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Back wages loom as migrants go home
Source: Xinhua |
December 20, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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FORTY-YEAR-OLD migrant worker Li Yongfen felt optimistic after hearing of a construction contractor sentenced to 10 months in jail and fined 20,000 yuan (US$3,148) for refusing to pay his workers.
The case rekindled her hope of claiming 6,000 yuan in back wages from her boss, who, apparently to avoid paying, went missing recently.
Li, who left her poverty-stricken hometown in Sichuan Province for work in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province, is one of China's 200 million migrant workers, a group for whom unpaid wages are a frequent problem.
Some unpaid workers resort to radical measures. Last month, a photo of a half-naked migrant on the streets of Shenzhen in Guangdong protesting against unpaid wages went viral on the Internet and once again brought the issue of unpaid wages into the spotlight.
Others have threatened suicide or have petitioned in groups to attract public attention and bring pressure to their employers.
As laborers prepare to spend their earnings to reunite with families back home over Spring Festival, wage defaulting is rearing its ugly head once again.
But there is hope. The Chinese government has vowed to crack down on malicious wage defaults to protect workers' rights and maintain social stability.
In February this year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress amended the Criminal Law to make malicious wage default a crime, punishable by up to seven years in jail.
Chen Mei'er, chairperson of a Guangzhou-based construction workers' union, says almost every building site in the district of Liwan has its own union branch. Established in 2007, the labor union now has over 10,000 members.
Union workers monitor payments and help construction workers get their pay on the site. Also, the union demands companies pay contractors after the construction workers receive their wages.
Their work seems to be taking effect. In the first 10 months of 2011, Guangdong Province, with its 26 million migrant workers, saw a 7.8 percent drop in the number of wage disputes as against the same period last year.
Group protests or violence triggered by wage defaults also declined 15.8 percent year same period year-on-year.
Frequent wage defaults once inspired Liu Guangsheng, a 48-year-old migrant worker from Hunan Province, to give up construction work. But, as he noticed the situation improving, he returned to factory work early this year, and even persuaded a few friends to join.
However, the wage problem is far from being solve, experts warn. The world's economic downturn has dented the bottom lines of many Chinese companies, which could trigger more wage defaults.
Apart from the economic downturn, some employers may simply cite the crisis as a reason to withhold wages.
Li Yongfen's employer, a company specializing in electronic components, previously showed no sign of operational difficulties.
Its chief fled overnight with 800,000 yuan in early December, according to Li.
The local human resources and social security office in Guangdong vowed to conduct a thorough probe into labor-intensive industries such as construction, manufacturing and catering ahead of Chinese lunar new year.
Li says the local government has already advanced some back wages for her and 140 coworkers.
"The law is improving," she said, "and I look forward to the day when I get all my wages back."
The case rekindled her hope of claiming 6,000 yuan in back wages from her boss, who, apparently to avoid paying, went missing recently.
Li, who left her poverty-stricken hometown in Sichuan Province for work in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province, is one of China's 200 million migrant workers, a group for whom unpaid wages are a frequent problem.
Some unpaid workers resort to radical measures. Last month, a photo of a half-naked migrant on the streets of Shenzhen in Guangdong protesting against unpaid wages went viral on the Internet and once again brought the issue of unpaid wages into the spotlight.
Others have threatened suicide or have petitioned in groups to attract public attention and bring pressure to their employers.
As laborers prepare to spend their earnings to reunite with families back home over Spring Festival, wage defaulting is rearing its ugly head once again.
But there is hope. The Chinese government has vowed to crack down on malicious wage defaults to protect workers' rights and maintain social stability.
In February this year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress amended the Criminal Law to make malicious wage default a crime, punishable by up to seven years in jail.
Chen Mei'er, chairperson of a Guangzhou-based construction workers' union, says almost every building site in the district of Liwan has its own union branch. Established in 2007, the labor union now has over 10,000 members.
Union workers monitor payments and help construction workers get their pay on the site. Also, the union demands companies pay contractors after the construction workers receive their wages.
Their work seems to be taking effect. In the first 10 months of 2011, Guangdong Province, with its 26 million migrant workers, saw a 7.8 percent drop in the number of wage disputes as against the same period last year.
Group protests or violence triggered by wage defaults also declined 15.8 percent year same period year-on-year.
Frequent wage defaults once inspired Liu Guangsheng, a 48-year-old migrant worker from Hunan Province, to give up construction work. But, as he noticed the situation improving, he returned to factory work early this year, and even persuaded a few friends to join.
However, the wage problem is far from being solve, experts warn. The world's economic downturn has dented the bottom lines of many Chinese companies, which could trigger more wage defaults.
Apart from the economic downturn, some employers may simply cite the crisis as a reason to withhold wages.
Li Yongfen's employer, a company specializing in electronic components, previously showed no sign of operational difficulties.
Its chief fled overnight with 800,000 yuan in early December, according to Li.
The local human resources and social security office in Guangdong vowed to conduct a thorough probe into labor-intensive industries such as construction, manufacturing and catering ahead of Chinese lunar new year.
Li says the local government has already advanced some back wages for her and 140 coworkers.
"The law is improving," she said, "and I look forward to the day when I get all my wages back."
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