Accidents waiting to happen
- Source: Global Times
- [08:33 January 17 2011]
- Comments
Migrant workers & unpaid wages: A timeline
January 2002 The State Council issues a directive to stop any practice to delay or reduce pay to migrant workers.
January 2, 2003 In Jinan, capital of Shandong Province, Xu Tian, a migrant worker from Sichuan Province, pours gasoline over himself to protest nonpayment by a subcontractor. Xu's face and hands suffer third-degree burns and 12 percent of his body is burned.
October 24, 2003 Chongqinger Xiong Deming tells Premier Wen Jiabao about her husband's unpaid 2,000 yuan wages. That same night the family receives the money due a year earlier. The story is widely reported in official media where commentators praise the premier.
November 2, 2004 In Guangzhou, 25 migrant workers are locked inside a courtyard on a construction site and beaten by about 30 men with bricks and steel bars. Fire extinguishers are also used.
February 2, 2005 In a village in Hunan Province, Chen Zhiliang is murdered by subcontractor Zhu Ziqiang when he comes asking for his wages.
July 1, 2005 The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development pledges to establish construction labor sub-contracting companies to replace private subcontractors within three years.
June 29, 2007 In Guangdong Province, 300 migrant workers from Chongqing strike over four months' alleged unpaid wages. One is killed, two go missing and six seriously injured after the project manager sends thugs to solve the problem.
January 1, 2008 Law on Employment Contracts adopted.
January 16, 2008 In Nanjing, subcontractor He Chengbo is slashed twice and his left arm chopped off by a gang armed with swords and spears, after asking for his workers' back pay.
May 22, 2009 In Guangzhou, subcontractor Chen Fuchao climbs atop Haizhu Bridge threatening to kill himself over 2 million yuan back pay. The 12th to threaten leaping since April, his threat causes five hours' traffic havoc. An angry passerby shoves Chen, 32, off the ledge. He falls eight meters onto an air cushion, suffering spine and elbow injuries.
September 2, 2010 All-China Federation of Trade Unions spokesman Li Shouzhen says in a press conference that the federation proposes to include "malicious delay of wage payment" in the Criminal Law.
October 11, 2010 In Dujiangyan, a Sichuan Province county-level city, three sub-contractors ask for wages on behalf of 200 workers. The developer refuses. A sub-contractor is later killed and another seriously injured.
November 18, 2010 Sichuan Province brothers He Zhengwen and He Zhengwu win a 77,000-yuan lawsuit against their labor contract company in Beijing that includes double salary, overtime and compensation. It's reported as the first-ever victory for migrant workers without a contract seeking delayed wages.
