(Broadcast on November 8, 2002)

Worried that the workers would go to Beijing to protest during the 16th Party Congress [convened on Nov 8-14, 2002 – Ed], the Liaoyang police have kept watch on the Ferroalloy worker representatives from Nov 6. A retired worker, Guo Xiujing, from the Ferroalloy Factory described how she was put under police surveillance.

Guo Xiujing [Guo]:

I am being watched I don’t know why the police got the idea Ferroalloy workers went to Beijing. The Public Security Bureau [PSB] has sent off its officers to Beijing, I don't know how many they have sent. And also we are under surveillance. (Laugh)

Han Dongfang [Han]:

How do they monitor you?

Guo:

They follow me wherever I go. Just to keep an eye on us.

Han:

Follow you wherever you go?

Guo:

Yes.

Han:

Since when?

Guo:

It started three days ago. They are quite worried that we would go to Beijing and petition [the central government], but they do have quite a nice manner, just don't let us hang around, or they follow us if we want to hang around. [Laugh] Anyway, some busybodies… from Ferroalloy Factory have been watched. [PSB] worries we would go to Beijing. Well, I don’t mean we are going to Beijing now, but who knows…if [the Liaoyang city government] doesn’t provide us a reasonable solution, it might be unavoidable.

The official at the reception office of the Liaoyang city government denied their surveillance of the Ferroalloy worker representatives.

Official:

No, it didn’t happen.

Han:

Have you heard of any [surveillance] plan?

Official:

No, no, no! Neither such a plan nor such a case!

Han:

I am told that the government worried about them going to Beijing.

Official:

No, we don’t worry about that.

Han:

A Ferroalloy worker said that the PSB had sent the police…

Official:

No. Nothing of that sort.

Han:

…to follow them.

Official:

No, and I have never heard of that.

I called a Liaoyang Catapult Factory worker at home and asked his expectations of the 16th Party Congress.

Worker:

Expectation? Not really! Such a thing…is not for ordinary folk like us to understand.

Han:

Do you think the 16th Party Congress has anything to do with you?

Worker:

I don’t think so. No matter what…workers have to work and those national issues…well, no differences would be made even I have something in mind. I don’t even bother to think about it. What is the use? They [party leaders] do whatever they want; what has it got to do with me? Anything ever? Only money matters now, and having a job to earn a living is good enough. What has [the 16th Party Congress] got to do with me?

Han:

Is it possible to find a job in Liaoyang nowadays?

Worker:

Hmm…at the moment I do have one.

Han:

What percent of the state-owned enterprises are doing badly?

Worker:

What percent?

Han:

Yeah.

Worker:

They have all laid off a huge number of workers and most of the factories are not running.

Han:

Were many of them shut down?

Worker:

Right.

Han:

So having a job and a work unit, are you considered as well off?

Worker:

Yes, I am quite happy about it now.

Han:

How old are you?

Worker:

Forty something. My kid is twenty this year, and has graduated for two years.

Han:

A boy or a girl?

Worker:

A girl.

Han:

Has she found a job?

Worker:

No, not yet. It is difficult to find a job so she stays at home meanwhile.

Han:

And she has been staying home for two years?

Worker:

(Sigh)

Han:

Does she have any future plan?

Worker:

Well, we’ll see.

I called a woman worker from the Liaoyang Carton Factory at home. She told me that her husband was laid off five years ago; her elder brother was retrenched and she started to take long-term ‘leave’ two months ago. They get a monthly allowance of RMB 202 only. They could not afford to send their daughter to secondary school anymore, who had to quit school earlier this year.

Woman worker:

Unemployed? Yes, two.

Han:

Have both of them been retrenched?

Woman worker:

One is laid off and the other one, retrenched. The retrenched one is my elder brother. I haven’t been retrenched, but my husband was laid off.

Han:

Your husband was laid off?

Woman worker:

Yes, he has been jobless for five or six years.

Han:

Did he receive any living allowance?

Woman worker:

No, never.

Han:

Have you been to the city labour department to apply for the unemployment allowance?

Woman worker:

No.

Han:

Never?

Woman worker:

No, never.

Han:

Why not?

Woman worker:

Oh, we dare not think, and even going there wouldn’t help. We didn’t think about that at all. I was told to take leave, so taking leave means going back home and I have been staying home since then. But, I didn’t think about that at all.

Han:

How do you deal with your living?

Woman worker:

How? I used to work at the carton factory. I have been home for just two months. We used to live on my [previous income].

Han:

How about now?

Woman worker:

I was asked to take leave.

Han:

Any living allowance when you are on leave?

Woman worker:

Yes, two hundred bucks, 202 yuan.

Han:

Do you have any kids?

Woman worker:

Yes, sixteen years old now.

Han:

In secondary school?

Woman Worker:

Yes.

Han:

How much is the tuition fee per year?

Woman worker:

It is unaffordable, she… she is not going to school any more.

Han:

Unaffordable? How much is it a year?

Woman worker:

At least five to six hundred bucks for one semester.

Han:

When did she stop going to school?

Woman worker:

She stayed there till the middle of the first semester of secondary two.

Han:

And not going anymore?

Woman worker:

Right.

Han:

Which year was it?

Woman worker:

First half of this year.

Han:

So she quit after the first half of this year?

Woman worker:

Yeah.

Han:

What will the kid do then?

Woman worker:

Then? Then she has to slowly find her own way.

Han:

Is your kid a boy or a girl (Note) [2]?

Woman worker:

A girl.

Han:

Does she like going to school?

Woman worker:

Yes, of course she does… just can’t afford it anymore.

Han:

Do you have any expectations of the 16th Party Congress convened today?

Woman worker:

(Laugh) I…haven’t thought about it.

Han:

Do you think the 16th Party Congress has anything to do with you?

Woman worker:

What does it have to do with me?

Han:

Yeah.

Woman worker:

I can’t really tell. (Laugh)

This woman worker also discussed the medical benefit in her factory. She told me that the RMB 7,000 medical bills of her late mother, who passed away six years ago, had still not been reimbursed.

Woman worker:

There is no medical welfare for ages. The factory had no money before it made us take leave. For instance, my mother passed away six years ago and I still could not claim back those medical fees in the last six years. You know my mum worked at a branch factory of the Carton Factory.

Han:

How much was her medical fee?

Woman worker:

Around 7,000 bucks.

Han:

And no reimbursement to be settled in the last six years?

Woman worker:

No, not yet. I have claimed for many times but, for we ordinary folk, dare not think about anything else.

Han:

Dare not thinking about anything else?

Woman worker:

No, dare not. We are too simple-minded!

Han:

Situation like yours is considered very difficult, right?

Woman worker:

Yes, this kind of situation…30 per cent [in Liaoyang] is like this. I mean, we can still have enough to eat, but the rest…we dare not think.

Han:

Did you watch the TV for President Jiang’s speech today?

Woman worker:

We are going to watch it.

Han:

In his speech today, President Jiang said, “the livelihood of Chinese people has already reached the ‘better-off’ level”. Do you think you are very close to that “better-off level”?

Woman worker:

Very close? Well, I can only manage to feed myself. I don’t think I am “better-off”.

Han:

What is your picture of a “better-off ” livelihood then?

Woman worker:

People would have enough to eat and dress. Don’t you think so? It is getting cold and I am thinking to buy my kid a coat, but if I buy enough food, I can’t get that coat.

Han:

Is this your current state?

Woman worker:

Yes, barely surviving.

Han:

Barely surviving?

Woman worker:

Indeed.

Han:

Dare you imagine getting to the “better-off” level?

Woman worker:

No, dare not think of anything nice at the moment.

Han:

Not even in your imagination?

Woman worker:

Well, what for, when our income is locked up and we have no way out?

Note: In the Chinese language, the pronouns “he”, “she” and “it” share the same pronunciation, i.e. “ta”. In the conversation between Han and the worker, they have been using “ta” to refer to the worker’s kid, which did not give enough hints to indicate if the kid is a boy or a girl. (back) [3]