Urgent measures have been introduced by the
Ministry of Labor and Social Security to help safeguard the
legal rights of migrant workers.
High on the list of priorities is the crackdown on illegal labor
markets, in which many employment agencies cheat migrant laborers
out of service charges for false information about jobs.
The ministry explained the measures were based on its findings that
it is difficult for migrant laborers to find jobs in big cities
because many companies are not yet fully operational following the
Spring Festival holidays.
"Jobs are limited but laborers are many; so we need to take urgent
action to crack down on illegal job markets," said Xin Changxing,
director of the Department of Training and Employment under the
ministry.
Xin's ministry has also decided to provide regular bulletins
relating to jobs in cities to rationalize the flow of migrant
laborers into urban centers.
Xin also said job agencies should play a bigger role in helping
surplus farmers find suitable jobs as soon as possible.
For those planning to travel to cities for work, the message for
the moment is stay away.
"We hope that farmers who want to leave their home towns to find
work will not flood city job markets too quickly," Xin said.
Xin's suggestion was based on the finding that two-thirds of
companies surveyed by his ministry would like to employ new workers
but not for the next couple of months. The national survey was
conducted during the holiday season and involved 5,287 companies in
24 major cities.
He
added that industries such as construction, clothing and food
processing are the main sectors that can employ surplus
farmers.
Despite the labor authorities' warning, in the past days millions
of rural laborers have already headed for cities to join the
massive job hunt.
But public transportation firms say it is not easy to get rail or
air tickets because of limited transportation capacity. The country
is experiencing another peak in transportation as college students
who returned home for the holidays are heading back to universities
in the cities.
(China
Daily February 25, 2002)