Govt aid in migrant salary conflicts

Chaoyang district authorities will cooperate with other government departments to help migrant workers whose employers have failed to pay them to claim their salaries.

Representatives from migrant workers aid organizations told the Global Times Wednesday they doubt whether the government will be able to solve these problems.

An anonymous media officer from the Beijing Chaoyang Commission of Housing and Urban-rural Development, said that in the approach to the Spring Festival, which falls on February 10 in 2013, the commission will cooperate with departments like the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau (HRSSB) in Chaoyang district and Chaoyang district court to help migrants get their salaries before going home.

"Migrant workers can find us to solve their salary issues either through negotiation or by consulting us for legal information," she said.

"We'll try to help although it's impossible to totally resolve the salary problems," the officer said.

She noted that the commission can only deal with workers who have signed a labor contract.

Zhou Xiaolu, a migrant worker in Chaoyang district, told the Global Times that his previous employer at a hotel construction site had delayed paying his salary for nearly a year.

"I sought help from government bureaus like the development commission and HRSSB, but it didn't work," he said, adding the former needed his non-existent labor contract, and the latter said there was not enough evidence.

"We worked for a private company. Definitely we won't sign a contract. And I didn't know how to prove we worked there although we really did," said Zhou. He had only signed a contract three times since he started working in Beijing in 2003, and he is now working at another site without a contract.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security stipulated a regulation in 2008 that workers should sign a labor contract as long as they are hired.

Wang Dezhi, the leader of NGO Migrant Workers Home, said that few will sign contracts, and when they do, it is to satisfy government inspectors.

"As soon as the inspectors leave, the contract is taken back," said Wang.

Some workers are pushed back and forth between the development commission and HRSSB when they try to protect their rights, said Wang.

"The development commission doesn't accept personal appeals, and the HRSSB often turns down cases, saying there isn't enough evidence to file a case," said Wang.

Wang said the situation exists because construction projects are often subcontracted out at ever decreasing profit margins, so some subcontractors use the salaries as a way to bump up their profits.　

"Often the whole process involves five or six companies. After each level of exploitation, the profit is compressed," he said.

A typical daily salary for a skilled migrant worker is 200-300 yuan ($48), said Wang, and an unskilled worker will earn 100-150 yuan per day. The companies will give workers around 500 yuan a month, and keep the rest until the end of the year, said Wang.

Guo Yi, working for On Action, a migrant worker organization, said it has had success negotiating for salaries directly with the employers.

"Most of the migrant workers we help didn't sign a labor contract. So we prefer to negotiate with the companies rather than seeking help from the government or courts," said Guo.

Because the migrant workers are often on the move, getting involved in a lawsuit takes too much time, said Guo.　

"Under most circumstances, negotiation works. But there has been a decline in people seeking help from us over this issue, mainly because more attention has been paid to the problem in recent years," said Guo.

However, Wang Cailiang, a lawyer at Beijing Cailiang Law Firm, said there has been a rise in lawsuits involving migrant workers and unpaid salaries in the last two years.

The salary problems are because on government-led projects, there are often delays in paying the government subcontractors, who then pass the delay onto the workers, he said.　

"Most of the migrant workers I have represented do have a contract. It's difficult for those without one to get their [unpaid] salary," Wang Cailiang noted.