Ensuring that the wages of migrant workers are paid on time and in full is related to the vital interests of migrant workers and people’s livelihood and well-being, and is related to social fairness, justice, harmony and stability.
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to this. During an inspection in Guangxi in December 2023, he emphasized that “pay attention to solving the problem of migrant workers’ unpaid wages.” The 2023 Central Economic Work Conference requires “to ensure that the wages of migrant workers are paid in full and on time.”
The end of the year and the beginning of the year are the periods when wage arrears are prone to occur. How to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers? How to implement relevant security systems? Are there any innovative explorations in eradicating wage arrears? Our reporters conducted interviews in many places.
–editor
Strengthen source management——
The project department has a “Migrant Workers Wage Rights Protection Center”
Reporter Shi Ziqiang
“Thanks to the ‘Migrant Workers Wage Rights Protection Center’ of the project department, my fellow workers and I were able to get back two months’ wages.” Recalling his recent experience of asking for unpaid wages, Xu Guangfa, a migrant worker from Hubei, said with emotion.
In June 2023, Xu Guangfa came to work on a hospital project in Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province after being introduced by a fellow villager. “There are six of us in total. Before we came here, we negotiated with foreman Feng for a daily salary of 300 yuan, but after working for two months, we never got the money. We approached the foreman several times, but he kept pushing back. Later, we saw the workers in the dormitory next door. The money has already been distributed, so I’m really anxious!”
Seeing that they were anxious, some workers reminded them that they could go to the “Migrant Workers Wage Rights Protection Center” of the project department to report the situation. The “Migrant Workers’ Wage Rights Protection Center” is located on the first floor of the project department. The staff, Wang Kejie, the labor manager of the project general contracting unit, and others patiently listened to the workers’ demands, calmed their emotions, and immediately launched the investigation and coordination mechanism. Contact the relevant personnel to find out the specific situation.
“We are basically familiar with the people involved in the project, and we contacted Feng, who was mentioned by the migrant workers, on the same day.” Wang Kejie recalled. It turned out that Feng was the team leader of one of the subcontracting units of the project. In order to speed up the construction progress, Feng secretly recruited Xu Guangfa and others to work without the permission of the general contractor, and did not lead them into the construction site through the real-name channel, resulting in the six people’s attendance not being recorded.
“Although attendance is not recorded, we do work on the construction site every day.” Xu Guangfa showed photos of their get off work on and off the job that were taken during the work period. The staff of the rights protection center combined with video surveillance to confirm the actual employment situation of 6 people. Therefore, after discussing with the construction unit, the general contracting unit ordered the project subcontracting unit to verify the attendance of Xu Guangfa and others as soon as possible on the same day, and on the afternoon of the next day, all 6 people including Xu Guangfa were paid through the special account for migrant workers’ wages. The salary is 113,800 yuan.
The reporter learned that since May 2023, Hebei Province has explored and launched innovative measures to prevent and control the source of wage arrears – establishing a “Migrant Workers’ Wage Rights Protection Center” on a project basis, requiring the construction unit to take the lead and work with the construction general contractor and subcontractors Units have set up specialized organizations to coordinate and handle conflicts and disputes related to wage payment for migrant workers on a regular basis, so as to prevent the source of wage arrears and resolve them at the front end.
Wang Kejie introduced that in the six months since its establishment, the “Migrant Workers Wage Rights Protection Center” has received 23 consultations from migrant workers in this project and coordinated and resolved 3 labor disputes among migrant workers.
Electrical installation worker Xiang Maoliang told reporters that when they enter the site to work, they first go to the “Migrant Workers Wage Rights Protection Center” to sign an employment agreement here and are informed of the center’s functions in resolving wage arrears. At the end of the project, you also have to come here to go through relevant procedures and leave.
“The purpose of establishing a ‘Migrant Workers Wage Rights Protection Center’ on a project basis is that when the risk of wage arrears occurs, migrant workers can find a nearby organization to express their demands, and this organization is very familiar with the situation of the project where migrant workers are working, and can be the first to respond. Timely carry out risk mitigation and problem handling, significantly improving the convenience and timeliness of rights protection services.” said Shi Gang, director of the Shijiazhuang Municipal Labor Inspection Bureau.
Hu Xionglong, director of the Labor and Social Security Supervision Bureau of the Hebei Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, said that this is the first time in the country that construction units and construction companies have been organized to establish “migrant workers’ wage rights protection centers” on a project basis. Currently, “Migrant Workers’ Wage Rights Protection Centers” have been established in 5,799 construction projects in Hebei Province.
Improving disposal speed and efficiency——
The expedited tribunal achieves “quick establishment, quick adjustment, quick trial and quick conclusion”
Reporter Chang Biluo
“It took less than two days from filing the case to getting the arbitration mediation letter!” Zhang Lei (pseudonym), a migrant worker working in Nan’an District, Chongqing, told reporters that through the “Expedited Procedure for Wage Disputes for Migrant Workers”, he and his colleagues They were owed wages for 9 months, which was finally properly resolved.
It turned out that Lao Zhang and his co-workers had been working at a car sales and service company in Chongqing for more than two years. At the beginning of 2023, there was a problem with the company’s capital chain, and migrant workers were owed 520,000 yuan in wages. In September 2023, Lao Zhang and his fellow workers came to the Nan’an District One-stop Joint Labor Dispute Center to report the situation. The center immediately cooperated with the District Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Court to launch the “Expedited Arbitration Procedure for Migrant Workers’ Wage Disputes” to guide farmers asking for wages. The case was filed on the same day, the court was formed, and the arbitrators were assigned.
The arbitrator handling the case adheres to the principles of fairness, impartiality and openness in handling the case, carefully considers and understands the specific situation of the migrant workers and the company, and builds a bridge of communication between the two parties. Finally, during the arbitration and mediation stage, both parties agreed on a mediation plan to pay wages in two installments. The mediation transcript was signed and a mediation letter was produced on the day of the arbitration hearing. At present, Lao Zhang and his co-workers have received the first batch of arrears of wages, and the rest is expected to arrive before the Spring Festival.
“Long time and cumbersome procedures used to be problems for migrant workers in asking for wages. We have adopted a ‘quick transfer, quick review and quick settlement’ mechanism to shorten the arbitration process for migrant workers’ labor dispute cases.” Nan’an District Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Court Dean Yang Feng said.
It is understood that the Chongqing Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Institution relies on the “quick arbitration chain” to handle disputes related to migrant workers’ wages more quickly, simplifying procedures in accordance with the law in all aspects of acceptance, trial, service, etc., and ensures that the evidence is conclusive and the facts are clear. cases, further shortening the time limit for handling cases, and striving to resolve cases in the shortest possible time.
At present, 42 labor and personnel dispute arbitration institutions in Chongqing have established expedited arbitration tribunals or expedited arbitration teams for wage disputes involving migrant workers. As of December 10, 2023, Chongqing had accepted 682 wage dispute cases involving migrant workers, and concluded 682 cases, involving 717 migrant workers, and the amount involved was more than 6 million yuan.
At the one-stop joint center for labor disputes in Nan’an District, personnel from Nan’an District trade unions, judicial bureaus, courts and other departments are stationed at the center to provide diversified services to workers who come for arbitration in a timely manner.
At the beginning of 2023, more than 100 migrant workers from a company in Nan’an District came to the district’s one-stop joint labor dispute center to apply for rights protection because they were owed more than 2 million yuan in wages. After accepting the case, the Joint Office Center will immediately carry out pre-litigation joint mediation work with the Nan’an District Court, the Commerce Commission, the Taxation Bureau, the subdistrict, and the police station, and implement an integrated case handling system of “guiding judge + labor arbitrator + people’s mediator”. After many efforts, the two parties finally reached a settlement, and within a month, the migrant workers received all their wages.
“We have improved the diversified settlement pattern of migrant workers’ wage disputes. On the basis of legality, fairness and impartiality, we have highlighted the principle of ‘mediation first, mediation without mediation, and combination of mediation’, combining consultation, case filing and mediation, and mediating organizations Actively cooperate with arbitration institutions to jointly complete the basic work required to expedite the filing of cases by the arbitration tribunal and resolve migrant workers’ wage disputes before filing the case.” said Gong Zhihua, head of the Mediation and Arbitration Management Office of the Chongqing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.
In addition, Chongqing has also opened the “Chongqing Easy and Simple Arbitration” online service platform to facilitate migrant workers to conduct a series of arbitration procedures such as online applications, online mediation, and online court hearings. “Through the smart platform, we monitor the data of labor dispute cases in real time and make special annotations for cases involving migrant workers to improve case handling efficiency. At the same time, we also realize off-site mediation of migrant workers’ wage disputes, allowing migrant workers to obtain labor remuneration rights in accordance with the law. I feel that the warm and caring services that benefit the people are ‘at your fingertips’.” Gong Zhihua said.
According to reports, the Chongqing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau will take the construction of the expedited adjudication tribunal as an opportunity to further optimize case handling procedures, improve the expedited adjudication mechanism, strengthen collaborative case handling, help improve the quality and efficiency of the eradication of wage arrears, and promote more harmonious labor relations in the city Stablize.
Upgraded heart-warming services——
Legal Aid “Salary and Warm Migrant Workers”
Reporter Zhu Lei and Wang Dan
“Thanks to the court and the labor union for the mediation, wages and compensation have been explained, and now I can spend the New Year in a down-to-earth manner.” On December 26, 2023, I received the mediation agreement issued by the local court, and the migrant workers in Xihu District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province Migrant worker Jinbiao said happily.
It turned out that in November 2022, while working on a construction site in Xihu District, Gold Label accidentally fell from the scaffolding and was injured. He was diagnosed with a level 9 disability. On June 30, 2023, Gold Standard signed an agreement with the construction party, stipulating that the construction party would compensate a total of 100,000 yuan for early salary settlement, later medical expenses, lost work pay, spiritual comfort payment and other expenses. “Who would have thought that the construction party only paid 20,000 yuan and would not give the rest of the money.” Huang Jinbiao said.
On November 20, 2023, Huang Jinbiao came to the Xihu District People’s Court with a piece of complaint. He originally thought that it would take a complicated court hearing to resolve the matter, but after court staff learned about the situation, they took him to the Xihu District “Court + Trade Union” Labor Dispute Litigation and Mediation Studio. “The court has a green channel for migrant workers to seek legal aid for arrears of wages. They can try to solve the problem through mediation first.” On the same day, the court assigned the studio to carry out mediation work, and a lawyer mediator representing the union immediately intervened.
After accepting the appointment, mediator Wen Xiaoying communicated with both parties several times through the People’s Court mediation platform, patiently listened to the opinions of both parties, comprehensively analyzed the demands of both parties, and ultimately promoted the parties to reach mediation. In order to ensure the performance of the mediation agreement, the mediator guided both parties to apply for judicial confirmation from the Xihu District Court, and issued a mediation letter on December 26, stipulating that if one party refuses to perform or fails to perform in full, the other party may apply to the court for enforcement. .
Chu Lina, deputy director of the Public Legal Service Management Office of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Justice, introduced that since December 2023, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Justice has carried out a special legal aid and benefit operation of “There is law to help you and warm migrant workers”, relying on the public legal service hotline, The three major platforms, online and offline, provide comprehensive and smooth legal aid channels for migrant workers. A green channel for legal aid for migrant workers in arrears of wages has been opened in Jiangxi Provincial Public Legal Service Entity Platform and legal aid institutions. All localities have fully implemented “province-wide universal processing” and “assisted processing” services for legal aid applications, implemented “vacancy-tolerant acceptance”, and provided basic services for basic legal aid applications. If the conditions are met, the main materials are complete and the legal requirements are met, but if other materials or procedures are lacking, the application will be accepted first and reissued afterwards.
“Thanks to legal aid, we finally got the two months of wages we were owed, and we can get the remaining wages before the New Year.” Ms. Hu, a former employee of a property management company in Nanchang County, Jiangxi Province, told reporters that she and 19 co-workers The company was owed wages for four months totaling more than 250,000 yuan. Due to insufficient relevant evidence, multiple complaints were fruitless. “The Nanchang County Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Court helped us contact the County Legal Aid Center and the Federation of Trade Unions to apply for assistance.”
The Nanchang County Legal Aid Center gave full play to the “supervision + arbitration + trade union + legal aid” workers’ rights protection linkage and docking mechanism, and assigned employee rights protection legal aid lawyer Huang Jinsheng to defend the rights of 20 people including Ms. Hu. In early December 2023, with the joint coordination of all parties, the property company paid Ms. Hu and others the wages that had been owed for more than two months, and promised to pay them all before the Spring Festival in 2024.
It is understood that since the launch of the special action, legal aid agencies across Jiangxi have responded actively and implemented measures to facilitate and benefit the people, such as “accommodating vacancies” and “maximum one visit” for migrant workers who apply for legal aid to recover labor remuneration. So far, a total of 6,764 labor consultations have been answered, including 548 times involving migrant workers asking for wages.
“People’s Daily” (Page 20, January 5, 2024)
[Editor in charge: Wu Wenda]
2024-01-05 01:16:00
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