Why doesn't the government take steps to resolve its conflicts with the people?

06 May 2002
6 May, 2002
China Labour Bulletin

Plans by retrenched Daqing oil workers, who have been protesting against arbitrary changes to redundancy agreements since 1 March, 2002, to hold demonstrations on 4 April have been called off. The workers had originally organised a mass protest action in memory of Iron Man Wang Jinxi to coincide with the Qing Ming Festival on the 4 April. The large-scale protest was dubbed the Three-in-One Day of Action and included three joint actions in which a target of ten thousand workers would wear a white flower in memory of Iron Man Wang, collectively resign from the Communist Party and sign a protest letter against the DPAB's fraudulent behaviour that left them no option but to sign the redundancy agreements.

However, in order to block the workers' memorial action, the Daqing Public Security Bureau (PSB) issued a special notice prior to the Qing Ming Festival entitled "Notice on the Strict Prohibition of Unapproved Burning of Memorial Objects During the Qing Ming Festival".

It is not unreasonable that during the Qing Ming Festival, the government should remind people that the burning of memorial objects and other burial rites must be carried out at undertaker's establishments; public burial grounds and other designated areas and that all fires should be extinguished before leaving so as to prevent them spreading out of control. To this end, the PSB's annual public notice is entirely necessary.

However, the PSB' notice restricting commemorative burning and offerings to designated places also forbids people from using Qing Ming Festival to hold memorial events in enterprises and other places of employment such as government institutions in order to hold gatherings and "cause trouble" that affects public order. Daqing's citizens are well aware that the real purpose of the notice is not to prevent fires, but a response to the retrenched oil workers plans to protest on the day of the festival.

On 4 April, the day of Qing Ming, workers told me via telephone that only a few hundred people had gathered in the Square and the planned "Three in One day of Action" had not really taken off. Undoubtedly, the PSB's notice was one reason for the low turn out. However, workers explained there were other factors involved. One was the fact that the weather had been very bad recently with a good deal of cloud and rainfall accompanied by a drop in temperature. Even more important was that apart from the PSB's notice effectively blocking the workers' organized protest, the government also ensured that local enterprise leaders convened workers' congress meetings. During the meetings, anyone whose family members included retrenched oil workers had to guarantee that their relatives would not go to Iron Man Square on the day of Qing Ming Festival. Any worker who failed to prevent their family members from going to the Square would face dismissal.

The result of this dual pressure from the PSB and the bosses, combined with the bad weather, was that the government achieved its aim of ensuring Qing Ming Festival passed off peacefully - superficially at least. Yet neither the government nor the bosses have shown any concern for the root cause of the workers' protest in the Square despite their continuing for over two months. Not surprisingly, once Qing Ming had passed and the weather improved the number of workers gathering in the Square again climbed to more than ten thousand.

According to workers taking part in the protests, the PSB had previously detained anyone holding up banners, pasting handbills, giving speeches or shouting slogans. As a result, the oil workers were only able to express their indignation and anger through silent protests.

As we go to press, [6 May], street protests are still being staged by the retrenched workers and have attracted attention around the world. Moreover, they have also successfully demonstrated to this same global audience how unjustly workers have been treated in the restructuring of China's state enterprises. In fact, such public expressions of workers' dissatisfaction have been taking place continuously all over China since 1996-'97. Following the speeding up of the pace of enterprise restructuring, the rights of Chinese workers have suffered increasingly serious setbacks, and the frequency of street protests has risen accordingly.

The Daqing government's demanding of guarantees from working people to ensure their family members do not go to Iron Man Square along, with the PSB's public notice concerning Qing Ming activities, regrettably testify the government's failure to address a vital question. Namely, how, against the background of China's distinct political landscape and the continuing economic reform process, can a regular, positive and effective channel be established through which workers can express their grievances? Nor has the government properly examined the question of what kind of structure can facilitate effective solutions to disputes between labour and capital.

In fact, although the problems in Daqing reflect the injustices that Chinese workers are facing, the situation there is by no means the most distressing. A coal miner in Fushun said, "with workers in Daqing whose redundancy deal was fixed at Rmb 4,500 per year of service taking to the streets, how can we not? We only received Rmb 600 for each year of service in redundancy compensation". The lowest redundancy compensation offered is only Rmb 300 a year. The fact is that there are no guarantees a policy of iron-handed suppression can keep even the most poverty-stricken and miserable of workers and in passive silence and off the streets

CLB believes resorting to threats and repression, no matter if it concerns the problems of workers or farmers, can only serve to sharpen social conflicts. Both the central and local governments at all levels are currently building up the overall tension. When it eventually explodes, reconciliation, no matter initiated by whom, will prove to be too late.

The situation calls to mind the Guomindang's refusal to entertain the Chinese Communist Party's reconciliation proposals. When CCP troops marched into the capital in 1949, it was too late for the Guomindang to negotiate and the regime collapsed. Although no troops are marching into the capital of the CCP regime, the people's dissatisfaction and indignation are building up all over the country leaving the Party totally isolated. Why can't the government step back and examine the situation in the clear light of day?
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