On December 6, a fire broke out in Shaft No. 7 of the Wanbao Coalmine in the city of Taonan, Jilin Province. According to the State Administration for Work Safety, 25 people died, and 4 are missing in the accident. But a family member of a miner in Wanbao Coalmine told me that in fact the accidents killed more than 30 people. She also told me that that this accident happened in an illegal single shaft coalmine. When the tunnel caught fire, 3 groups of miners were trapped inside and they were all killed [Official reports on December 9 confirmed that all the 30 miners trapped underground were dead – Ed].

Relative:

I’ve just come back from the ruin. More than 30 people were killed!

Han Dongfang [Han]:

More than 30 people?

Relative:

Right. More than 30 people. The report to the central government said there were 29 victims. Among them, 25 have been found, while the others are still missing - they were buried under the coal.

Han:

Did the fire break out deep in the shaft? Where did it happen actually?

Relative:

Not deep in the shaft, but in the middle of it. That shaft is divided into two parts: there were two groups of workers at the upper part, and three other groups at the lower part. The middle of the shaft first caught fire, and then the woods there began to burn. It was impossible to escape through the thick smoke, and the workers all suffocated to death.

Han:

Are there any other exits?

Relative:

No. Only one exit.

Han:

Is it a single shaft mine?

Relative:

Yes, it is.

Han:

It’s illegal.

Relative:

Who knows? No one knows. Some of the dead is our neighbors. I just came back from their place.

Han:

Who were dead in their family?

Relative:

In their family, that’s… a man. In another family, their son died – he was twenty something. This blaze has killed four to five people who were in their early twenties.

Han:

Killing four to fire people who were in their early twenties?

Relative:

Yes, others were in their thirties, forties and fifties.

Han:

Did they live close to you?

Relative:

Oh, just next to my home. I still saw my neighbor yesterday morning – he went to work at 8:00 am. More than 50 people in one shift. Only about 20 of them escaped, but the remaining 30 plus people were all dead - I still saw him in the morning. The official was beaten up badly.

Han:

Who was beaten up?

Relative:

The mine director!

Han:

The mine director was beaten up?

Relative:

Yep. The victim’s relatives beat him up last night. The relatives beat him up so severely that the boss’s face was badly hurt. He deserved that! Our place is so remote that no officials really care about us. That shaft shouldn’t have run. It should have been closed, but he still operated that mine.

She then told me that about five or six days ago, that is around December 1, all workers from Shafts No 1 and 2 of the Wanbao Coalmine staged a strike against the prolonged wage arrears, and the strike is still carrying on. She said that her husband’s brother, who operates hoisters in the mine, has also joined the strike.

Relative:

Now every worker in that mine is on strike, and the officials from the provincial government have just come here. The strike came before the accident. Now no one goes to work there. They haven’t received any salaries for a year.

Han:

Which shafts are strike-bound?

Relative:

Which shafts? Shaft No. 1 and No. 2. There are lots of workers – more than a thousand!

(Someone beside the interviewee said: “It is a state-owned mine!”)

Relative:

It is a state-owned mine, not a private mine.

Han :

Did they punish those workers who led the strike?

Relative:

Nobody dares to punish them! [The mine] hasn’t paid the miners; it hasn’t paid for their work. Who dares to punish them? People can hardly make a living. Who should be punished? The officials daren’t punish them. Here there are corrupt officials who get one million, two million and even 10 million bucks, and no one cares! The workers’ salaries have been embezzled, and the provincial government can’t stop it.

Han:

Is there any one in your family who works in the mine?

Relative:

Yes, my husband’s brother works there.

Han:

Your husbands’ brother works in the mine?

Relative:

Right. He operates the hoister.

Han:

Operating the hoister?

Relative:

Right.

Han:

Does he join in the strike?

Relative:

All go on strike. No one works! No one is allowed to go and work there – no one.

Han:

Does it mean that there is an agreement among the workers?

Relative:

Right. Right. Not to go to work.

Han:

They are not allowed to go to work?

Relative:

One will be scolded for working there. Wage arrears - that’s the key. The money is being used elsewhere. The families here can’t afford to send their kids to school any more. The miners make good money, more than 1000 yuan a month, but they can’t get the money.

Han:

Supposedly, they earn more than 1000 yuan a month?

Relative:

Yes, but no payment. They were not paid. Those officials are rich, and people here complain a lot about how the officials spend their money. Oh! We are very angry; I am angry. I couldn’t make it when they beat up the mine director. Otherwise I would have beaten him up too. This really makes me angry. The wages have been embezzled, and those getting one million bucks by fraud don’t receive any punishment. Who cares? Who can deal with this? There are those who embezzle tens of million bucks, and officials also run their own factories. Who cares? If the provincial officials really care, they will simply settle the issue with a bribe of 100,000 to 200,000 bucks. Who still cares?

The Control Office at Wanbao Coal Mine confirmed with me the miners’ strike, but the official is not willing to tell me whether the strike has ended.

Office:

The problem…basically it has been solved.

Han:

Have the miners resumed their work?

Office:

Ah…Part of them. Our leadership has worked out something with them.

Han:

How many miners joined in the strike?

Office:

We are not very sure about these details.

Han:

How many miners are there in one shaft?

Office:

About four to five hundred.

A teacher from Wanbao Coalmine Secondary School No. 1 told me her views on the coal miners’ strike:

Teacher:

The miners can barely get enough to eat.

Han:

The miners can barely get enough to eat?

Teacher:

Yeah! Damn it. People’s lives are getting more difficult, but no one gets paid year after year. The face miners and the school don’t receive any payment. Recently miners from Shaft No. 2 have been on strike… for six days.

Han:

Six days?

Teacher:

Yup, the strike had begun before the blaze.

Han:

Why did the people go on strike?

Teacher:

Because of wage arrears! All the face miners joined the strike.

Han:

All the face miners were on strike?

Teacher:

Yeah.

Han:

When did it start? It’s December 7 today.

Teacher:

The strike is in its 6th day.

Han:

So the strikes began on December 1, right [‘December 2’ in other interviews – Ed]?

Teacher:

Yep.

She then told me that in September the surface miners also went out on strike because of the wage arrears. Later five organisers have been punished. One of them, a Mr. Duan, party secretary at the mining company, has even been dismissed.

Teacher:

Earlier the surface miners went on strike against wage arrears too. Afterwards, the mine director punished the organisers.

Han:

Punished?

Teacher:

Right. Five were punished.

Han:

When did it happen?

Teacher:

About two months ago.

Han:

A strike in September?

Teacher:

Ah, five people were punished. They were the organisers. A party secretary called Duan was fired.

Han:

A party secretary?

Teacher:

Yes. He’s the section leader and a party secretary. Anyway he was fired. Five people were punished! And one was fined for 280 yuan.

Han:

And the face miners are on strike as well?

Teacher:

Yes!

A shop owner in the mine area said that the lives of the workers are very difficult. She told me that no one spends money there anymore, and her life is getting harder and harder, too.

Shop owner:

Only strikes… People can’t live any longer without salaries. Only strikes can be of some help to them.

Han:

Have any workers been punished for organising the strike?

Shop owner:

That I don’t know. There is no need for leaders. Whoever fails to receive payment is a leader!

Han:

For how long did the worker fail to receive their payments?

Shop owner:

Oh, damn it! Probably they owe each worker ten to twenty thousand bucks. Just a while ago, an old man came to my home, and said that the retired workers only received 4- months’ pensions this year. It is far from adequate, I think.

Han:

How can the workers live then?

Shop owner:

Ah. Damn it. They’re all suffering.

Han:

How’s your business?

Shop owner:

Their lives are so difficult; could we be much better off?

Han:

Nobody spends money to buy things?

Shop owner:

Nobody. Today there is no one in the mine.

A relative of a miner said that the Coalmine tried to send surface workers to work at the face, but who really works in the shaft are those team leaders and group leaders. Almost all the face miners stay on strike.

Relative:

The surface workers do the job; the face workers refuse it.

Han:

Now it is the surface workers mining in the shaft?

Relative:

Yup. But not too many workers, since the face miners are on strike.

Han:

The surface workers don’t have the problem of wage arrears?

Relative:

They do face the same problem.

Han:

Why do the face workers strike against wage arrears, while the surface workers go to the shaft to mine?

Relative:

Most of the surface workers are leaders, but not ordinary miners.

Han:

Most of them are leaders?

Relative:

Right. They are the team leaders, leaders of some sort.

Han:

Not many of the ordinary miners go there to work?

Relative:

Yup. Very few of them.