Govt aid in migrant salary conflicts (2)

Zhou Xiaolu, a migrant worker in Chaoyang district, told the Global Times that his previous employer at a hotel construction site had delayed paying his salary for nearly a year.

"I sought help from government bureaus like the development commission and HRSSB, but it didn't work," he said, adding the former needed his non-existent labor contract, and the latter said there was not enough evidence.

"We worked for a private company. Definitely we won't sign a contract. And I didn't know how to prove we worked there although we really did," said Zhou. He had only signed a contract three times since he started working in Beijing in 2003, and he is now working at another site without a contract.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security stipulated a regulation in 2008 that workers should sign a labor contract as long as they are hired.

Wang Dezhi, the leader of NGO Migrant Workers Home, said that few will sign contracts, and when they do, it is to satisfy government inspectors.

"As soon as the inspectors leave, the contract is taken back," said Wang.

Some workers are pushed back and forth between the development commission and HRSSB when they try to protect their rights, said Wang.