Chinese Vice Premier Zeng
Peiyan Tuesday ordered the operators of State-invested projects
to deliver their delayed payment of the wages of migrant workers
within a period of less than two months.
Addressing a national teleconference on delayed payment of the
wages of migrant construction workers, the vice premier called on
governments at all levels to ensure contractors of
non-State-invested projects pay the wages of migrant construction
workers that are long overdue.
All localities should ensure migrants farmers-turned
construction workers get their wages on time and in full before
they return home for the
Chinese Lunar New Year, one of the major festivals in China
that falls late January 2006.
It used to be common for contractors of construction projects to
delay payment of the wages of migrant workers for up to one or more
years, and as a result many migrant workers had to return home
almost empty-handed.
The Chinese government launched a three-year nationwide campaign
to make sure migrant workers get their overdue wages, and will
forge a mechanism to ensure contractors pay migrant workers on time
and fully.
By early December this year, a total of 162 billion yuan (US$20
billion) in delayed payment has been paid to migrant workers thanks
to the campaign.
That figure accounts for 87 percent of all the delayed payment
of wages before 2003.
Of the total, 64.5 billion yuan in delayed payment that involves
State-funded construction projects has been given to migrant
workers, officials said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2005)