EIGHT construction workers threatening to hurl themselves from the top of a tall building caused a brief commotion last month in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Their demonstration was only one notable example of a form of protest that grows particularly common at this time of year. December and January are the busiest months for altercations related to unpaid wages, as workers seek any means to solve their problems ahead of the soon-arriving Spring Festival. With Beijing’s poorest still stewing over a decision to demolish swathes of the city’s cheap housing, the risk is that this year’s seasonal disputes will end up even tenser than usual.
Quarrels relating to unpaid wages are endemic in the construction industry, and in recent years have also afflicted factories, service businesses such as catering and even some internet startups. Construction firms employ hordes of labourers from the countryside, of whom only a fraction toil under proper...Continue reading
Source: China http://ift.tt/2jUCHbD
EmoticonEmoticon