The All-China Federation of Trade Unions wants to help migrant
workers get paid quickly.
The federation is pushing for new legislation that will clearly
stipulate how quick workers should get paid.
"We hope there is a regulation with specific articles to
guarantee every laborer's immediate payment," Ding Dajian, a senior
official with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions told
China Daily yesterday.
Ding said his federation has delivered a report to the State
Council, urging it to revise the current payment regulation.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security unveiled the
regulation in 1995, with related articles to "avoid vicious delayed
payment."
"It didn't go into details and punishment articles," said
Ding.
Unionists want to add three articles in the new regulation.
First, as Chinese workers and employees, migrant workers should
be paid monthly or weekly.
Second, payment can be delayed on the condition that trade
unions agree. But the deadline should be within two weeks.
Third, the detailed punishment articles should be written into
the revised regulation.
"We should ensure farmers-turned-workers have an effective
weapon in hand," said Ding.
Recently, Ding's federation praised some local legislative
bodies for their timely revision of local payment regulations.
In Zhuhai, Guangdong
Province, the local legislature said the deadline for payment
should not exceed two weeks after payday of every month.
But now, many migrant workers are not allowed equal
opportunities to negotiate and sign labor contracts and they are
usually paid once every year.
Yesterday, another senior official with the federation, Dong Li,
also said the unions will try to prevent migrant workers from being
left penniless as
Spring Festival approaches.
The festival, which falls in January next year, is often not a
cause for celebration for the huge number of workers who have
traveled to cities to find employment.
But statistics show that employers across the country owe 100
billion yuan (US$12 billion) to the nation's huge army of 94
million migrant workers.
Meanwhile, delayed payments also exist in state-owned
enterprises, said Dong.
To help solve knotty difficulties of laid-off workers, the
federation has earmarked 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million) to
distribute among the needy nationwide during festival season.
(China Daily December 30, 2003)