Worker Rights
In a March 22 article, China Youth Daily writer Zhang Hongqing raises some grave questions about the responsibility of local governments for the rising death toll in China's coal mines. Zhang finds that the mining accidents are due to managerial negligence and asks why local governments have done nothing to control mine managers who disregard safety standards and the companies they work for. He notes that the safety standards are insufficient and safety technology is backward, but points to corruption and greed as the major reasons for the neglect of safety standards. Zhang thinks that local governments must step in to lead safety programs, and offers the view that they will bear the responsibility for failure.
The State Development and Planning Commission will implement new policies to eliminate coal mine gas explosions, reports the CSR Asia Weekly in an article written by Stephen Frost. Safety inspectors will visit 45 of the most dangerous mines and specialist teams will evaluate coal mines, according to the report. In addition, the Chinese government will spend 3 billion yuan (US $362.47 million) on mine safety, hold a national video conference on gas prevention, and circulate a document on gas management.
The South Central Nationalities University in Hubei province opened a new legal aid center on March 21. The Center will serve both students and the broader community, providing counsel on minority and labor rights cases, public interest litigation, and administrative litigation suits.
The South Central Nationalities University is one of thirteen institutions of higher learning designed specifically to train minority students.
Labor disputes in China will increase along with problems associated with an expected 100 percent increase in apparel production, according to Jenny Wai-Ling Chan of the Chinese Working Women’s Network in a report in the March 15 CSR Asia Weekly. Industry leaders, government officials, and private analysts alike expect garment and textile production in China to surge as a result of the December 2004 end of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.
Some National People's Congress members have proposed to criminalize an employer's withholding of wages owed to workers, reports the Beijing News. Writer Fang Chaogui explains that, under the Penal Code, unauthorized employer withholding of wages would be considered stealing private property. Fang believes that company managers who withhold wages would take the matter more seriously if they faced up to five years in prison for such offenses. Professor He Bing of the University of Law and Politics suggests, on the other hand, that criminal sanctions would be difficult to enforce, and proposes instead that companies that withhold wages be barred from receiving bank loans until they repay wage arrears. NPC representatives criticized Professor's He's method, saying that, compared to criminal penalties, it would not be strong enough an incentive to resolve a problem now involving millions of dollars.
Supreme People's Court President Xiao Yang has urged the courts at national, provincial, and local levels to increase their efforts to ensure that migrant workers obtain their back wages, reports the China Court Net. Xiao declared that the courts should concentrate on the expeditious settlement of wage arrears cases by investigating cases quickly and holding trials, deciding cases, and enforcing court orders promptly. Xiao suggested that provincial and lower level courts inform citizens of their rights and travel widely in their regions to hold trials. A number of government bodies have issued directives about wage arrears in the past year, but problems with unpaid wages remain widespread and unresolved.
The Ministry of Labor has warned migrant laborers to avoid signing four kinds of employment contracts, according to a report in the China Youth Daily. First, a contract is not valid unless a worker signs it directly with the principal employer or work unit. Second, contracts that do not provide benefits if a worker is injured or dies are invalid. Third, workers should avoid oral contracts because they cannot be verified when a labor dispute arises. Fourth, workers should carefully study any standard contract to which a prospective employer has added clauses that are unreasonable.
Professor Huang He, a delegate to the National People's Congress from Shanxi province, recommends changes in labor laws and regulations, reports the People's Daily Web site. The reforms should reflect the decline in state-owned enterprises and the many changes in labor conditions that have occurred over the past ten years, Professor Huang said. He urges that new labor laws and regulations be written in response to labor conditions in the market economy that workers now face. For example, Professor Huang declares that the hukou system is broken, because no matter where workers might be registered, in practice they can go anywhere in China to find jobs. He also suggests drafting new regulations to ensure social security and other kinds of insurance to protect workers and new laws regarding employment contracts.
After coal mine disasters at Sunjiawan in Liaoning province and Chenjiashan in Shaanxi province, many Chinese publications and organizations are assessing the need for new mine safety measures. Writer Jian Jia, in an opinion piece in China's Ministry of Justice publication Legal Info, describes the disaster as "a lesson learned in blood," echoing Premier Wen Jiabao’s remark about the Shaanxi mine explosion. Jian finds that the pursuit of profits has taken away the incentive to implement safety precautions. He quotes a cynical view apparently common in the coal industry: "We can afford death rather than injury, simply because prevention of death costs more than death."
The Chinese government is now considering standards for increased compensation for workers injured in coal mine accidents, according to a report in the Lianhe Zaobao of Singapore. One part of the State Production Safety and Control Department’s proposal calls for a maximum of 20 years wages for young workers in cases where the coal enterprise is entirely at fault. The proposal also recommends that the new regulations be incorporated in the current regulations on industrial accidents that Chinese courts currently implement and that provincial governments enact them into law.