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.

Spurred by the Foxconn suicides, and aided by an exploding Internet, China's labor ranks are organizing for higher wages and more rights

Three students go “undercover” as migrant workers in Dongguan. Their report details the pay and conditions and the attitude of migrant workers towards employer abuses and their awareness of the law.Photo by Travel Geographer.

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.

As Foxconn plans to move more production inland, workers at its flagship facility in Shenzhen face an uncertain future. Photograph of Shenzhen by Nako

After a morning of confrontation with his bosses at an auto parts factory in southern China, Wei took a different route home to avoid the plain-clothes police tailing him. As soon as he reached his building, Wei darted up a flight of stairs to his small rented room and logged onto a desktop computer.

Zhang Liwen found out that she was about to go on strike over a breakfast of steamed buns and congee rice porridge at her factory dormitory. Fifteen minutes later, she was taking part in industrial action for the first time in her life.

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.

As an unprecedented wave of strikes rolled across China this month – shutting car plants and electronics component makers – the staff at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Beijing decided they, too, had had enough.