As the Lunar New Year approaches, there’s typically a surge in cases of migrant workers demanding unpaid wages in China. However, with the economy facing a downturn and authorities pushing the narrative of a bright economic future, this year the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials are actively suppressing reports of wage disputes.
Zhang Dong (pseudonym), a migrant worker, said to the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times, “In the construction sector, many workers haven’t received anything for a couple of years.”
He added that the authorities have been censoring news of protests over the delay in payment of wages.
A small business owner from Shenzhen identified as Yang Nan, said that subcontractors are likely the ones withholding wages from migrant workers, particularly in industries such as real estate and infrastructure.
He noted that there is indeed a scarcity of wage dispute and rights protection information online, possibly due to significant investments made by the Cyberspace Administration in so-called internet stability over the years.
“I have a friend who develops software for the government, helping them filter out certain [rights protection] images or text. He made millions last year. Consequently, people may lack channels to access or view this information,” said Mr. Yang.
There have also been reports from Chinese netizens that online wage disputes are being suppressed. The Epoch Times also conducted an online search with keywords such as “wage disputes” on the Chinese social media Weibo, and the results were very minimal. Nevertheless, a few videos have managed to circulate abroad.
Last December, a Chinese netizen’s analysis identified that most migrant construction workers in China were not receiving their monthly wages on time, and most of them were having a hard time earning enough to cover basic living expenses of 1,000 yuan ($139.23).
The late payment of wages has been a chronic issue in China, often stemming from a delay in payment by the local government, which in turn compels contracting companies to defer payments to subcontracting companies.
On Nov. 9, 2018, the late former Premier Li Keqiang urged a special campaign to tackle overdue payments from local governments and establish a lasting mechanism for preventing and resolving the issue of unpaid bills owed to small and medium-sized enterprises.
In March 2019, Mr. Li also told local authorities, “Over 50 percent of overdue payments to enterprises must be made by the end of the year, and new arrears are impermissible.”
Similar claims have been reported by the CCP’s state media every year, however, the efforts to suppress news regarding unpaid wages are more effective.
“Among workers’ strikes and protests in 2023, those in the manufacturing industry increased tenfold year-on-year, reaching 438 incidents (24 percent). The construction industry again accounted for the largest proportion of incidents, with 945 (53 percent),” read the China Labour Bulletin report released by the Hong Kong-based NGO on Jan. 31.
According to the report, the services sector also recorded 208 incidents, a 12 percent increase, followed by transport and logistics (115 incidents, 6 percent increase), education (36 incidents, 2 percent increase), and mining (22 incidents, 1 percent increase).
