Society

Workers struggle to get what is owed them

By Chen Xin (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-24 07:50

BEIJING - Yu Shouguo never expected that he and nine of his fellow villagers would still be waiting for their wages nearly two years after they toiled for a local contractor.

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Yu, who is from a rural area outside Yantai city in East China's Shandong province, helped construct a building between March and July in 2009.

"The boss promised that we would be paid each month but he didn't keep his word," the 49-year-old told China Daily on Wednesday.

Yu said he and his coworkers went to their ex-boss' home many times to ask for the 25,000 yuan ($3,800) in wages he owed them.

"He said he had no money because he too had not been paid by the developer who hired him. He even said he was a victim himself, but I know he was lying," Yu said.

The unpaid workers, who are typical of millions who have suffered the same fate in China in recent years, took their case to the local labor dispute mediation organization but were told it could not handle the case because none of them had signed a labor contract.

"I decided to sue him but I don't know if I have a chance of winning the case or not," he said.

Zhang Jun, who is helping Yu with his case, is an independent labor rights activist in Yantai and says he sees many such cases. The phenomenon is common in some private and overseas-funded factories where migrant workers' wages are often delayed for a month or two and not paid at all if workers quit their jobs.

Those who press their case are often treated harshly.

Zhang gave the example of 20 female workers from Central China's Henan province who were dismissed by a clothing company in Yantai earlier this month after they went to the factory owner to ask for delayed wages.

Wang Zhong, vice-chairman of the Beijing Construction Trade Union, told China Daily that cases of withheld wages have been happening for years and have been common since the start of the global economic downturn. His union has worked with local labor bureaus to try to crack down on such illegal activity.

"We have also urged construction enterprises to set up a 500,000 or 1 million yuan reserve fund in case they cannot pay wages if they develop cash-flow problems," he said.

If companies fail to set up such funds and then default on paying workers, they can be added to a blacklist and will be blocked from operating in the capital during the following year, Wang said.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has also been stepping up its efforts to ensure migrant workers are paid on time and has ordered departments around the nation to undertake steps including strict inspections.

Yang Zhiming, vice-minister of human resources and social security, said recently that labor departments at all levels helped nearly 1.5 million migrant workers get their hands on around 3 billion yuan in overdue wages last year.

The efforts have effectively reined in cases of delayed wages, he said, adding that reports of such cases to nationwide labor dispute mediation organizations fell by 15 percent in 2010.

Yang said the ministry is encouraging enterprises in industries and places where wage delays often happen to set up emergency funds to ensure workers are paid on time.

The ministry is also encouraging small enterprises in industries including construction, mining, manufacturing and catering to sign labor contracts with their workers, he said.