The Construction Bureau of central China's Henan Province has collected 150 million yuan (US$18.07 million) in a guarantee fund designed to prevent cases of salary default to migrant workers.

The establishment of the fund is part of the province's response to the central Chinese government's call for putting an end to a rampant phenomenon in the construction sector in which employers often fail to pay their transient workers as promised, so as to protect legitimate rights of migrant workers, said a local official.

A regulation worked out last year by the provincial government stipulates that all builders must set aside two percent of their contract prices as guarantee fund for salaries of migrant workers. The guarantee fund will be managed by local authorities of construction, with its use being supervised by local departments of labor and social security.

If a builder fails to pay migrant workers the full amount of salary on time, local construction departments will use the guarantee fund to pay the migrant worker's salary. Those builders who refuse to deposit money into the guarantee fund won't be allowed to continue building or given permits to start construction of their projects, the official said.

By now, the system of the guarantee fund against salary default to transient workers has been in place in 18 cities of Henan, the country's most populous province, said the official.  

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2005)