The Guangdong Provincial Labour and Social Security Bureau blacklisted 30 companies in the province for owing their employees in total of 20 million yuan (US$2.5 million) in unpaid wages.
The blacklisted companies included five Hong Kong-invested firms, one Taiwanese-owned and three foreign-invested, according to China Daily.
"The actual number of companies that are defaulting on wages is very large. We blacklisted these 30 companies because they refused to mend their ways after repeated education, warnings or even heavy punishments," Zhang Xiang, director of the publicity office of Guangdong Provincial Labour and Social Security Department, told the newspaper on 23 June.
The official English daily named one of the companies, Guangzhou Baoying Shoes Factory, which owed more than 2 million yuan in unpaid wages. After launching protests against unpaid wages, a group of workers at the Guangzhou Baoying factory filed a lawsuit against the company. During the court hearing, the company argued that it was bankrupt after the finance director absconded with all the money. The court auctioned off the factory for 1.2 million yuan to pay some of the wage arrears.
Withholding workers' pay is a common problem in factories and construction companies in China. Many of these workers are rural migrants who usually have little bargaining power their company management. The central government has ordered local officials to make sure workers are paid as promised, but enforcement of relevant laws and regulations has been lax.
Statistics from Guangzhou Bureau of Labour and Social Security show that between 2002 and 2005 the bureau demanded more than 300 million yuan (US$37.5 million) from employers to pay more than 300,000 workers in the city, according to China Daily.
Sources: China Daily (26 June 2006), Associated Press (26 June 2006)
27 June 2006
The blacklisted companies included five Hong Kong-invested firms, one Taiwanese-owned and three foreign-invested, according to China Daily.
"The actual number of companies that are defaulting on wages is very large. We blacklisted these 30 companies because they refused to mend their ways after repeated education, warnings or even heavy punishments," Zhang Xiang, director of the publicity office of Guangdong Provincial Labour and Social Security Department, told the newspaper on 23 June.
The official English daily named one of the companies, Guangzhou Baoying Shoes Factory, which owed more than 2 million yuan in unpaid wages. After launching protests against unpaid wages, a group of workers at the Guangzhou Baoying factory filed a lawsuit against the company. During the court hearing, the company argued that it was bankrupt after the finance director absconded with all the money. The court auctioned off the factory for 1.2 million yuan to pay some of the wage arrears.
Withholding workers' pay is a common problem in factories and construction companies in China. Many of these workers are rural migrants who usually have little bargaining power their company management. The central government has ordered local officials to make sure workers are paid as promised, but enforcement of relevant laws and regulations has been lax.
Statistics from Guangzhou Bureau of Labour and Social Security show that between 2002 and 2005 the bureau demanded more than 300 million yuan (US$37.5 million) from employers to pay more than 300,000 workers in the city, according to China Daily.
Sources: China Daily (26 June 2006), Associated Press (26 June 2006)
27 June 2006