After attending two of their highly secretive meetings (I had to be sponsored by a current member) and scrutinizing their history going back to 2010, and about 60 posts on their two websites, here is my take on the group...

* They are all expat foreigner teachers and no chinese were present at the meeting (about 60 people were present at a PKU coffee house.

* They admit they are not a legal "union" per se, and are clearly a volunteer vigilante organization

* To my surprise, they never once tried to sell me anything - not even religion or politics

* Likewise their web site doesn't advertise anything and since their membership is free, they are not a commercial venture.

* They have no fear in exposing ESL/TEFL scams, dodgy agents, and unlicensed recruiters (Google CFTU scam)

* The people that attack or smear the CFTU all seem to be recruiters or operate a forum that provides job placements with big haircuts that were exposed by the CFTU.

* They gave me a lot of free and useful stuff like a copy of China's new 2013 Visa and Labor Laws in English, some sample contracts with great clauses I woud never have thought of, a blacklist, a white list, etc. and never asked me for anything in return.

* In my opinion their secrecy is a bit extreme but as Greg and Denise (the two co-administrators) explained, some previous leaders were "passively deported" (meaning their visa's were simply not renewed without any explanation despite working and living in China without problems for 3+ years). So maybe they are just trying to avoid similar problems and tell everyone not to use anything more than their first names or a number, and a disposable email just to get the monthly newsletter and scam alerts.

But despite all of the above, I still opted not to join up with the CFTU simply because I fear being part of any group in China, even a church group since I understand all groups in China are monitored by Big Red. They get my moral support and kudos, but that is where I draw the line. I suppose one day they will unknowingly expose some corrupt son or daughter of a CCP big shot working as a recruiter or crooked school owner and the whole lot of them will getthe boot.

I did however ask for their help in getting my release letter which my principal was trying to "sell" to me for 5,000 rmb! She was jerking me around on this issue for a month and when I threatened to report the bitch to my embassy and SAFEA she calmly replied that she would "blacklist" me. Denise aid her a visit and after snapping her photo and talking about the wonders of Weibo, asked about my release letter. I picked it the next day. At least these CFTU people have balls and know how to deal with corrupt Chinese.