One sixth of migrant workers in Hainan earn less than 500 yuan a month, far below the legal minimum wage in the province, according to a survey by the province’s trade union federation. The majority (55 percent) of the 350 workers surveyed by the union earned between 500 yuan and 1,000 yuan a month. Only five percent could earn more than 2,000 yuan a month. Not surprisingly, 90 percent of the respondents said they were not satisfied with their current level of income.

The death toll in yesterday’s explosion at a fireworks factory in northeastern China has risen to 19, with more than 150 injured or missing. It is still not known for sure how many workers were in the factory at the time.

The standard compensation award for work-related injuries and death will be substantially increased next year, the state council announced Monday 26 July. From 1 January 2011, the basic one-time compensation award for work-related death will be raised from 200,000 yuan to 343,500 yuan. And when funeral expenses and monthly pension payments to the relatives of the deceased are included, the total payment will come to around 618,000 yuan on average.

The week-long strike at Honda supplier Atsumitec ended Thursday after workers and management agreed to a 45 percent increase in the basic wage from 980 yuan a month to 1,420 yuan. And the Guangdong provincial government is currently drafting Regulations on the Democratic Management of Enterprises (广东省企业民主管理条例), which if implemented would establish a legally binding wage negotiation system.

At least 51 miners have been killed in four separate coal mine accidents over the weekend, the official Chinese media has reported The most serious accident occurred on Saturday evening when a fire swept through a privately-run mine in Hancheng, Shaanxi, killing 28 miners working underground at the time. The mine owner was subsequently detained by police.

Young migrant workers in Shenzhen, just like their parents, have to work long hours in hazardous conditions for low pay. The key difference between the generations, a new survey shows, is that the expectations of younger workers are much higher than their parents, seeking to establish a life for themselves in the city rather than return to the countryside.

Minimum wage increases of about 20 percent on average went into effect yesterday in another ten provinces and municipalities including, Beijing and Shenzhen, as a strike at a Japanese-owned electronics factory in Tianjin entered its third day. The minimum wage adjustments brought the number of provinces that have raised the legal minimum wage since it was unfrozen at the beginning of this year to around 20, with most other provinces expected to follow suit by the end of the year.

Two new strikes have halted production at Japanese-owned automotive components and assembly plants in Guangzhou. Workers at NHK-UNI Spring (Guangzhou) went on strike Tuesday, after workers at Denso (Guangzhou Nansha), which supplies fuel injection equipment to Honda and Toyota, walked off the job on Monday demanding higher pay and better benefits.

At least 47 miners were killed and dozens more severely injured when an explosion ripped through a privately-run coal mine in Henan in the early hours of Monday morning. The Xingdong No 2 coal mine in Pingdingshan had been operating without a valid licence since 6 June, the official Xinhua news agency reported

Workers at a second Toyota plant in Tianjin went on strike on Thursday 17 June, causing production to be suspended. A brief strike at Toyota’s steering wheel manufacturer in Tianjin earlier on 15 June ended when management agreed to consider workers’ demands for higher pay. However, several workers at Tianjin Star Light Rubber and Plastic have expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of negotiations and are threatening to strike again if their demands are not met. Meanwhile, the trade union at the Honda components plant in Foshan, which did nothing to help workers in their successful strike action last month, is to be reformed and its leaders democratically elected by the employees, a senior Guangdong union official has said.