( CNN ) -- On the morning of her suicide on July 17 , Zhou Jianrong came into work earlier than usual . No one knew what went through her head in those quiet hours before other workers arrived , but as CCTV footage later revealed , she first took 20 minutes to walk around the empty factory before leaping off the fourth floor window . The 49-year old was found dead shortly before 6 a.m. , marking the end of her 12 years at the GCL Footwear factory . Zhou had just been fired the previous night for participating in a strike that was part of a long-running labor dispute . She was one of more than 100 workers sacked for their involvement . The tragedy of her death overshadows the surge of labor activism in China . Of the more than 1,000 recorded strikes and protests that took place from June 2011 to the end of 2013 , 40 % were amongst factory workers , according to employment watchdog China Labour Bulletin . Unlikely activism . In China , unions are sometimes ridiculed by Internet users as a `` laoban gonghui , '' meaning they are the `` boss ' union . '' Every factory union belongs to the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions ( ACFTU ) , a mega-institution with an extensive chain of command . `` The ACFTU is first and foremost aligned to the Communist Party and secondly to the local government . It has never seen itself primarily as a workers ' organization , '' says Geoffrey Crothall , a spokesperson for China Labour Bulletin . At GCL Footwear though , the factory union was heavily involved from the very first day of the strike , pushing owners to negotiate with the workers . Most surprisingly , workers directly elected the union vice-chairman , Luo Xiangxun , and according to him , the supervising trade union initially approved of their work . `` In the past , elections of union leaders were controlled by the enterprise ; workers can vote but not nominate . Often times , workers do n't even know about the elections , '' says labor academic Wang Jiangsong . `` This case is different . '' Such developments are fraught with uncertainties . On June 24 , Luo was busy organizing workers when the supervising union suddenly pronounced his election illegal , detaining him for seven days . After his release , he has continued to lead workers , demanding their reinstatement . `` The fact that we have seen individual trade union officials leading workers is a sign that the union is beginning to move in the right direction , '' says Crothall . He observes that the level of local union involvement in this case is unusual but not unique . In early March , trade union chairman of Walmart 's Chengde store in Hebei Province led workers in a fight for fair compensation when the store closed down . And in May , women from the Japanese-owned Sumida factory in Guangzhou successfully formed a democratically elected union after some deliberation . Policy change . For now , these might just be isolated cases , but changes are also happening on a policy level . The Shenzhen Trade Union Federation announced in 2012 that it would move enterprise trade unions towards direct elections , beginning with 163 factories . On July 2 , Xinhua reported that the Guangdong Federation of Trade Unions aims to have all enterprise unions become democratically elected within five years . Labor academic Wang Jiangsong thinks its premature to believe these efforts to democratize the unions will lead to real change , but he still sees it as a step in the right direction . `` Good officials do exist in the government-controlled ACFTU and reform will begin with them , '' says Wang . `` But most importantly , it is the bottom-up activism that puts pressure on the government to make changes . '' Wang explains that most workers have a deep-rooted mistrust of unions . When an issue arises , they often skip over them and organize through their hometown networks or social media instead . The government realizes the old way no longer works and is desperate to change the image of the ACFTU , opening enterprise unions for democratic election . Business interest . Activists have called for July 17 , the day Zhou died , to be named `` Chinese Laborers ' Day of Suffering , '' but her suicide did not dampen the efforts of the factory workers who have filed for arbitration and are awaiting results . Recent developments are worrying some in the business community . A group of Hong Kong manufacturing and business associations have opposed a proposal by the Guangdong government to give workers the right to demand meetings with employers to negotiate for better benefits . One of the signers of the opposition , The Chinese Manufacturers ' Association of Hong Kong turned down an interview request , but in an editorial for the China Daily , vice-president Eddy Li called the proposal `` disastrous . '' He points out that China 's import and export business has weakened in recent years , environmental policy has increased production costs and other labor requirements have already become a heavy burden for employers . Low-end producers . However , data released by the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS ) on July 27 shows that profits on a whole are rising . David Dollar , senior fellow of Thornton China Center at U.S. think tank Brookings Institution , explains that the growth of production is higher in the medium to high-tech sectors , where higher wages have pressured manufacturers to have productivity gain and move up the value chain -- a healthy structural change for the Chinese economy . However , in the low-end manufacturing sector , such as footwear or garment factories , it is very hard to find productivity gains and some of those sectors are starting to move out of China to Vietnam and Bangladesh . A survey of Pearl River Delta manufacturers by Standard Chartered suggests that while manufacturers prefer to move their business inland than to move it abroad , 13 % will consider leaving China to save costs , most of which the study believes are low-end producers . Towards a domestic consumption economy . The government might not see this as a negative change -- China no longer wants to be in the market only for its cheap labor . Premier Li Keqiang has long championed a consumption-led economy . `` China has now reached a point where it needs to rely more on consumption . It 's the largest exporter in the world , so it 's not realistic for it to grow much faster than the world market , '' says Dollar . He believes what 's important for China now is reforms that will encourage consumptions . For that to happen , wages have to go up . `` I view it as a positive thing that in recent years , wages have been rising very rapidly . '' Who needs who ? The one-child policy has slowed down the growth of the labor force , and more young people are going to university rather than factory work . More than a decade ago , hundreds would line up outside a factory looking for work , but many manufacturers today struggle to find enough workers . With this labor shortage , better working conditions might just be a natural next step , as these days , it is the manufacturers who need workers and not the other way around . But with 260 million migrant workers in the country , this progress might take some time -- a progress that Zhou will not see . `` It 's obvious to me that Madam Zhou did n't fully understand her rights , '' says He Yuancheng , a legal adviser to former GCL Footwear workers . `` If she was aware of her options and knew about the upcoming actions , she would not have jumped . '' He Yuancheng further speculates that Zhou might have been disheartened that the company fired her in a heartbeat despite her 12 years of service . He believes that would explain the 20 minutes she spent quietly circling the empty factory floor before she ended her life . For the remaining GCL Footwear workers though , He Yuancheng is optimistic . `` Even if we do n't win this arbitration , the workers will have contributed to the reform of the system . ''
Labor unions in China are known for their impotence and are referred to as ` ` boss ' unions '' Follow - up activism puts pressure on the government to make changes . Nearly half of all protests between 2010 - 2014 were related to factory workers ' rights . China can no longer rely on cheap labor -- so what 's next for ` ` the world 's factories '' ?