor safety and health, and timely reflect the wishes and voices of workers in the formulation of reform policies. Launch the 'Union Helps Employment' initiative, increase support efforts, and provide more high-quality and efficient services for unemployed, laid-off, and transferred workers. Focus on the work of key groups such as new employment form workers, and carry out a three-year action for the rights protection services of new employment form workers according to the principle of 'overall planning by the central government, implementation by local governments, one enterprise one policy, and one place one policy', promoting the improvement of social security systems for flexible workers, migrant workers, and new employment form workers, and standardizing labor standards for new employment forms. Implement the 'New Double 15 Project' for union stations, building 15% of the most beautiful stations and creating 15% of 24-hour intelligent stations. Solidly carry out special work to eradicate wage arrears, improve the regular support mechanism for workers in difficulty, and promote the benefits of reform and development achievements to more workers.

Deeply implement the decisions and deployments of the plenary session regarding the improvement of the democratic and legal system, and actively promote the construction of harmonious labor relations.

The development of whole-process people's democracy is an essential requirement of Chinese-style modernization, and the rule of law is an important guarantee of Chinese-style modernization. The 'Decision' deploys the improvement of the whole-process people's democracy system and the perfection of the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics in two parts, clearly requiring the improvement of the consultative democracy system and the establishment of institutional platforms for grassroots consultation; the establishment of a democratic management system for enterprises and public institutions based on workers' representative assemblies, and the improvement of effective forms for workers' participation in management; comprehensively promote the legalization of national work in all aspects and improve the mechanisms for advancing the construction of a rule of law society. These requirements are closely related to union work, and union organizations must ensure their implementation.
Trade unions should increase their participation at the source, actively integrate into the legislative work pattern led by the Party Committee, dominated by the People's Congress, supported by the government, and participated by all parties, promote the improvement of the labor laws and regulations system, and push for the formulation and revision of laws and regulations related to workers and union work. Solidly carry out special actions to supervise the implementation of labor-related legal provisions, actively promote the special work of 'One Letter and Two Documents' (Union Labor Law Supervision Notice, Union Labor Law Supervision Opinion, Union Labor Law Supervision Suggestions), and effectively manage the union legal service intelligent system 'Union Legal Cloud'. Establish a democratic management system for enterprises and public institutions based on workers' representative assemblies, improve effective forms for workers' participation in management, and create a new model for factory affairs disclosure that links unions at all levels, driven by workers' needs, and interacts online and offline. Promote employers to carry out collective wage negotiations, improve the mechanisms for determining, reasonably increasing, and ensuring the payment of workers' wages. Fully leverage the role of the tripartite mechanism for coordinating labor relations, better utilize the '12351+' and diversified labor dispute resolution mechanisms, focus on building the 'Union Fengqiao' brand in the new era, strengthen the construction of a labor relations risk monitoring and early warning system, and promote the establishment of harmonious labor relations.

Deeply implement the decisions and deployments of the plenary session regarding the role of mass organizations, and actively promote the reform and construction of trade unions.

Promoting the reform and construction of trade unions is not only an important part of further deepening comprehensive reform but also an important political task assigned to trade unions by the Party Central Committee. It is necessary to earnestly implement the requirements of the plenary session to leverage the role of trade unions, the Communist Youth League, the Women's Federation, and other mass organizations as a bridge and link to serve the masses, and to consider and plan the reform and construction of trade unions within the broader context of further deepening comprehensive reform and advancing Chinese-style modernization, continuously improving the overall effectiveness of union work.

Trade unions should always focus on maintaining and enhancing their political nature, advancement, and mass character, innovate organizational systems, operational mechanisms, activity methods, and work approaches to better meet the needs of grassroots unions and workers. Firmly establish a clear orientation towards strengthening grassroots work, continuously increase efforts to build and join unions, and emphasize strengthening union construction, promoting the establishment of industry unions in new business forms, and continuously enhancing the leadership, organizational, and service capabilities of grassroots unions. With the goal of serving hundreds of millions of workers, accelerate the pace of digital and intelligent construction of unions, create a union smart service terminal that is 'advanced in structure, ubiquitous in real-time, AI-native, and standardized' - the 'Workers' Home' APP, maximizing coverage and penetration, achieving a unified access for union services to workers. Highlight the rectification of formalism to reduce the burden on grassroots, improve the system for union officials to engage with grassroots and contact points, strengthen training and development for union officials, guide them to focus on practical work and seek tangible results, and contribute wisdom and strength to further deepen comprehensive reform and advance Chinese-style modernization.