(Broadcast on September 25, 2002)
Beginning September 2, retrenched workers from the Chuandong Oil Exploration & Drilling Company (COEDC) -- a subsidiary of Sichuan Petroleum Administrative Bureau (Sichuan PAB) in Jiangbei District, Chongqing -- have staged sit-ins outside the office of COEDC. On September 24, several hundreds of retrenched workers gathered by the main gate of COEDC as usual, put up their banners and waited for the company and government's reply to their demands. The workers are demanding distribution of three funds [unemployment allowance, pension and medical fees]. A worker, whose family member has been retrenched, described the sit-in protest he witnessed today.
Worker:
Well, you know the situation at our place. The retrenched workers all came to look for an explanation and it has lasted for many days. The whole Chongqing City knows about it. And I hope you would understand better those workers who are more furious than us.
Han Dongfang [Han]:
How many people [went to the protest] today?
Worker:
Probably several hundred today.
Han:
Still several hundred there?
Worker:
Yeah.
Han:
So is it more or less the same amount of protesters everyday?
Worker:
Yup. We have more than ten thousand workers being retrenched at our place, so those [currently outside COEDC] are just a small part of them. [Workers in] a lot of other places have been retrenched too.
Han:
Oh, did they hoist the banners today?
Worker:
Sure they did.
Han:
What was written on the banners?
Worker:
"Uphold the Leadership of the Party" and something like "correct leadership". Jiang Zemin's speech on September 12 (Note 1) addressed the issue of re-employment for laid-off and retrenched workers like us. We are just responding to the Party's call for solving the problems of unemployment.
Han:
Did they plan to take legal action against the company at the very beginning... ?
Worker:
Yes, indeed. Solve the problem rationally with legal action.
Han:
How is the fund-raising for hiring the lawyer going?
Worker:
Fund-raising... well... we try our best, some contribute effort and some donate money. Don't you think so?
Han:
Did you contribute any money?
Worker:
We did donate a bit. We need to seek justice no matter how difficult our lives are, don't we? Like if we would have to smoke less, we still have to collect fund for legal action to see justice done.
Han:
Did the organisers get any warnings? Anything like that?
Worker:
Hmm... I heard of some.
A worker whose family has not been affected by the retrenchment arrangement told CLB her opinion of the retrenched workers' demands.
Worker:
It seems to me that some make sense but some don't.
Han:
Which part of their demands sounds reasonable to you?
Worker:
Some kinds of compensation they are asking for ... pension insurance I guess.
Han:
And how about the unemployment allowance?
Worker:
Yeah.
Han:
Do these make sense to you?
Worker:
Yes [laugh].
Han:
Then what is the nonsensical part?
Workers:
Some requests are just being difficult on purpose.
Han:
Any example of those requests which are meant to be difficult?
Worker:
How to say? I can't really tell.
A retrenched woman worker told CLB that the workers were united and they would not consider going back, even if the government would threaten them with arrest.
Woman worker:
I saw it [the protest] today when I did shopping. I went there in order to have a look.
Han:
How many people were there today?
Woman worker:
Several hundred.
Han:
Were they still raising funds there?
Woman worker:
The funds they raised last time was taken away by the public security bureau.
Han:
Any idea about how much they managed to raise?
Woman worker:
More than RMB 20,000.
Han:
Did you donate any as well?
Woman worker:
Everyone donated RMB 30. It was on a voluntary basis, people donate if they want.
Han:
Are your people worried about being exposed and punished later?
Woman worker:
Of course we are.
Han:
If the organisers are punished, are you going to support them?
Woman worker:
Sure, we definitely will support them.
Han:
Are workers at your place united?
Woman worker:
Yeah. You know our work unit is rather special. Many couples [working in the same unit] were made redundant at the same time, and we also have two generations of a family working here [who risk getting retrenched together].
Another retrenched worker told CLB that protest organisers managed the fund they raised strictly. He also said that now the organisers were senior workers while the younger workers were protesting behind the scene to avoid being arrested. However, he said that even if the government arrests the workers, they would still struggle till the end.
Worker:
They now even post some reactionary slogans and banners.
Han:
With reactionary banners now?
Worker:
Right. We all saw it. Something like "Iron Man Iron Man (Note 2) look back, corrupt officials are at your back. Iron Man Iron Man look ahead, your kids live by begging".
Han:
Is this counted as a reactionary banner?
Worker:
To the company leaders, it is definitely a reactionary banner. The police all came and the workers left as the police were coming over.
Han:
Did they break up [the protest] when the police came?
Worker:
It is just bluff and bluster. Didn't you realise that human rights don't exist in China? The police simply work for guarding the rights of the powerful people.
Han:
Is the fund-raising for legal action progressing well?
Worker:
We have handed in our fund.
Han:
Any guarantee for the money? Did the police take it away?
Worker:
No way, no one can take away the fund. We contributed with the money earned by hard toil and how dare they take it away?
Han:
So how is the fund being administered?
Worker:
You don't have to worry about this though. No one dare to misappropriate that sum of money. You should know that the retrenched workers are not the same type as the corrupt officials.
Han:
Are the organisers mainly (someone interrupted: we are angry but we can't voice out) older or younger workers?
Worker:
The younger workers haven't got the courage to appear at the sit-ins publicly yet. But the senior workers fear nothing. Some prepared themselves to be exposed and be put into jail; they would be provided with food [in the jail] anyway.
Han:
But the government might not go ahead putting them in jail.
Worker:
Anyway we are all really scared, like what if they [the police] would arrest a couple of them as examples. We are all prepared for that, and younger people are all hiding.
Han:
What if [the police] really make arrests?
Worker:
We need to struggle till the end.
Han:
Don't you fear [of being arrested]?
Worker:
Better to die fighting than starving to death.
Han:
Better to die fighting than starving to death?
Worker:
Do you know that many retrenched workers jumped from height to commit suicide? You can come to check. Some of our neighbours committed suicide like this and some even did it with their whole families.
Han:
Were they all from the oil industry?
Worker:
Yes.
Notes
(1) Jiang Zemin made a speech on the government's "determination" to solve the problem of unemployment at a national conference in Beijing on September 12. Chaired by Premier Zhu Rongji, and attended by key party and government leaders, the conference made particular reference to "special assistance" to middle-aged laid-off state workers (over 40 for women and over 50 for men) in re-employment. (source: Xinhua News Online, 13/9/2002)
(2) Model worker Wang Jinxi from the 1950s, who became famous as Iron Man Wang and a symbol of selfless sacrifice in developing Daqing oilfields. The Iron Man Square named to honor him was the site of protracted protests by Daqing workers in March-June, 2002.