A group of Chinese dissidents has issued an open letter calling for workers in China's state enterprises to be allowed to form independent unions. The group said workers should have the right to protect their wages and pensions in the face of increasing redundancies within state firms. One of the dissidents, the veteran activist Qin Yongmin, told the BBC that under an International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which China signed this year, workers should have the right to demonstrate, strike and join unions. Henry Tang reports.

In its letter, the Group said it was now accepted that the ruling Communist Party's policy of imposing central planning had failed state industry. It said that consequently the Party had a duty to ensure the welfare of state workers affected by the switch to a market economy.

This, according to the Group, would be best served by allowing workers to look after themselves in free trade unions. As far as the Chinese Government is concerned, the timing of the letter could not be more sensitive.

In September at the 15th Party Congress, President Jiang Zemin announced that the transition to a market economy would be speeded up and that greater efficiencies would have to be achieved by cutting jobs in the state sector. The effects are already being felt.

Over the past month, workers in the provinces of Sichuan and Anhui have protested over unpaid wages and pensions and layoffs. The authorities say they will limit unemployment to no more than 4% of the total workforce and that state benefits will reduce the pain of joblessness.

Nearly two-thirds of China's urban labour force works in state-owned companies. Economists estimate that more than half of the firms lose money.