(Broadcast on June 29, 2002)

According to officials, 115 people have died in a gas explosion at the Chengzihe coal mine in Heilongjiang province. The mine is owned by the Jixi Mining Bureau. After the explosion, CLB interviewed a miner with 17 years of experience at the coalface. This senior miner talked about the problem of safety at the Jixi coalmines and what he felt was the root of the current crisis. We will broadcast the discussion in three parts. In the following first broadcast, he talks about the pace of work and the practice of bringing in agreement workers to complete quotas. In his view, pressure from mine management and subcontractors are constantly upping the pace of work and this is a basic reason behind the crisis in health and safety.

Miner:

The bloody management hire outside guys who are coming in and starting work in the shafts with just three days’ training. Of course you’re going to get accidents. In fact, it’s not just our pit [Chengzihe]; it’s the same everywhere. Safe or not, they [management] set the quota and we have no way to say ‘No’. This place is dangerous and they [gang bosses] can do something. But they just say “OK, no problem. It’s just a couple of minutes” and tell you to get on with the work. And then it turns out it’s not “OK”. It’s bloody criminal.

Han:

It sounds like a game of Russian roulette.

Miner:

It is! I can’t tell you what it’s like in the shaft. I have been working in the mines for 15 to 16 years and seen it all. If they operated in accordance with the procedures and regulations then they wouldn’t meet the production targets. That’s what’s behind the accidents, the continual drive to increase the rate of work. We just work fast and get out of the pits fast – that’s the point of piece work and who wants to stay too long in the shaft anyway. We miners are all like this. Everything is fast. Work fast, get finished fast and get out fast. No one wants to hang around down there!

Han:

Is there no fear? Don’t they know an accident could occur at any time?

Miner:

[Laughing]. Yes they are afraid. That’s why they want to get out of there so quickly. That’s how it is.

Han:

What’s the proportion of “agreement” workers against formal staff?

Miner:

We’ve got agreement workers and formal workers and there are lots of people coming in for a few bucks. Why is management so keen on these agreement workers? It’s hard to say clearly. The mine doesn’t pay wages so the formal miners have no choice but to quit. So they bring in agreement workers and pay them instead.

Han:

So you are saying that the experienced miners are not working?

Miner:

It’s not as simple as that. Some guys don’t have the skills and so they just have to try and get along as best they can. Most of the experienced miners have already left. It pisses me off. You work all month and come pay day they don’t pay up. Then they get outside people in and pay them instead. Surely it would be better to pay the original miners and keep them on? But that’s how they do things round here. It doesn’t make fxxking sense. They’ll lean on you and then you quit. The experienced miners have all left and the unskilled guys don’t have a chance – they’re stuck here!

Han:

And how serious is the wage arrears situation?

Miner:

It’s a little better now. January and February this year have been paid. The bastards have been more than 30 months behind before now!

Han:

Thirty months. Have they made up for any of it?

Miner:

No.

Han:

So as of now, how many months are they behind?

Miner:

Twenty five, twenty six months.

Han:

That’s accumulated arrears?

Miner:

I am not counting the arrears since we got paid for January and February. I am just talking about the 25, 26 months from before.

Han:

And they haven’t paid out since February?

Miner:

That’s right.

Han:

When did the arrears start, at various times?

Miner:

For two months back in ’94 they only paid 80% of the wage packet. The rest never came by. In ’95, they didn’t pay April, May, June and July. In 1996 they paid all year and in ’97 we got no wages in December. In ’98 we got nothing at all! No wages all bloody year!

Han

What about 1999?

Miner:

They paid up until September.

Han:

But nothing in October, November and December?

Miner:

That’s right.

Han:

And 2000?

Miner:

From 2000 up until February this year, they paid up.

Han:

No gaps?

Miner:

No, every month.

Han:

Up until February this year…

Miner:

Yes.

Han:

And then they stopped?

Miner:

Yes. And they haven’t restarted.

Han:

So rounding it up: one, two, three, four, five……counting as far as March this year they owe 20 months, right?

Miner:

That’s right!

Han:

And about five months since February?

Miner:

Twenty five, twenty six months in all.

Han:

Is this based on your own situation?

Miner:

Not just me. The bastards owe us all!

Han:

Are there some who are better off than you and others still worse off?

Miner:

Well it’s all about the same. Of course, there are various scams going on and get most of the wages!

Han:

The scams get their wages?

Miner:

That’s fxxking right. Doesn’t matter where you go they don’t pay a penny.

Han:

Are the people getting paid in the majority or minority?

Miner:

Still a minority.

Han:

What can people do to get their money?

Miner:

For a start off don’t think of getting it off the boss. Even some of the families of those who have met with disaster in a major accident don’t get a penny off the bastards.

Han:

Has compensation been arranged following this latest accident? Are the families likely to get anything?

Miner:

Well the compensation process is not always the same. It varies.

Han:

What do you mean it’s not the same?

Miner:

Compensation this time is high because the central government have sent people down here. It would be a different matter if it wasn’t such a major accident. They’re bastards. They will just compensate Rmb 10,000 or 20,000 and that’s it.

Han:

Are the compensation standards for formal miners and agreement miners the same?

Miner:

Definitely not the same. Formal miners probably get less because the mine has to provide for his kids.

Han:

And agreement miners get a one-off payment?

Miner:

That’s right. In the past, when there was an accident the bastards would compensate at Rmb 10,000. If you are good, they can get you a new permanent job. The kid will be taken care of until the age of 18 or until schooling had finished. But with these agreement workers, they pay you once, and that’s it.

Han:

In this situation, do you reckon that by changing the employment system and asking the relatively experienced miners to come back things might improve, relatively speaking?

Miner:

Hard to say. But as far as this pit is concerned, the buggers are not about to do anything like that here. Experienced miners’ wages are high right? And these younger men are on much less. We’re on Rmb 210 to 230 but they’re only bringing in Rmb 90 plus a month. We’ll get the same if we stay. The older miners just won’t swallow this. You can go to the management but they will just say it’s the policy to pay the same rates. The old guys…won’t do it even if there is work. Do you see what I mean?

Han:

Another question is how effective is the trade union on the issue of workers’ rights and health and safety?

Miner:

[Laughing]. Well its backs the Party and the management, not the workers! Why would the party and government keep the trade union if it backs the workers?

Han:

But according to trade union regulations, it ought to…

Miner:

What you are saying is correct but the trade union serves the Party and government and if it doesn’t they will simply dump it.

Han:

Is the trade union chairperson elected?

Miner:

No. No way.

Han:

Have you ever voted in a trade union election to select a chairperson?

Miner:

No. I have worked for thirty bloody years, but I have never taken part in such an election.

Please tune in for next Saturday’s broadcast.

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The other two parts in this series:

Subcontracted Mines Leave No Room for Safety -- From a Jixi Miner (2) [2] 2002-07-06

What Does the State Enterprise Reform Mean to the Workers? – From a Jixi Miner (3) [3] 2002-07-13