How did Chinese migrant workers fare in labour dispute mediation? Differentiated legal protection and the moderating role of the nature of dispute

Abstract

This study examines the differences between migrant and urban workers in labour dispute mediation and the moderating role of the nature of the dispute (direct work-related vs indirect work-related disputes). Combining power-dependence theory and social stratification theory, our analysis reveals how migrant workers’ lack of citizen rights harms their mediation capabilities. Drawing on archival data on individual labour dispute cases from 2011 to 2015 in the Beijing Labour Mediation Centre (10,515 cases in total), we find that migrant workers with low power are more likely to make great concessions in mediation, and their mediation agreements are less likely to be executed immediately by employers than are those of urban workers. However, when the dispute is directly work related, the difference between migrant and urban workers in concession making is less prominent than when the dispute is indirectly work related. These findings enrich our understanding of both migrants and labour dispute resolution.