GUANGZHOU: Sichuan-born migrant worker Ren Xia rushed to the Guangzhou Railway Station yesterday to pick up her parents and children.

"They had been living in a tent since the May 12 earthquake in my hometown. So I asked them to come here," said Ren, who works for a private shoe factory in Dongguan of Guangdong province.

Like Ren's family members, many people who survived the devastating quake in Sichuan are planning to move to Guangdong, which currently has about 5 million migrant workers from the southwestern province.

"The most urgent task is to provide jobs for them," said Zhang Xiang, a publicity official with the Guangdong provincial department of labor and social security.

For that purpose, labor authorities, companies and media groups in Guangdong, a major manufacturing hub on the mainland, have joined hands to provide new jobs to migrant workers from the quake-hit area.

The Guangdong provincial labor authority, together with several other governmental departments, organized a province-wide job fair tailored for these migrant workers last week.

Special services free of charges for migrant workers from Sichuan were provided at the fair, which saw more than 200 job-seekers who had recently arrived from Sichuan.

"We will organize more such fairs in the near future for these migrant workers," said Zhang.

Media groups in Guangdong have also joined hands to print extra pages for job advertisement specially for the displaced workers.

For example, the Guangzhou Daily has advertised 2,000 job vacancies from 30 Guangdong-based companies, including the 7 Days Inn, Ctrip and West-Holiday.

Meanwhile, Deng Guangzhong, an official with the Guangzhou Office of Sichuan Provincial Government, told China Daily yesterday that many Sichuan-based migrant workers have returned home to their family members after the quake.

"With roads in Sichuan gradually reopening, we have arranged for a number of workers to go back to their hometowns. They are extremely anxious to meet their families," said Deng.

According to Deng, most workers receive their salaries before they leave for their hometowns.

"Only a small number of workers have complained that their salaries have been withheld. We have suggested them seek help from local labor authorities," Deng said.

Shortly after the May 12 earthquake, Guangdong labor authorities have established a regulation forbidding local companies from withholding migrant workers' salaries in case they want to go home.

(HK Edition 06/06/2008 page1)