MIGRANT LABOR MARKET SNAPSHOT: CRACKS IN THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHENYANG 000208 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PLAB PGOV SOCI CH SUBJECT: MIGRANT LABOR MARKET SNAPSHOT: CRACKS IN THE SYSTEM (U) This Cable is Sensitive but Unclassified. Please handle accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: A recent visit to a major labor market in Shenyang shows that despite government and NGO efforts to increase protections for migrant workers, an underclass of mostly unskilled migrants continues to exist here. Individuals in this situation have difficulty finding temporary work, going weeks or more between jobs. Several workers complained about forced 14-hour workdays, despite having agreed to a monthly rate based on an 8-hour workday. Others complained of difficult living conditions and having lodging and food subtracted from wages even after having employers orally agree to provide free room and board. Health care is a major problem for migrant workers, notwithstanding the rules dictating that employers purchase coverage for their employees. Furthermore, when migrants are hurt on the job, the boss generally picks the cheapest treatment; no matter what the long-term consequences or the doctor's expert opinion might be. End Summary. Hard Times -------------- ¶2. (U) On November 12, Poloff visited Little Bird, a well-known non-profit organization that helps migrant workers find work and, through a network of volunteer lawyers and other specialists, helps protect migrant workers' rights. The following day Poloff visited a nearby labor market where predominantly migrant laborers seek short-term work. Near the market, an obviously drunk young man dressed in thick, dirty clothes passed Poloff, prompting our sardonic locally employed staff (LES) to quip "Can you feel the change in the atmosphere?" Nearby, twenty men milled around a railing overlooking a scenic pond, attempting to keep warm in the snow and cold, while another crowd of men surrounded two cars, apparently bargaining for work. ¶3. (SBU) Originally outdoors but now housed in a spacious, smoke-filled building, the market is more than 20 years old. On one wall an electronic board advertises potential jobs and phone numbers. However, as one hopeful laborer pointed out, the advertisements never change. To the right of the job bulletin board are the Heping District Migrant Workers Civil Rights Maintenance Center, the Heping District Migrant Workers Labor Skills Training Center, and the Luyuan Labor Union AIDS Control Center. The doors to all were locked at 11:00 A.M., three and a half hours before the market's close. Upon entering the market, Poloff was immediately surrounded by a group of workers who identified themselves as migrants. Several asked Poloff and the accompanying LES if they were hiring, and in the course of a 40-minute conversation with one group, other workers approached, asking the same. The laborers were all eager to make money to return home for Chinese New Year, still three months away. Most were from rural areas of Liaoning Province. However, people from Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shandong, Anhui, Sichuan, and other provinces come to the market looking for work as well. ¶4. (SBU) Fewer than a hundred migrants were in the building, giving it an empty feel. The accompanying LES said that when he last visited the market several years ago, there were about 800 people. However, the prior visit, during the state-owned enterprises restructuring era, occurred during the summertime--high season for seeking employment. At this time of year, he said, the only people looking for work are those who still don't have enough money to go home to reunite with family. Most of the migrants were men, though one of the few women was among the most open. She and another talkative worker, a Liaoning native recently returned from a six-year stint working in Shanghai, explained that the market was usually quite busy. The market opens at 7:00 and closes at 2:30, so it was relatively late in the day. The several inches of snow on the ground may also have kept the numbers down, they opined. ¶5. (SBU) Many of the laborers were in their mid-40s or older; all were unskilled, most wore army jackets, and all complained that finding work was difficult, taking at least several weeks, and sometimes more than a month for temporary, low-quality work with few social protections. For example, the woman explained that she had taken a job in a brick factory where she and the employer had agreed to an 8-hour day and RMB 1000-per-month salary. Instead, she was forced to work 14-hour days. Another man complained that he had agreed to work for 8 hours a day for RMB 1000 a month, with housing and food included, but instead lived in an unheated garage with the cost of food coming out of his wages. Several others complained of similar problems. None of the workers had signed a contract, and all said that while they understood SHENYANG 00000208 002 OF 003 they were free to leave, others would no doubt readily take their jobs. The only people who get to sign contracts, the woman explained, are the young and the educated. The worker returned from Shanghai offered a striking example of the difficult situation he faces back home in Shenyang. Prior to being laid off from his job at the Baoshan Steel Plant, he made between RMB 2000-3000 a month, including free housing and food. Even with the higher cost of living in Shanghai, "I only had to spend money for clothes and for things I liked," he said, adding that he had more disposable income in Shanghai and that wages here are too low. Despite the complaints, these workers said they willingly take jobs without protections. As the woman explained, after a certain amount of time without work, people take any job so they can eat. The Kind of Help We Can Do Without -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The migrants Poloff encountered in the market appear to fall through the cracks. According to them, they receive no money from the government, have no shelters to turn to, and do not have the type of problems that established organizations are equipped to address. The same talkative woman and others explained that while there are soup kitchens for homeless Shenyang residents, hungry migrants have no place to turn. The social assistance programs are geared primarily towards resident beggars and the homeless. In order to receive help from the Social Assistance Center, people must show an ID card and give the location of their household registration. They must also say why they are seeking help and give contact information for their relatives, making it easy for the municipal groups to verify that they are unqualified migrants. In the end, they believe they have to rely on themselves. ¶7. (SBU) The migrants we met had heard of Little Bird but said they did not find the group particularly helpful. They complained that the kinds of work Little Bird is able to find is not suitable for them because of their lack of required skills. While Little Bird can be helpful in claiming back wages, the migrants believed the NGO to be of no help in enforcing oral agreements to work no more than a set number of hours without receiving extra pay. In fact, a former employee who worked at Little Bird as recently as this summer said that to his knowledge no migrant had ever approached Little Bird with such a complaint. In his view, it would be extremely difficult to collect evidence to prove overwork with no extra pay. Many of the migrants are also members of the Luyuan Labor Union - a union that helps laborers claim back wages. As with Little Bird, the union is of little use because claiming back wages is not the primary problem - getting a job to start with and having contract agreements honored for both hours worked and wages are the primary concerns. ¶8. (SBU) During Poloff's visit to Little Bird, Ms. Lu Yanli explained that the major problem facing migrant labor these days is finding work and her impression was that people were generally able to do so within a few weeks. She also had a positive view of the protections both the Shenyang city government and the Liaoning Provincial government provided migrants, particularly as they relate to securing wages in a timely fashion and receiving health care for work-related injuries. She also said that recent rules passed ensuring that migrant laborers and locally-hired individuals receive the same pay for the same work offer further protections and said she knew of no recent complaints of disparate wages. ¶9. (SBU) Lu's impressions do not necessarily contradict those of the migrants we met at the market, but in some ways they provide evidence of that migrants form an underclass, perhaps small, living life with little or no protection. The migrants with whom we spoke did not complain about unequal pay with non-migrant laborers because they perform jobs that only other migrants in similarly precarious situations would do. Nor is delinquent pay the issue. Being paid to scale for the stated number of contract hours is the chief problem. And as far as health care goes, the migrants we talked to simply laughed bitterly when asked if they had such coverage. ¶10. (SBU) A recent experience from our LES assistant offers a prime example of the lack of health coverage for migrants. While waiting for a medical exam, our LES saw a migrant worker enter the clinic with a broken foot. (He had fallen from a 9-foot ladder.) When the doctor suggested surgery, the worker looked up at a well-dressed man, presumably his boss, shook his head no, and settled for a plastic cast despite warnings that pressure from the swollen foot against the cast SHENYANG 00000208 003 OF 003 could cause permanent damage. When the worker was asked if he had insurance, the boss intervened to say he did not. The physician subsequently told our LES he had seen many similar cases, despite the fact that employers are required to buy both medical and work-related injury insurance. And, the doctor added, when migrants are hurt, the boss always picks the cheapest treatment, no matter what the long-term consequences or the doctor's expert opinion might be. WICKMAN