In this Issue:

1. Editor's Note
2. MONTHLY NEWS REVIEW
- Resisting Unfair Deals in China's State Enterprise Reform - Oil Workers in Chongqing Strike Back
3. NEWS UPDATES
- The Liaoyang Four Have Been Detained For Almost Seven Months - With No Formal Charges
- Chongqing Oil Workers Not Falling for Company's Delay Tactics
4. VOICES FROM CHONGQING
- "We've been forced into redundancy"
- "Better to Die Fighting Than Starving to Death!"

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Editor's Note

"The workers here wouldn't have had the idea and the courage to organise ourselves if not for the actions taken by Daqing workers in March", a retrenched worker in Chongqing told CLB.

Inspired by the struggle of oil workers in Daqing in the spring, fellow workers from Chuandong Oil Exploration & Drilling Company (COEDC) in Chongqing have been staging sit-ins since September 2. Their action adds to the momentum of workers' resistance against unfair treatment under the state enterprise reforms. There have been repeated calls from the Chinese government to ensure a stable life for the laid-off workers, (and a stable society ultimately), the widespread workers' protests tell us that the calls are muted.

But the dislocated workers are not going to wait for windfalls. Despite persistent official clampdown on independent workers organising, workers in China have been resorting to various means to claim their rights. Retrenched COEDC workers have taken a different course from those in Daqing - they were ready to bring the company to court for illegally terminating their employment.

How much legal actions can achieve in the current political and judicial setup in China is obviously debatable. The response from one CLB reader is inspiring for trade union activists: "I guess the oil workers' litigation will not be heard at all? I think the only way out is to organise our own trade unions".

Workers' resistance in Liaoyang city earlier this year, however, has met with high-handed repression. The Liaoyang Four (Yao Fuxin, Pang Qingxiang, Xiao Yunliang and Wang Zhaoming) have been detained since March 2002 for their leading roles in organising Ferroalloy Factory workers against corruption and bankruptcy. To date, they have not been formally charged yet, and the public security authority has rejected the request of Yao's lawyer to meet his client.

According to the legal provisions on the maximum length of detention, the local authorities have to decide whether prosecution will be undertaken by the end of this month. We will keep you timely informed of the current situation, and we appeal to you to stay in solidarity with the Liaoyang Four who have been stripped of freedom for claiming their rights through peaceful activities.

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MONTHLY NEWS REVIEW

Resisting Unfair Deals in China's State Enterprise Reform - Oil Workers in Chongqing Strike Back

The recent protests by oil workers in Chongqing were partly inspired by three months of sustained and organised protests by former oil workers in Daqing, north-east China. The workers' grievances are a result of restructuring in China's oil industry which has left ten of thousands of oil workers out of work. While the Chongqing oil workers are seeking to bring the company legally accountable to the unfair deals, one CLB reader expresses that the only way out is to organise their own trade union.

http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2164 [2]

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NEWS UPDATES

The Liaoyang Four Have Been Detained For Almost Seven Months - With No Formal Charges

On September 29 and 30, workers from Liaoyang Ferroalloy Factory petitioned the city government again for the release of the four arrested workers' representatives -- Yao Fuxin, Pang Qingxiang, Xiao Yunliang and Wang Zhaoming - who have been detained since March 2002. CLB has talked with Yao's daughter on his father's current situation.

http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/4852 [3]

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Chongqing Oil Workers Not Falling for Company's Delay Tactics

Several hundred retrenched workers from Chuandong Oil Drilling & Exploration Company (CODEC) in Chongqing have maintained daily sit-ins (except weekends) since September 2. The workers' demands centre on unemployment allowances, pension benefits and alternative employment or reinstatement for younger retrenched workers. CODEC has not responded to the demands, and the company's security staff said, "[We are] playing for time to wear them out. Let's see how long they can keep it up."

http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/4846 [4]

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VOICES FROM CHONGQING

"We've been forced into redundancy"

Protesting retrenched workers from Chongqing-based Chuandong Oil Exloration & Development Company (COEDC) held that the company had dishonestly coerced them into accepting the severance deal. They have put up banners saying "Oil Workers Unite and Fight for your Rights" and "We've been cheated and forced to take redundancy". A retired teacher from Sichuan Petroleum Administrative Bureau -- parent company of COEDC -- talks about how the redundancy hits the workers who have been coerced into taking the deals.

http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2152 [5]

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"Better to Die Fighting Than Starving to Death!"

New banners were raised in the Chongqing oil workers' struggle, saying "Iron Man Iron Man look back, corrupt officials are at your back. Iron Man Iron Man look ahead, your kids live by begging". A retrenched woman worker told CLB that the workers were united and they would not consider going back, even if the government would threaten them with arrest.

http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2158 [6]