On Wednesday, 5 March 2008, three migrant workers entered the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as deputies to this year's National People's Congress (NPC). China's official media hailed the "election" of these deputies as a "symbolic and significant" development. 

China Labour Bulletin appears in this article. Copyright remains with the original publisher Abuses Continue Despite Assurances Linked to Olympics, Critics Testify

Guangdong trade union officials have publicly acknowledged that the most effective way to protect workers' wages is through direct negotiations between labour and management. Will their actions match their words?

Workers seeking back pay from negligent employers have been attacked by thugs, detained by police and threatened not to talk to the foreign media. On 15 January 2008, Wang Chao a migrant worker from Sichuan had an arm chopped off by hired thugs from the construction company in Nanjing when he attempted to obtain the wages owed him.