Wage dispute ends with alleged brutal beating
Police have launched an investigation after four migrant workers were beaten - two seriously - allegedly at the hands of security guards employed by a construction company, Beijing Times reported yesterday.
The four men were said to have been among 20 migrant workers who were trying to get back-pay from the construction company.
The two injured men were reportedly left with head injuries.
The disgruntled workers were among more than 100 migrant workers who signed a contract with Beiguo Construction Company to work on foreign students' dormitories at Peking University in 2008. One of the 20 former employees, surnamed Wang, said the manager of the company asked them to attend a meeting on Saturday to talk about the issue but Wang said they were blocked at the gate.
Wang was quoted in Beijing Times as saying the security guards used steal tubes and sticks to beat them.
He claimed one worker suffered a brain hemorrhage.
Zhu Mingqi, the de facto leader of the migrant workers, was among those claiming to have been beaten.
The injured men were taken to Youanmen Hospital.
Zhu's wife claimed the company owed the workers 1.2 million yuan that had accrued during the past two years. She said the men were promised 300,000 yuan would be paid before Spring Festival.
An unnamed employee of Beiguo admitted there had been an incident on Saturday but refused to make further comment.
The State Council released a notice last Friday aimed at making it easier for migrant workers to get their hands on money owed to them.
The Beijing human resources and social security bureau helped migrant workers recover 144 million yuan between January 2009 and November.
(China Daily 02/08/2010 page26)
