[asia-apec 1052] New Resouce Materials

[ALARM]

Dear friends,

Two resource materials were recently published which might be of interest
to you. 

1) 	Thailand: Class Struggle in an Era of Economic Crisis  
	by Prof Ji Giles Ungpakorn  
 
This book is an account of the modern Thai working class in the late 1990s.
The emphasis is placed, not on the weakness and suffering of Thai workers,
but on their potential and actual strengths to determine the future of
society. The book argues that by studying the relationship between rank and
file workers and union officials from a "bottom-upwards" perspective, and
by looking at the main ideological influences among Thai workers, it is
possible to make a more realistic assessment of the working class than most
previous accounts. There is a chapter on women workers which discusses
sexuality, a chapter on bank workers as part of the working class and also
an anthropological profile of eight rank and file working class activists.
An important theme throughout the book is the impact of the present
economic crisis on the Thai working class and the relationship between the
labour movement and the struggle for democracy.  

Inquiries: Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC), 444 Nathan Road, 8-B,
Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel: 852-2332-1346; fax: 852-2385-5319; e-mail:
amrc at hk.super.net; 

2) 	Third Report on Working Conditions in China  
          by Coalition for the Charter on the Safe Production of Toys  

This report is about the result of the investigation made on the twelve
factories in the export processing zones in Guangdong Province. Most of
them are suppliers or subcontractors of major toy transnational companies
(TNCs) like Mattel, Tyco, Disney, Hasbro, McDonalds, Tomy and VTech which
produce popular toys, i.e., Barbie dolls, teletubbies, Disney cartoon
characters and McDonald's happy meals.  

A thorough research was made not only on the working conditions of the toy
workers, but also on the role of the All China Federation of Trade Unions
(ACFTU).   

Inquiries: Ms May Wong, Toy Campaign Coordinator, c/o Asia Monitor Resource
Center (AMRC), 444 Nathan Road, 8-B, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel:
852-2332-1346; fax: 852-2385-5319; e-mail: amrc at hk.super.net; 

Check the details at http://www.hk.super.net/~amrc