[Broadcast on 4 August 2003]

More than a hundred retrenched workers from Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corporation [AISGC] traveled from the province of Liaoning to Beijing, to demand an increase of retrenchment compensation. On 4 August 2003, they gathered in front of the State-run Supervision & Administration Commission of the State Council [SSAC], located between Xuanwu Gate and Fuxing Gate, to protest. A by-stander called China Labour Bulletin [CLB] to describe what he witnessed.

Eye-witness:

I could tell that they had been there for quite a long time when I saw so many people by the entrance. There were some bystanders but it was obvious they were not the same group of protesters. There were probably about one hundred or so people [protesters]. It was the morning rush-hour and it is always crowded there anyway, just by the Fuxing Gate, a very grand building, really really tall, one can see it from far away. The building was guarded by security officers and they wouldn’t let anyone in.

Han Dongfang [Han]:

Were the protesters simply sitting and waiting by the entrance?

Eye-witness:

Right, and no banners.

Han:

Did anyone come out to talk to them?

Eye-Witness:

No, it was just like how the government used to act, ignoring you, simply ignoring you. But it is becoming a headache now [for the government], you know workers come all the way to Beijing and obviously they won’t leave – even if the government ignores them. We shall see.

An officer from the Complaints Office of SSAC told CLB that recently there had been several different groups of workers coming to SSAC to complain.

Complaints Office:

Some other entrances got blocked today.

Han:

Who was blocking the entrances?

Complaints Office:

No idea, you better ask them yourself, I really have no idea.

Another officer from the same department told CLB that the Anshan workers had arrived the week before and it was their third protest of the year. He said that the leaders of AISGC were rushing to Beijing and SSAC was negotiating with both the workers and the company, and hoped to work out a solution which would satisfy both parties.

Complaints Office:

They [AISGC workers] came to complain and when there is a complaint, there must be a problem to solve. This time is about retrenched workers’ rights.

Han:

Which province were they from?

Complaints Office:

From Liaoning; Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corporation. Their main demand was about their retrenchment compensation - how the compensation standards were drawn up.

Han:

You mean they thought the compensation was not enough?

Complaints Office:

Exactly.

Han:

Where did they arrive? When did they arrive [at SSAC]?

Complaints Office:

Last week, since last week.

Han:

Do they come everyday?

Complaints Office:

Well, they are here now.

Han:

How many protesters have arrived?

Complaints Office:

A hundred or so. Actually they are from several companies, subsidiary companies of AISGC, like the Housing Development Company and some other companies. We will first hear them out and will contact the headquarters of AISGC afterwards. The headquarters will send people over to deal with the case. They [workers] have already come twice to complain, this is the third time now.

Han:

Do you think their demands make sense?

Complaints Office:

To a certain extent, yes. In dealing their case, we try to set up a measurement, which would be approved by the workers and as well be affordable for the company, yes, a standard like that.

Han:

How much do the workers ask for?

Complaints Office:

Two or three times the compensation offered by the current measurement.

A worker from the Construction and Development Company, one of the AISGC subsidiary companies, told CLB that the last complaint had been filed by the first group of retrenched workers [ workers were being retrenched in stages]. Since the two previous protests had resulted in an increased amount of compensation, they decided to continue their protests and this time they wanted to have their housing and heating fees settled.

Worker:

Our leader [company leader] went there [Beijing] yesterday. You know according to that parallel system (Note 1) , the compensation offered was far from enough. After several protests, the housing development company was the first to improve the rate of compensation. It was RMB 381 at the very beginning and got raised to RMB 430 something. Then another increase of a hundred bucks.

Han:

Were they the first group [of retrenched workers]?

Worker:

Yes.

Han:

Did they continue their protests after the increase?

Worker:

Yes, they did. Last time, the compensation was too low and after the increase, they demanded other things, such as housing. This time they also want the company to pay for the heating. Our company simultaneously unemployed and retrenched about 200 people at the very beginning, then later it laid off another 200 people. Yet, the problems for the first group of workers have not been solved.

Han:

And did the second group of workers delay their protests until the first group finished their initial protests?

Worker:

Yes, they delayed it.

A retired worker from the Number 5 Construction and Development Company believed that the workers’ aggressive complaints had been provoked by AISGC’s inappropriate settlement with the retrenched workers.

Retired worker:

Well, they went there [Beijing] because the dispute couldn’t be settled here [in Anshan, Liaoning]. Nobody would go [to Beijing] if there was a way out here. I do think it is the leaders’ fault. They don’t give a damn unless you make a scene. After so many complaints, those [leaders] who could make decisions never showed up [to talk] and those who showed up never kept their promises. All their tricks offended the workers and they started to complain to the provincial government. Since that didn’t work out, they went to Beijing. They even went to Beijing during the SARS crisis. Our Number 5 Company is just 2 floors away from the Complaints Office of AISGC, and everyday people stay by its entrance; it always gets complaints.

He also told CLB that under the current measurement system, after serving AISGC for 30 years, all a retrenched worker could receive is about RMB 10,000 and then the company would hold no more responsibilities for his/her livelihood. He said it was extremely unfair to the workers.

Retired worker:

The Housing Development Company retrenched about 3,000 workers and about 50 of them went to Beijing this time. When they were retrenched, their wages were about 300 to 400 bucks a month and by the current measurement, after working for 2 or 3 decades, they received about RMB 10,000 and that was all. Of course the workers would think it is not enough! Who would like to go home with 10,000 bucks after 20 or 30 years of work? Isn’t it too little? For a whole life of work, am I right? They are all in their 50s and you know, nowadays people in their 40s and 50s have no competitive power in the society, so what can they do? They still have parents to feed and children to bring up, medical fee, housing, all sort of things, how can they possibly solve all these problems?


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Notes

1/ AISGC is a state-owned enterprise and workers were supposed to be guaranteed with a basic livelihood after their retrenchment (redundancy - Xiagang). However, as the enterprise does not want to be responsible for the workers’ livelihood after the retrenchment, they tried to compensate the workers by defining them as “unemployed” (shiye) instead of “retrenched”, which meant that the enterprise only needs to give a lump sum to workers and after that, the workers cannot claim anything from it anymore. It is called a “parallel system” for it is basically a retrenchment policy but is compensated as an “unemployment” policy.