China will make it mandatory for employers across the country to
deposit money into a fund this year to guarantee that migrant
workers get their wages.
Speaking via an online forum on the central government's website
on Friday, Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Security and Director
of the State Council's Office of Migrant Workers Affairs Hu Xiaoyi
said the system was aimed at preventing employers from delaying
workers' payment or cheating them.
Hu criticized some companies for disobeying the official minimum
wage criterion and depriving the workers of their dues on some
pretext or the other.
Though 27 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have
set up various forms of guarantee deposit systems, a uniform and
long-term mechanism is needed, Hu said.
Twenty provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions raised
the official minimum wages standard substantially last year.
In South China's Guangdong Province, which has 23 million
migrant workers, the minimum monthly wage was increased by 17.8
percent last year. In Shenzhen, the minimum wage is now 810 yuan
($104), the highest in the country.
Hu said the ministry would continue to urge more migrant workers
to sign contracts with their employers this year, with the ultimate
goal of making all of them possess such contracts by the end of
next year.
"We will encourage more workers to join trade unions to
negotiate with their employers and sign collective contracts," Hu
said.
Many migrant workers dare not demand contracts or other legal
rights from their employers for fear of losing their jobs, he
said.
Hu said the draft on the Labor Contract Law, expected to be
promulgated by the National People's Congress this year, would give
an impetus to migrant workers to sign contracts with their
employers.
"The government has paid great attention to migrant workers'
rights and taken various vital steps," Hu said.
For example, to raise migrant workers' awareness on how to
safeguard their rights and interests, many local governments have
sent special poker cards to workers as gifts. The cards give the
workers an idea of labor laws through cartoons and simple
language.
The government also requires lawyers' offices to offer a certain
amount of free legal services every year to disadvantaged people
such as migrant workers.
(China Daily February 5, 2007)