[Broadcast 6 May 2006]

In the last two broadcasts, retired special grade teacher Sun Xiangying of Qingcheng county in Leshan City, Sichuan province, has been telling us how ever since 1994 the Qingcheng government has been holding back living and welfare benefits from more than 2000 teachers. He said that in the past 11 years each teacher has altogether lost out on around 10,000 yuan, which across the whole county adds up to more than 24 million yuan. For many years the teachers have persistently been bringing this matter to the attention of higher authorities, including by way of teacher representatives on the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) who have raised the matter, asking for the money to be paid, but all without any result. Also, because serving teachers are afraid of reprisals, they are wary of openly taking part in these activities, but only dare to contribute money to assist the retired teachers to raise the matter at higher levels. Eventually, the retired teachers applied for the right to hold a demonstration, under the Law on Assemblies, Processions and Demonstrations, but the local public security bureau refused the teachers' application, citing the possible influence on public order. Please listen now as I continue my conversation with teacher Sun:

Han Dongfang: At the present time, how about benefits for serving teachers, are they ok?

Sun: Usually not too much.  Retired teachers on average get between 600 and 800 yuan.

Han: How long were you a teacher for?

Sun: Nearly 37 years.

Han: By my reckoning you retired in 1995.  Taking into account all your various income sources, how much do you get in total, on average?

Sun: I can't get more than one month's salary, because I'm just a common retiree, I didn't retire on full pay.

Han: Those who retired on full pay were also entitled to an additional full month's salary?

Sun: I get on average about 1200 yuan a month.

Han: Is that basically enough to live on?

Sun: It just about covers living costs.

Han: How about medical treatment?

Sun: Every year I can claim back around five percent of my annual salary towards medical expenses, that's my health allowance

Han: About five percent of [annual] salary?

Sun: That's right, 700 yuan.

Han: What if you have to stay in hospital with a serious illness, are you covered?

Sun: There's a separate coverage plan for hospital stays.

Han: So you're basically saying that the 600-700 yuan per year is just for outpatient services like if you get a cold or fever, that kind of thing?

Sun: Right.

Han: Anything beyond that, you have to pay?

Sun: Anything beyond that I have to pay, and won't be reimbursed.

Han: So how about the serving teachers' benefits?

Sun: Serving teachers are possibly a little better off, but not necessarily, because I was a special grade teacher.

Han: Are the serving teachers guaranteed to receive their full salary every month?

Sun: On the whole they receive it reliably.

Han: Are there any differences in the entitlement for supply teachers and full time teachers?

Sun: Today there are very few supply teachers, because the student numbers are fewer than before, and actually a lot of schools have merged, so the demand for teachers is also less. In the past there were lots of supply teachers, because there were more students.

Han: How about the treatment of village teachers?

Sun: They get their salary as well.

Han: And those teachers who have a formal contract?

Sun: Basically no different.

Han: Well in this period you have taken the (benefits) matter to the authorities directly, and also written letters.  In this time have you have ever thought about consulting a lawyer about whether [the county government] breached the Teachers Law see if there is the possibility of a lawsuit and going to law to resolve this?

Sun: The reality of that, of going the legal route, is that the government and the law courts "breathe out of the same nostril." If you bring a law suit, you'll quickly be done for. 

Han: Have you ever tried it?

Sun: Lots of places, and people round here, have tried it.  For example, we have a production team here, and the government seized land unlawfully, forcing houses to be sold at just 51 yuan and 21 cents per square metre.  The houses were demolished, and then they went on to market high-price dwellings.

Han: How much does it cost to buy a house?

Sun: Houses sell for around 600 yuan a square metre, so what they got was only about one-tenth what was needed. Peasants aren't able to buy places - that's the housing problem. Then there's the problem of land eviction, setting the price of land purchase at 5,000 yuan per mu (Note: a unit of mu is 0.667 hectare), when according to the land management law the purchase price shouldn't exceed 30 times the value of its annual production. The local government just came out with 5,000 yuan per mu, and if people don't pay, they send the public security officers to force their way into your place and arrest you. They'll keep you for a few days before you are released.

Han: Is this something recent, or a longstanding problem?

Sun: There's always been this problem; in the past, and now. Peasants have brought law suits on this issue before. They've been to the middle level courts, higher level provincial courts, but the final verdict has always been that the government itself should resolve this problem, and the government always fails to do anything.

Han: What year was this case?

Sun: 2002, and even today the peasants are still petitioning to get higher authorities to intervene in the case, but still there's no solution.

Han: If we link the peasants' case about land and the teachers' struggle to get their unpaid benefits, perhaps that is simplifying things too much. Perhaps it would be better to present the specifics of each case in a detailed way.

Sun: The courts have all the evidence, but they just choose not to believe it.  There's nothing we can do.

Han: In the whole county there are more than 2,000 teachers who are suffering from arrears in salary benefits. Over more than 10 years each person has been due at least 10,000 yuan, and this is money that should have come from government finances. This is all pretty clear, and surely that's a little different from the land question case. Given this infringement of your rights, couldn't you consider trying legal action?

Sun: You could say that this problem has the same result.  If we went to the courts to bring a suit, very likely they would judge that the government's case is reasonable. They consider that the government has the right to determine policy, and you can bring up State Council's stipulations, but the courts will "look but not see." The courts will generally only take it to that stage; this is one way of deciding the law. Another kind of judge will say that the government should decide the issue, but the government still doesn't decide. So it becomes a vicious circle.

Han: I still feel that with regard to non-payment of teachers' benefits, if there still hasn't been a suit, if you still haven't tried that because you suppose that the courts won't settle this in a just manner for one reason or another, isn't this being a little unfair on the judges?

Sun: On this question of whether it's just or not, I could choose a lot of examples, because my relatives have brought many lawsuits, and the courts have made a mess of them. There are plenty of examples from my own circle of acquaintances.

Next Tuesday evening at the same time, please continue listening to my talk with retired Qingcheng county teacher Sun Xiangyang.