In the afternoon of 19 October2003, about 300 workers from the Chengdu People's Department (Group) Store Company Ltd [CPDS] started a strike to protest against the retrenchment policy brought in by the new owners of the business.. The company put forward a retrenchment policy compensating each worker 917 Yuan for each year of service. The policy was pushed through without approval from the workers' congress and was unacceptably low. In the afternoon of 22 October, the 3-day-strike came to an end after riot police arrested some workers' leaders. Witnesses reported that a lot of plainclothes policemen were among the strikers and filmed the strike with video cameras. After the strike ended the CPDS resumed partial production. On 23 October, China Labour Bulletin [CLB] called Chengdu Public Security Bureau [Chengdu PSB], however, the officer on duty told us that he could not disclose any details of the case.

Police Officer:

Hmm... Concerning this case, you should better talk to our propaganda department, okay? We are not supposed to talk to outsiders.

However, nobody picked up the phone in the propaganda department. CLB then called CPDS and a worker there complained that 917 Yuan for one year of service was too little; especially as CPDS had been making a profit. The workers were also skeptical of the CPDS' promise of re-hiring them after retrenchment.

Worker:

It [the strike] ended today. We haven't got any reply yet, but obviously 917 Yuan is too little. You know, our company does make a profit and we have been working here for 30 years and we might end up getting only 30,000 Yuan for that.

Han Dongfang [Han]:

Will you still be able to work there? [after the retrenchment]?

Worker:

The company did say yes and that our positions wouldn't change, but who knows? We don't really trust them and so far no guarantee has been made.

Han:

You mean the workers don't believe in the new offer?

Worker:

Right, we don't believe in that.

The compensation, calculated at 917 Yuan for each year of service, is not claimable until a worker retires, which raises more doubts for the workers.

Worker:

We can only get that money back when we retire.

Han:

What? Can't you claim it now?

Worker:

No, not possible. They keep our money as the company's working capital, but that doesn’t mean in any way that we will become its shareholders. How can we be assured our money back if they lose it? Yes, we will have the interest but what is the use of that, with such a low interest rate in the bank? That is why we don't find the arrangement acceptable, none of our 5,000 workers are happy about it. The front-line staff is more demonstrative and it is said that the police had detained some [of them], releasing them after a while.

The worker also told CLB that workers were outraged by the company leaders corruption during the restructuring process and that the restructuring [shift of the enterprise's ownership, retrenchment policies] was not approved by the workers' congress, as the Law required.

Worker:

You know our enterprise’s assets are worth 900 million Yuan and they have been sold for only 300 million.

Han:

What? 900 million Yuan enterprise assets have been sold for 300 million?

Worker:

Yes.

Han:

Who is the buyer?

Worker:

Dikang Yaoye Company [Sichuan Science & Technology Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd].

Han:

Dikang Yaoye Company.

Worker:

Yes, the pharmaceutical company.

Han:

Has the transaction [sale] been completed?

Worker:

Yes, the restructuring took place right after the transaction.

Han:

But at that price? Did the workers' congress approve that?

Worker:

No, we didn't know anything; even the workers' representatives had no idea that 917 Yuan was going to be the compensation.

Han:

Who decided to make the transaction [sale] then?

Worker:

The government…the government and our own company decided it, they sold us like this. All we want to do now is to make the corruption of CPDS known to the public.

Han:

Have you thought about taking legal action?

Worker:

Well, everything is under government control, even the courts.

An official from the trade union of CPDS claimed that the trade union had been actively promoting the government's policy during the strike.

Trade Union official:

The trade union works on the workers, by persuading them to stop the strike, but you know, CPDS is an enterprise with history and all sort of problems... so the workers believe restructuring would be a good chance to express themselves. Yes, they are quite aggressive and they don't want to miss such a chance. Yet, it is the government's policy and we can only promote it, we can't tell them that the government hasn't approved it, right? It makes no sense to fight, it doesn’t matter if the compensation is enough or not, it is just the government's policy. Last time, the Daqing workers committed suicide [this is a reference to the high profile but perhaps ultimately unsuccessful strike actions of the workers in Daqing in 2001. See CLB website for more details] even though - in fact they were paid 100,000 Yuan. So the main point is the workers have to realize that they have to put up with it…it doesn’t matter what they feel.

Another CPDS worker was pessimistic when talking about legal actions.

Worker:

All of us are workers' representatives, when it comes to the compensation terms, each of us is concerned.

Han:

Are the workers thinking of taking legal action?

Worker:

If we bring it to the court, the judge would only say it was the government's policy and nothing can be done.

Han:

Shouldn't the government be treated like any other common person in the court?

Worker:

Yes, indeed, but we can't get hold of any evidence, for example the central government's paper on the restructuring or documents from the provincial and municipal governments. Where can we workers find them?

Han:

How about hiring a lawyer to handle these problems?

Worker:

Who is going to pay for it then?

Han:

Let say each of the 5,000 CPDS workers pay 2 Yuan each then that would be 10,000 Yuan.

Worker:

But we wouldn't win the case anyway.

Han:

How can you tell, it hasn't even started?

Worker:

Have you ever heard of any successful case of suing the government? You saw that it only needed several hundred police to settle the strike yesterday.

CLB called the Chengdu Daily, an editor on duty said that no local newspaper had reported the strike.

Chengdu Daily:

We studied the case; it is a simple one, something about retrenchment.

Han:

Did your newspaper cover the story?

Chengdu Daily:

No.

Han:

Why not?

Chengdu Daily:

There are some regulations here saying that we couldn't report it.

Han:

Did you make a request to report it?

Chengdu Daily:

No, we couldn't make such a request.

Han:

Can you recall any other local newspaper covering the story?

Chengdu Daily:

No, its simple, no newspaper here could do it.

Han:

Aren’t cases like this happening rather often? Why can't you report them?

Chengdu Daily:

It is true that it happens very often, but journalists in Chengdu are not really free in making these reports.

Han:

Okay, but still, no report doesn't mean that there was no strike.

Chengdu Daily:

You are right.

Han:

Also, hiding the case doesn’t do anything to solve the problem.

Chengdu Daily:

Indeed, we do have the same thoughts, but we can't help.

Han:

You can't help?

Chengdu Daily:

No, we can't do what we want to, so...