Employers across China paid out 5.7 billion yuan (US$689.24
million) in overdue wages to migrant workers in the first week of
this year, 44.11 percent of the total overdue last year, said the
Ministry of Construction Friday.
Construction administrations at all levels are checking both
government-invested construction projects and construction
companies for overdue payments to migrant workers, the ministry
said.
The government was trying to help all migrant workers receive
their pay before the Chinese New Year holiday, the ministry
said.
Spring Festival, the traditional Lunar New Year beginning on
Jan. 22 this year, is the major Chinese holiday for family
gatherings. Many migrant workers are returning home with their
earnings from the past year.
The Intermediate People's Court of Taiyuan, capital of north
China's Shanxi
Province, ordered employers to pay 1.8 million yuan to about 400
migrant workers on Thursday.
The construction industry accounts for a major part of the total
overdue pay to migrant workers.
About 30 million migrant workers work in construction, about
one-third of the country's total migrant workers in cities.
At the end of 2003, China launched a nationwide campaign to help
migrant workers get their back pay. The State Council also issued a
notice urging companies to pay up.
(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2004)