????北京一家工廠的美國CEO被中國員工“囚禁”的報道充滿了小報色彩的戲劇性。查爾斯?斯塔恩斯是杰普萊斯醫療器械公司（Specialty Medical Supplies）的CEO，公司總部位于美國佛羅里達州。上周五，記者擠進他被囚禁的工廠，隔著裝有柵欄的窗戶對他進行了電視采訪。他到工廠來宣布解雇30名工人，準備將相關業務轉移到印度。其他未被解雇的工人卻因此陷入恐慌。他們要求工廠提供與被解雇工人一樣的補償金。

????目前，問題仍然沒有得到解決。但斯塔恩斯在工廠內接受采訪時表示，他覺得自己非常安全，談判仍然在進行之中。

????不過在這些新聞報道中，有一點并沒有提到。那就是中國工人在談判期間軟禁CEO的行為在其他國家也早已有先例。實際上，這種策略也經常被歐洲發達國家的工人使用。在法國，2009年談判期間，法國工人曾囚禁了卡特彼勒（Caterpillar）、索尼（Sony）和3M公司的高管。2013年3月，也有報道稱法國工人要求被囚禁的管理者提供補償金。這些事件都登上了媒體頭條——而這正是受到不公待遇的工人所期待的事情。

????周二早些時候，哥倫比亞廣播公司（CBS）的一個攝制組采訪了位于北京的杰普萊斯醫療器械公司。斯塔恩斯在工廠大門口接受了采訪。他表示自己要想從這里逃走非常容易，但他認為那樣做會傳達一種錯誤信息。他希望平息員工的怨氣之后再離開。

????而比北京發生的非暴力“敲詐”更有趣的，是斯塔恩斯對于中國勞動力的觀點。斯塔恩斯表示，他要將部分業務轉移到其他國家，因為中國的勞動力正在逐漸向高技術、高薪酬和高科技崗位轉變。

????這或許是在中國發生的第一次大規模業務轉移。中國經濟從制造業為基礎向服務導向經濟轉變，意味著技術水平較低的工人會逐步面臨發展瓶頸。過去四十年間，當匹茲堡和底特律的制造中心向低成本國家轉移時，當地的工人也有同樣的感受。

????而美國與中國之間的主要區別在于，美國工人有強有力的工會組織。而中國雖然也存在工會，但工人們通常并不信任他們。2008年，中國對勞動法進行全面修訂，其中提到了加強工會組織建設、集體勞資談判和提高最低工資等問題，這實際上是一部具有里程碑意義的工人權益法案。中國新勞動法參照了歐洲的勞動權益法。但在中國，工會由地方政府主導。而工人對地方官員通常并不信任。

????密歇根大學（University of Michigan）羅斯商學院（Ross School of Business）教授琳達?利姆曾研究過中國問題，她說：“工人擔心地方工會代表貪污腐敗，因此他們不相信工會代表會按法律辦事?！?/p>

????利姆表示，杰普萊斯醫療器械公司事件在更大意義上代表的是中國過往時代的遺物，而不是未來中國的前兆。2008年，中國勞動法改革之前，工人們與企業談判時，企業可能一夜之間關閉工廠，到其他地方重新開張，拖欠工人工資和補償金。擔心老板跑路，這或許是導致北京“囚禁”事件的主要原因。

????但隨著中國勞動力逐步向服務行業轉移，如醫療與教育行業，他們將從事更高技能的崗位，受到更好的法律保護，而且行業內接受過教育的勞動者也會越來越多，這種不平應該會逐漸減少。

????至于北京這次發生的事件，利姆說：“不幸的是，在轉型期間，類似事件還會發生。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????The news that Chinese workers are holding an American CEO hostage in a Beijing factory has plenty of tabloid drama. The CEO, Charles Starnes of Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies, conducted television interviews through gated windows as reporters swarmed the Beijing factory where he's been held since last Friday. He traveled there to announce layoffs of 3o jobs destined for India. The remaining factory workers, still employed, panicked. They demanded severance packages similar to those of the departing workers.

????The situation remains unresolved. But in interviews from inside the factory, Starnes has said he feels safe, and negotiations are moving ahead.

????What has been lost in news reports is that China workers aren't alone in holding CEOs captive during negotiations. In fact, it's a tactic used in developed Europe. In France, workers held hostage executives at Caterpillar, Sony, and 3M as part of negotiations during 2009. There arereports as recent as March 2013 of angry French workers demanding severance from captive managers. The incidents produce dramatic headlines -- exactly what aggrieved workers are looking for.

????When a CBS camera crew visited the Specialty Medical Supplies factory in Beijing early Tuesday, Starnes gave an interview at the factory's front gates in which he says he could easily escape. But he says that would send the wrong message. He wants to settle the workers' grievances before leaving.

????What's more interesting than this nonviolent shakedown in Beijing is what the episode says of China's labor pool. Starnes said his medical device company was moving part of its operation as China's labor pool increasingly moves toward higher-skilled, higher-paying, and higher-technology jobs.

????It may be the first act of a large shift underway in China. The evolution of China's economy from a manufacturing-based giant to a services-oriented economy means that lower-skilled workers will increasingly face obstacles. Workers in Pittsburgh and Detroit felt the same sting over the past forty years as jobs in those manufacturing centers migrated to lower-cost countries.

????The key difference between the U.S. and China is that U.S. workers enjoyed strong labor unions. While unions do exist in China, workers often distrust them. A sweeping 2008 China labor reform law that instituted stronger unions, collective bargaining, and minimum wage increases is actually a landmark workers' rights bill. It resembles the strong labor rights laws in Europe. But in China, unions are operated by local governments. And workers often harbor distrust toward local officials.

????"Given fears of corruption, they don't trust local union representatives to enforce the law," says Linda Lim, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business who has studied China.

????Lim says the Specialty Medical Supplies incident is more a relic of China's past more than a harbinger of its future. Before China's 2008 labor reform, workers negotiated with businesses that could close shop overnight --- owning workers pay and severance -- then open elsewhere in the country. Fears of abandonment remain, which may be driving the so-called hostage situation in Beijing.

????But as China's labor pool moves into more service-based sectors such as health care and education sectors, with higher-skilled positions, better legal protections, and more educated laborers, these type of grievances should decline.

????Says Lim of the Beijing situation: "Unfortunately, this type of incident is stuck with them during their transition."