In an extreme measure, some migrant workers in Beijing's Chaoyang District spent three hours at the top of a tower crane on Sunday in order to get a paycheck from their employer.

The workers climbed the crane after a delay in their payment. Their action succeeded in scaring the employer, who, waving cash in his hand, appealed for them to come down, promising to pay the money.

The wife of one of the workers had telephoned her husband begging him to be careful.

The employer, the developer of a housing project, said the delay was caused by a dispute about the quality of the project, and was done not on purpose. No explanation was reported for his ability to pay them after their action.

Many developers deliberately delay the paychecks of migrant workers, who are often assumed to be unaware of their rights and easy to be exploited.

(CRI.com December 14, 2004)