What are Chinese Unions Doing? Explaining Innovation & Change in Grassroots Unions

China’s economic transition has, on the face of it, presented the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and its affiliated “grassroots” branches with a crisis similar to that experienced by unions in many other countries in the same period. Not only did membership decline, but the penetration of union organization fell dramatically. This crisis has typically been viewed as a symptom of the inherent weakness of Chinese unions in a state corporatist system. Over the last decade or so, however, the ACFTU, as well as grassroots movements, have sought to reinvigorate union organization and to realign its role in the workplace. In this paper, we report on case studies of grassroots unions innovations focused on both improving working conditions and developing a stronger represe ntational role. These developments, we suggest, present a puzzle: namely, how have Chinese unions managed to develop a more representational role associated with autonomous union movements, but in a systems where formally they remained subservient to the Party-State? This paper argues that this apparent puzzle can be explained by the role that grassroots unions play in supporting rank-and-file workers through representational functions. This role, we suggest, has created space for more autonomous action.