[Broadcast on 25 October 2004]

On 22, 23 and 24 October, about 10,000 retired workers from different enterprises under the former Tianma Textile Group staged a sit-in protest in Shengli Road Square in the city centre of Bengbu, Anhui Province, to demand an increase in their pension payments.

A manager from Macat Textile Factory, a new enterprise recently set up after a company from Guangdong Province bought eight production workshops from the former Tianma Textile Group, told us that his factory currently had no retired workers. However, he explained that many of his employees had parents who were retired workers from the Tianma Textile Group.

Manager:

Since this place has been bought by Huizhou Macat Group from Guangdong Province, we don’t have any retired workers here. The retired workers were from Tianma Textile Group – the old enterprise.

Han Dongfang [Han]:

What’s the name of your factory now?

Manager:

It is called Macat.

Han:

How many workers are there in your factory?

Manager:

Some 3,500 working in eight work units.

Han:

Were they previously from Tianma Group?

Manager:

Right, exactly.

Han:

So it [Tianma] was sold to that enterprise from Guangdong.

Manager:

Yes, that is it.

Han:

Many of your workers’ parents are retired workers, aren’t they?

Manager:

Yes.

Mr Ma, chairman of the Tianma Textile Group’s Trade Union and the chief of Retired Workers’ Office, told CLB that about 10,000 retired workers from different factories blocked the city centre in those three days. On 24 October, police took away some retirees when they dispersed the protesters.

Trade Union Chairman:

During this time, there are about 10,000 workers blocking the roads of the city. Some roads are totally blocked by the retired workers, including those of collective enterprises. There are some 70,000 retired workers in Bengbu City.

Han:

There are some 70,000 retired workers in Bengbu City?

Trade Union Chairman:

Yes, some 10,000 of them had gone to protest, at least 8,000 if it’s not that many.

Han:

How long did it last?

Trade Union Chairman:

For three days, on 22, 23 and 24. Today is Monday and we went to have a look at 8 A.M. We didn’t find anyone of them there and now we have returned to our office. Yesterday the city [government] took action. Those who had blocked the traffic by the cable-stayed bridge were forcefully dispersed. Each one of them was escorted home by a pair of police officers. This morning, those remained staying on the bridge were forcibly dispersed and a few retired workers were taken away.

Mr Ma believed the protest was induced by the retired workers from Hefei City who launched a similar sit-in blockade before the National Day.

Trade Union Chairman:

Foreign media reported that the protest had taken place because of the textile workers’ low wages. In fact, they did not clarify what had happened. It was the retired workers who staged the protest as they got very little pension. Retired workers from every work unit participated in the protest, and we [union staff] set off to different locations to do our work [to persuade the workers to drop the protest]. It all originated from retired workers’ protest in Hefei in late September. The workers launched a sit-in to demand pension increase and the protest lasted until early October. Workers in Bengbu witnessed the whole protest and later, there came six retired workers’ representatives from different companies in Bengbu. They used to be the leaders and cadres in the factories and they had drafted a joint statement. On 14 October, they read out the statement to about 1,000 workers who met them at the Science Theater Square. The document was titled “The Voice of Retired Cadres and Workers in Bengbu, Anhui – End the Unfair Remuneration Policy and Uphold Stability and Unity”. They wrote it and read it out to the people on 14 October. Some people photocopied the document and circulated it among the workers. During the meeting, they also asked the workers to meet again at the Science Theater on 22 October.

Mr Ma, the trade union chairman, said the three-day protest had prompted the State Council to issue an urgent special notification to increase each worker’s pension by 60 Yuan per month.

Trade Union Chairman:

The Bengbu City Party Committee reacted to the protest immediately; it informed each factory about the new arrangements and reported it to the provincial government. As the new pension adjustment was agreed and approved by the State Council, the city government would have to follow it. The provincial government has sent its officials to Beijing to wait for the State Council’s instruction. Once they get the instruction, they will start to work on it. They would then instruct the work units to talk to the retired workers, urging them to halt the protest and stay calm. Several meetings concerning the protest in Bengbu are being held among the government officials.

Han:

Is it likely that the State Council would approve an increase of the retired workers’ pension?

Trade Union Chairman:

It has already approved an increase of 60 Yuan [per worker per month]. From 10 P.M. to midnight yesterday, the municipal committee held an urgent meeting about this. They announced this morning that each worker will have an increase in their pension of 60 Yuan per month, and they hoped the workers would halt their protest.

However, Mr Ma predicted that most of the retired workers would not be satisfied by this increase because their demand was to raise their pension to a level close to the pension the retired civil servants were entitled to, which was three times more than that of the workers.

Trade Union Chairman:

There are two kinds of reaction here. One is “we are fine as long as you give us more pension”; the other reaction is “well, our pension is still too low compared with the civil servants even you have given me 60 Yuan more”. Retiring from the same level of work units, a civil servant could get 1,800 to 2,000 Yuan but an ordinary worker would only get 400 to 500 Yuan. The maximum pension a retired worker could get is some 600 Yuan and the minimum a retired civil servant receives is 1,300 to 1,500 Yuan or even more. Well, it isn't unique to Bengbu City - it's the same all over the country!