Chinese strikers use SMS and blogs for their struggle

The fascinating world of blogs. It is impossible to control them and if you want, you can call them the voice of the people.

There are plenty of blogs that describe the situation in Iraq, in Palestine, or in China, for that matter. They are the ones that are in the frontline, so to speak, away from the media and report uncensored. Naturally, governments are not always too happy about it.

On the other hand, you have blogs from the corporate world which are also criticised by their own employer. Famous the story of the Microsoft blogger who depicted an Apple Computer in his blog. Other employers fire their employees, like the one stewardess from United Airlines, or the former Web Developer of Friendster.

The interesting part in this is how fast people pick of the blogging tool and start blogging about their experience. I have talked about blogging in China before.

Now, Smart Mobs writes about striking Chinese Workers that use SMS and blogs to make themselves heard:

"Ten days ago, 12,000 workers went on strike in Shenzhen at the factory of a supplier of Wal-Mart.

"The hordes of young women employed here say they are required to work 11-hour days, including three hours of mandatory overtime, in order to earn a basic monthly salary of 484 yuan, or about US$58. The women say they must spend nearly half their wage on the drab company dormitories where, as migrants, they must live," the article reprinted in the IHT says.

While the women are not organized in a union, contacts have improved thanks to SMS-messages.

Now also a weblog has emerged, maintained by the strikers, reports blogger Isaac Mao."

Basically, the message is that blogs can't be controlled. If you are using it in your corporation, make sure that your blogger knows, what is going on. You might not have time to involve your PR department, so give your blogger the freedom and liberty to mess up, make mistakes. Anything is better than being quiet. Blog news spreads fast, and if there is a mishap, be open about it and report immediately. There is much to say about it, but the main thing is that blogging is about changing the mindset of how news is transmitted in an interactive way.

(By Asia Business Consulting)