When the Communist party took power in 1949, it promised to look after the workers with a cradle-to-grave support system: the iron rice bowl. But the restructuring of China's state industries is causing unrest. Right now there are 12 million Chinese with empty rice bowls who are as angry as they are hungry. Dissident Xu Wen Li is one of a growing number of activists who believes the current labour unrest is a vehicle for bigger change. Jailed for 12 years for promoting democracy, he has now joined the call for the establishment of free unions. Unions fall under the umbrella of the Party's Propaganda Department. They encourage vocational training and dispense relief funds, but aren't there to protect workers' rights to protest.

Produced by ABC Australia