Multinational corporations have been roaming the globe in a race to the bottom, competing solely on which can pay their workers the least -- and far too many have settled in China. As a result, what were once good-paying American jobs with benefits are now too often underpaid Chinese jobs in poor working conditions.

So even as the skyscrapers of Shanghai, China's financial capital, symbolize the rapid progress and wealth creation that have changed the way many Chinese live, great challenges remain for the majority of workers. Across the vast industrial centers, more workers labor under sweatshop conditions than anywhere in the world. There are 800 million rural poor, and 180 million unemployed. China has more unemployment than the U.S. has workers.

And now, amidst this great global economic transformation, what was once unthinkable in China is happening every day: More workers are beginning to speak out or take action in the workplace, despite the repercussions.

The government has responded by pushing forward with a new labor law that would increase workplace protections and strengthen the ability for workers to collectively bargain improvements on the job. Perhaps they see the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the new labor law as essential components to staying ahead of the curve to prevent social upheaval, but the move is a clear sign that growing contradictions in China are creating a new openness to ideas and practices American unions have championed for decades.

Enter the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham), which represents 1,300 U.S. companies doing business there. They responded to the labor law proposal with a thinly veiled threat that companies will curtail investment and hire fewer workers in China if the new law is implemented.

That's right, the same American corporate interests that are spending millions to combat workers' efforts to choose a voice at work in the U.S. are against important labor reforms that would help protect Chinese workers on the job.

Change to Win took our concerns directly to AmCham in Beijing. Officials told us that, unlike the Chamber in the U.S., "AmCham is not against unions." In fact, they told us AmCham is for unions, as long as these worker organizations are "independent." [What we heard from the description of "independent" unions was not a sudden concern about the ACFTU's ties to the Communist party; rather their preference appears to be for unions that are actually more malleable than the ACFTU.]

Listening to U.S. business interests, you would think that the ACFTU has a stranglehold on U.S. companies in China! The main criticism was that the ACFTU makes it tough to do business in China because it impedes "flexibility." That's a code word for companies to arbitrarily fire workers, ratchet down wages and fight unionization.

But while the ACFTU has made significant progress toward uniting the workers at major multinationals operating in China, including Wal-Mart, McDonald's and KFC, an April 2007 survey by Baker & McKenzie found that 89 percent of multinationals in China are not covered by any collective agreement whatsoever.

If we assume the same percentage of workers at these multinationals are not covered by a contract, the private sector in China is not that different from the United States. The vast majority of Chinese workers, just like in the United States, have no real protection on the job. [Recognizing this, the Change to Win delegation conducted a day-long seminar on collective bargaining with our Chinese counterparts while we were there.]

The bottom line is that corporations -- American or otherwise -- want as few limits on their "freedom" to do business as possible. And freedom, in this context, means operating "union-free" or with a company union.

But freedom means something very different to the men and women who work hard each day to generate soaring profits for their employers. They want the freedom to choose a voice at work, to collectively bargain for decent wages and benefits, safe workplace conditions, and protection on the job.

As we confront corporate interests in the U.S., we see the same interests attempting to interfere with the efforts of Chinese workers to improve their lives. And just as we demand the right of workers to choose a voice at work in the U.S., we also demand the right of workers to unite everywhere.

Change to Win unions are involved in large scale campaigns to help port drivers, hotel workers, bus drivers, janitors, food workers, health care workers, and others fairly share in the prosperity of today's global economy. Workers are sharing ideas and strategies with counterparts in their industries in China -- not to mention India, Europe, and in Latin America.

Globalization requires that we work together to end employer opposition to unions everywhere to help restore the American Dream in the 21st century. And we pledge our solidarity with workers and unions around the world who share our mission.

Greg Tarpinian is the Executive Director of Change to Win.

[UPDATE: Great discussion going on in the comments here! Greg Tarpinian has posted a follow-up addressing some of the questions raised in the comments. -Ed.]