Is Production more important than Life? Some Facts Gathered after the Qingdao Zhengda Factory fire

[Broadcast on 7 April 2003]

At around midnight of April 5, a fire broke out in the Qingdao Zhengda (Chia Tai) Factory Company Limited [Zhengda], a food processing factory located in the Longquan Industrial Town of Jimo, a county under Qingdao in the province of Shandong. According to news released by the State Administration of Work Safety in the afternoon of 6 April, the death toll was up to 21. On 7 April, CLB spoke to a victim’s husband. He told CLB that his wife’s co-workers, who managed to escape from the fire, told him that when the fire had broken out, the workers wanted to leave the workshop but their supervisor asked them to stay till their current work had been finished. The delay meant that six workers from that work unit could not leave in time [to escape the fire] - including his wife.

Victim’s Husband:

They did want to leave, but the factory didn’t allow them to go and even asked them to stay… in the factory to work.

Han Dongfang [Han]:

What do you mean?

Victim’s Husband:

Yes, those workers who escaped had said that they wanted to evacuate, but the factory didn’t allow them to leave and asked them to continue working inside.[but some did escape despite instructions]

Han:

When did they… the workers want to leave?

Victim’s Husband:

At around 1 am… it was when the fire broke out.

Han:

Did the workers want to leave when the fire broke out?

Victim’s Husband:

Right.

Han:

Then the factory made them stay inside?

Victim’s Husband:

That is… the supervisor didn’t allow them to leave.

Han:

Why [s/he] didn’t allow them to leave?

Victim’s Husband:

I heard them [the escaped workers] say that they had been asked to continue working and they could only leave when their work were done. My wife’s sister was inside [the factory] and so was my younger brother’s wife.

Han:

Oh, your younger brother’s wife was there?

Victim’s Husband:

Yes, on the same shift, though not in the same work unit. They all came out. You know my wife’s sister had been inside [at the time of the fire].

Han:

Your wife’s sister was in there as well?

Victim’s Husband:

Yeah, the supervisor of her work unit led them out.

Han:

Oh, her work unit supervisor led them out?

Victim’s Wife:

Yes.

Han:

Then how about your wife’s work unit?

Victim’s Husband:

Only the supervisor from her work unit came out, the rest… were not allowed to leave.

Han:

!… only her supervisor came out from her work unit?

Victim’s Husband:

Yes.

Han:

Are the other workers still inside in the factory?

Victim’s Husband:

Six from her work unit didn’t come out.

Han:

From whom did you learn that her supervisor had forced them to stay inside?

Victim’s Husband:

Oh, all the workers are saying so. They said… the supervisor asked them to continue working and forbade them leaving.

Han:

Are all workers saying the same thing?

Victim’s Husband:

Right, and… 7 or 8 workers from her work unit managed to escape, they all said so.

He also told CLB that his wife had complained to him more than once that workers wanted to leave at times when fire broke out, but the supervisor threatened them with the deduction from their wages, in order to stop them from leaving and no workers dared to make a move.

Victim’s Husband:

The workers at Qingdao Zhengda factory have to work everyday for 11 to 12 hours and fire has broken out twice already.

Han:

When was the last fire?

Victim’s Husband:

I can’t really recall, but my wife came back to tell me. She said that fire was small at the beginning and they left [the factory], and afterwards the supervisor deducted their credits, which means the wages got deducted. Such a thing has happened 2 to 3 times already.

Han:

2 or 3 times already?

Victim’s Husband:

Yes.

Han:

Does it mean each time they want to evacuate, their credits will be deducted?

Victim’s Husband:

Exactly! Their wages will be deducted.

Han:

And therefore nobody dares to leave?

Victim’s Husband:

Right, indeed. This time the workers said, [the supervisor] told them they had to finish the work before she would let them go.

CLB called the Qingdao Zhengda Factory office to gain a better understanding of the whole picture.

Qingdao Zhengda Factory Office:

You will have to ask our leaders about this, we can’t tell you.

CLB spent the whole day trying to catch the factory manager, but the factory office staff continually said that s/he was not around. An officer from the Longquan Town Government’s Financial Committee told CLB that the whole incident had been resolved and settled. When she was asked for more details, she replied with “no comment”.

Longquan Town Financial Committee:

I don’t really know, you should ask their company [Qingdao Zhengda] about this.

Han:

But doesn’t your industrial town… administrate the investors in your town?

Longduan Town Financial Committee:

Of course there is someone doing the administrative work.

Han:

Then what kind of responsibility does the industrial town have concerning the management and supervision of industrial safety,?

Longquan Town Financial Committee:

How should I know?

Han:

What?

Longquan Town Financial Committee:

I don’t really know.

Han:

If somebody invests in your town, don’t you take responsibility [administer] for his or her’s industrial safety?…

Longquan Town Financial Committee:

Of course we do!

Han:

How about safety?

Longquan Town Financial Committee:

Sure! How could we not take care? You should call their company… what do you want to know? Our administrative and supervision work over the companies??

Han:

Yes and about the aftercare [of the fire].

Longquan Town Financial Committee:

The aftercare? We have settled it and it has been satisfactorily fixed. If you want to know more details, we have no comment.

Han:

But this case involves life; you can’t just say “no comment”.

Longquan Town Financial Committee:

Yes, I know [what you mean]… but if you ask me, what can I tell you? You just dial 5588688, okay!

CLB tried the telephone number this officer gave:

Qingdao Zhengda Factory Office:

You should call the government’s office. The government takes care of all aftercare work, they must know every aspect of it. Every year in Spring Festival [Chinese New Year], or whatever other big festivals, we also regularly organize our officers to [go to] that enterprise [the factory] to check its production safety.

Han:

What is the enterprise’s occupational safety like? What about the safety measures for machinery installation?

Qingdao Zhengda Factory office:

It should be… you could say it [safety] is ensured.

Han:

Then do you think it is a satisfactory safety standard for the workshop to be only 2 meters away from 3 oil containers?

Qingdao Zhengda Factory Office:

This case… actually… I actually…hmm… I don’t really know about this case. How about you simply call the government office?

CLB rang the Longquan Town Government office as the factory official asked, but the government office asked CLB to call the town’s Financial Committee [which it has previously spoken to and was asked to call the factory]

Han:

Which telephone number I should dial in order to talk to the person concerned?

Longquan Town Government office:

Hmm… the financial committee.

Han:

The town’s financial committee?

Longquan Town Government’s office:

Yes, exactly.

Then CLB called the trade union of Jimo County, but the cadre on duty did not even have a vague figure of the factory workforce when CLB asked for the number of workers in the QCTCL.

Jimo County Trade Union:

Our leader is working on it, but I don’t know much about the current situation.

Han:

Does the enterprise have its trade union?

Jimo County Trade Union:

Err, no, not yet.

Han:

How many workers are in the enterprise?

Jimo County Trade Union:

Around 400 to 500, I guess.

Han:

400 to 500?

Jimo County Trade Union:

Yes, right.

Han:

I heard that it had several thousand.

Jimo County Trade Union:

Really? I don’t really know.

Finally CLB broadcast the remaining part of the previous interview with the victim’s husband. He told us that what he wanted most was to see his wife once again. He also strongly expressed his discontent with the government’s and the factory’s attitude and the lack of respect for workers’ lives.

Victim’s Husband:

It is said that all the corpses were dug out, but still they are not yet identified.

Han:

Have you visited the factory and the local government?

Victim’s Husband:

I just want to see my wife, but they [government and factory] haven’t given me any reply so far.

Han:

Just want to see her?

Victim’s Husband:

Yes

Han:

Are you working?

Victim’s Husband:

I don’t really have a job.

Han:

Are you farming at home?

Victim’s Husband:

Yes.

Han:

Have you got kids?

Victim’s Husband:

Yes, nearly 10 years old, in Primary 3, but the kid… is now sick, she stays at home for saline infusion.

Han:

Does your kid know [that her mother was killed in the fire]?

Victim’s Husband:

[She] knew yesterday… I hid it from her the day before [Apr 6] as I was still hoping that she [his wife] might come back, but yesterday the situation… was basically… basically hopeless…when she went to work… she was perfectly fine, but she went missing the next day. They just said [she was] missing as without the identification [of the corpses], but didn’t it mean she died.

Han:

And do you think the government and the factory have been doing a good job in settling the aftercare so far?

Victim’s Husband:

No way! So far I haven’t got any reply, I can’t see [my wife], I haven’t seen any factory leaders. I am so angry at their way of treating the lives of worker’s without regard.