China Labour Bulletin has received reports that several hundreds retrenched workers from Lanzhou, in the northwestern province of Gansu, have staged street demonstrations and blockaded roads on 22 and 23 April, 2002. The workers, laid-off employees of the Lanzhou Chemical Industrial Corporation, were reportedly inspired by their fellow workers' in Daqing Oilfield who staged a struggle for nearly two months to demand better retrenchment benefits.

CLB has also received reports that over 3,000 workers of the Huabei Petroleum. Administration Bureau, in Cangzhou city, Hebei province, staged street demonstrations on 3 and 4 March, 2002; at the same time as 30,000 oilfield workers began their demonstrations in Daqing.

The Lanzhou Chemical plant, Huabei Petroleum Administration Bureau and the Daqing Oilfield Co. are all subsidiaries of China National Petroleum Corporation, which have been undergoing restructuring and laying off workers.

CLB has received reports that while thousands of workers have continued their daily street demonstrations in the Tieren (Iron Man) Square in Daqing city, several more organizers were detained by the police on 20 April. An official of the Daqing city government told CLB that over 60 activists from the demonstrations had been detained by the end of March. Some had been released but it is unclear how many remain in detention.

China Labour Bulletin

2002-04-23