Two victims of silicosis, both employed at Lucky Jewellery in Guangdong, tell Han Dongfang how collusion between the factory and local government had stymied their attempts to get the compensation they were legally entitled to.

Pneumoconiosis is the number-one occupational disease in China, accounting for around 90 percent of all cases. More than 10,000 workers are diagnosed with this deadly lung disease every year. Yet only a handful get anything like the compensation they are legally entitled to. Most only receive a small lump sum that can cover medical costs for a few years; many get nothing at all. And countless other victims cannot even get the official diagnosis they need to initiate a compensation claim.

It is the number one work-related disease in China, with an estimated more than one million cases. It is contracted by inhaling mineral dust, most common among coal miners and those who work on building sites, sand-blasting, welding and gem and jade processing. It has no cure and in nearly all cases, is fatal.

Danwei, in a translation from the Shenzhen Evening News, has an amazing story about a migrant worker who’s life has been turned upside-down simply because he’s trying to do the right thing. Danwei writes that, “Li Zhanfeng (李展锋), a security guard,…was hospitalized after being stabbed while trying to stop a robbery. His company had not registered him for work-related injury insurance, so he was treated at the hospital under the name of another employee who did have insurance. He reclaimed his name but now owes more than 30,000 RMB in outstanding medical bills that his former employer refuses to pay.”