In August 2013, 12 agency hospital security guards climbed atop the roof of a three-storey outpatient clinic of a hospital in the southern province of Guangdong and unfurled large banners, pleading for the management to negotiate an equal pay package, reports The South China Morning Post.

The protest against the hospital, however, proved a failure. The security guards were arrested and convicted by the local district court of illegally gathering and disturbing the social order.

The demonstrators were jailed for up to nine months.

Hired by an agency to work as contract guards they were paid CNY 1,100 (USD 178) a month, about CNY 1,200 (USD 194) less than those hired directly by the hospital. The hospital contributed to their social insurance plans, but some CNY 400 (USD 65) less than other guards.

For years, the guards petitioned hospital management for equal wages and benefits, but without success. The guards claim that they would have benefited from a proposed regulation by Guangdong's provincial government that would establish collective labour bargaining.

The proposed Regulations on Enterprise Collective Consultations and Collective Contracts, first introduced by a trade union, would give workers the right to demand meetings with employers to negotiate for better wages and benefits.

A final review of the proposal is scheduled for this month. Academics and labour activists say it could largely end the bitter and lengthy labour fights that many say have hurt Guangdong's economy and that it would advance labour rights throughout China.

Professor Pun Ngai, a labour rights expert at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, commented: "This is not just an ordinary rule, but one that would have a far reaching impact on over 30 million migrant workers in Guangdong. If this gets passed, the rest of the nation is likely to follow.”

However, the proposal's passage is far from assured. Hong Kong industrialists bitterly oppose it, saying their businesses are already struggling to survive in Guangdong, which has seen a sharp downturn in foreign orders since the global financial crisis began in 2008.

Stanley Lau Chin-ho, Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI), said the proposed legislation would deeply hurt the interests of an estimated 40,000 Hong Kong businesses. In April, the Hong Kong Chambers of Commerce is reported to have asked Guangdong's government to delay passage of the legislation.

Guangdong is one of the most prosperous provinces in southern China, with a gross domestic product of CNY 6.2 trillion (USD 1 trillion) last year, fuelled by more than 30 million workers who migrated there from elsewhere in China.

According to a survey released in April by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, businesses in the Pearl River Delta region face tough challenges. They said production costs were rising by an average of +12% this year over last, while labour costs increased by more than +10%. The majority (80%) of Hong Kong businesses in Guangdong said manpower was about -12% short of their needs.

Over two decades, Guangdong has boosted China's economic rise, but tensions among workers and their employers have increased since 2008, when a new generation, more aware of their rights, flocked to the province for work as mainland inflation began to soar.

With tensions rising, the Guangdong Federation of Trade Unions proposed the draft rules, first made public in March.

Zeng Feiyang, Director of the Guangdong Panyu Migrant Worker Centre in Guangzhou, said: "This bill is about setting a protocol for collective negotiation, which would provide a channel for workers to resolve issues with employers before taking industrial action. It would lower the rate of strikes and [be] win-win for all, including the government, [producing] a less turbulent society."

The proposed rules would require employers to negotiate with workers under their collective contract; covering wages, work hours, rest days, workload, occupational safety, health and legal protections, provided that one third of employees submitted a written request. Employers would have 30 days to respond.

The current draft rules say employers could not terminate labour contracts should workers decide to strike or stall production if they do not get a timely response to their request. Workers would not be allowed to strike during ongoing negotiations. Employers could be held criminally liable if they refused to negotiate.

Soon after the first draft of the regulations went to the provincial legislative body in April, six major associations representing Hong Kong businesses issued a strongly worded letter opposing the bill.

On 15 May, the Hong Kong Business Community Joint Conference, representing 59 commerce bodies, took out a full-page advertisement in a local Chinese-language newspaper urging the Guangdong authorities to shelve the bill.

The business leaders said they were extremely anxious over the proposed regulations, which they said would intensify labour disputes, stall enterprise development, and quickly force the closure of their struggling businesses on the mainland.

Mr Lau of the FHKI said: "We have expressed our concerns and we were promised a new version of the legislation every time we met the bill's authors. But from what we have seen so far, there have not been many changes. We are still very concerned, so we asked for the bill to be halted, but they said they would study this with Guangdong authorities."

“The proposed rules would harm business interests if owners were forced to disclose operating details, including client orders, to workers in the midst of collective negotiations. We fear workers would be mobilised by lawyers to abuse the rule to drum up more labour disputes with ulterior motives,” Mr Lau added.

It's not the first time Hong Kong industrialists have opposed labour rights legislation. In 2007, there was intense debate over the Labour Contract Law, which went into effect in 2008.

"If collective consultation gets to be blocked again, we will miss another opportunity to properly handle labour disputes," concluded Mr Pun.