'Premier Wen helps recover my payment!'

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 12, 2003

'Premier Wen helps recover my payment!'

When the news broke out in the media that Wen Jiabao, China's Premier has helped Xiong Deming and her family, a peasant in Chongqing to have the default wage recovered, strong responses were roused in the municipality. It has also made the problem of wage payment default a focus of the society.

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Premier Wen Jiabao in Chongqing

The fact that Premier Wen Jiabao pressed for wage payment in behalf of a peasant worker shows the fine-working style, the care of the new central leadership afforded to the weak. Of course, to eradicate the stubborn ailment of wage-payment in arrears joint efforts of the whole society are certainly the effective remedy. This means that on the one hand a fair social environment should be created for peasants who come to work in cities, and on the other relevant rules and regulations must be established to protect the interests and benefits of the peasant workers.

Background: present situation of wage payment default to migrant workers

Wage payment default to migrant workers remains still a severe problem, especially in such labor intensive industries and trades as construction, catering, garment and shoe-making, etc. And things as such tend to happen usually around the New Year's eve and prior to the Spring Festival when migrant workers are ready to wrap up home.

Actually the wage payment default falls into following two categories: first, employers do it willfully, i.e., refusing to pay migrant workers for their work. This usually takes place in catering, clothing, and shoe-making businesses while the other is incurred by the special feature of a trade. For example, in the building industry, project payment usually fails to be in place on time and in full in the whole process from bidding, contracting and transferring to sub-contracting, causing a tight cash flow in the affected enterprises. Labor disputes thereupon come to break out. That's why the construction industry has the most serious trouble of wage payment default. Estimate on the conservative side shows that such things take place in over 50 percent of enterprises in the industry.

When the news broke out in the media that Wen Jiabao, China's Premier has helped Xiong Deming and her family, a peasant in Chongqing to have the default wage recovered, strong responses were roused in the municipality. It has also made the problem of wage payment default a focus of the society. Reporters from People's Daily Online captured the whole story here.

Xiong Deming poured her mind out when asked about her experience...

Oct. 24 is the day I would never forget. It was on that day that I, as a peasant, not only saw our Premier Wen Jiabao come to our village, but also relieved a headache problem of mine, which has kept on haunting my family for almost a year. Under the care of the Premier, I got back the wage from my husband's boss, a construction project contractor.

My husband Lee Jianming began to work for a construction project at Yunyang County on Oct. 2, last year. He worked there for 88 days to build a 10-thousand-stair terrace. At the beginning, the contractor promised to pay on the workload for 6-yuan a meter, and with the payment to be settled as soon as the project was brought to finish. But before long, the contractor went back from his promise and decided to pay on daily work basis. Workers can only get a fixed payment of 35 yuan for the same workload as before. My husband and other workers complained about this change and I was worried that my husband might end up with no pay for what he did.

What I was worried about turned out a reality. Their wages should have been paid in last February. However, the contractor paid him 1000 yuan only by the Spring Festival and owed us more than 2000 yuan. At that time, the pigs we raised were ill entailing a loss of several hundred yuan while my whole family depended on my husband's wages for the living. My son was forced to leave the hometown and work in other places because of this default. I had no choice but borrow some money from my relatives to maintain our daily life.

When Primer Wen came to our village, I hesitated about telling him the trouble. I didn't want to trouble him with family trifle, for he was very busy with national affairs. But a bold idea just occurred to me when I saw his amiable expression and encouraging words. I decided to tell him all about it.

And then the scene as what was reported thereafter.

I went to bed after 9:00 pm that evening after Premier left. Frankly speaking, I tossed in bed and couldn't go to sleep. I remembered every word and gesture of his and murmured to myself that his care would surely help get my money back.

However, it was still completely out of our expectation that we received the due wages at 11:15 the same evening. I was so excited that I couldn't help crying when my husband held his wage, which we should have got a year before.

The party secretary of Yunyang County Wang Xiangang introduced to our reports about how they saw to the whole matter.

At half past 7 that evening after Premier Wen left Yunyang, an emergency meeting was held by the county government and the party committee to make arrangements for implementing Premier's instruction and pressing back wages for migrant workers. An hour later, a team led by vice county magistrate hurried to Xiong's village to see into the affair. They found boss of her husband and told him to pay wages he retarded to pay.

It was the Yunyang Lisheng Construction Company. The project under its contract in this case through bidding worth more than 700,000 yuan. At the end of last year, the management commission of the county settled up the project payment with the company. But the company defaulted on 36,400 yuan worth of wages to its migrant workers and intended to use the money on other projects it contracted.

The party committee of the county told the company to deliver the money payable to Xiong's home the same night. Oct. 29, the other peasant workers also received their wages, which were due to them but had been defaulted on.

At the same time, an investigation was made in 30 construction companies participating in the new county construction projects to see whether there were any similar cases. A regulation was issued whichever construction company defaults on wages of peasant workers twice a year shall be deprived of access into the construction market in the county.

Wang Xianlie, an expert on "three issues in regard with peasant" and chief of management control office with Chongqing municipal agricultural committee, voiced frankly his opinion on this case.

That our Premier Wen pressed for wages in behalf of a migrant worker shows the care of the new leadership of the central government for the weak, he said. Joint efforts of the whole society are certainly the effective remedy to the hanging problem of wages payment default in which migrant workers are suffering. This means that on the one hand a fair social environment should be created for peasants who come to work in cities, and on the other relevant rules and regulations must be established to protect the interests and benefits of the peasant workers. Government of various levels should put in order the chaotic state of the construction market and impose more severe penalties on any wage payment default to peasant workers in order not to let them shed any more tears

Government at various levels released relevant measures to stop the default

The party and the government attaches great importance to the problem of wage payment default to peasant workers. Relevant regulations and policies have been publicized this year. On Jan.15 this year, a notice issued from the General Office of the State Council stipulated that efficient management and services for employment of migrant workers should be taken to solve the problem of wage payment default and docking. And recently a joint notice from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and Ministry of Construction urged measures to stop the default and protect legal interests of migrant workers.

Many places have released local regulations on wage payment, which serve as efficient legal support for the final settlement of the problem.

In Beijing, the construction committee required that labor contracts be signed between the employers and the migrant workers they employ.

In Shanghai, "Regulation on Salary Payment in Enterprises" provides that any employer who's involved in wage payment default must compensate the workers, or otherwise an additional pay of 25 percent of the wage defaulted must be paid in addition to the defaulted or docked wage payment. This has to be executed within a time limit as set in case that any default or docking of employees' wages or failing to pay back might come to happen.

In Jiangxi province, the labor security departments are entitled to distrain in line with the "Regulations on Labor Security Supervision", employers' belongings equivalent to the amount of wages involved in the default case under investigation. And these belongings are subject to auctions for the wage payment due.

Henan province will put into for trial a wage security system in the construction enterprises. A special account will be opened for default cash deposit collected from the employers. The employers can will get the money back only after they clear off migrant workers' salary when their projects are completed.

By People's Daily Online

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