A total of 160 million yuan (US$19 million) in unpaid wages has
been recovered for almost 210,000 laborers in Shenzhen after a
three-month campaign.
Most of the overdue wages, owed by 898 enterprises, would be
paid to workers before the Spring
Festival, which falls on Wednesday, said Guan Lingen, director
general of the municipal labor and social security bureau.
An enterprise unable to pay its employees on time should not be
considered a good enterprise, and Shenzhen would not welcome such
an enterprise, Vice Mayor Liang Daoxing told a meeting Friday, the
Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.
Recovering back wages has been a major task for authorities
before the Chinese Lunar New Year. An annual one-month campaign was
extended to three months this time, covering 9,673 employers
employing almost 1.74 million people.
The campaign was centered on the construction industry.
Liang said Shenzhen would step up supervision of unpaid wages.
Those found owing wages to employees would be closely watched in
the future, while those treating their employees well would have
relaxed supervision.
(Shenzhen Daily February 7, 2005)