 |
||
| Photo: Chinese labor officials must be vigilant for "hostile forces" trying to incite dissent among the tens of millions of rural migrants who have lost their jobs due to the global economic crisis, a senior trade unionist said. | ||
Chinese labor officials must be vigilant for "hostile forces" trying to incite dissent among the tens of millions of rural migrants who have lost their jobs due to the global economic crisis, a senior trade unionist said, according to a newspaper Wednesday.
Newly unemployed migrants in some cities have already protested factory closures and demanded back pay. Authorities have moved quickly to placate them, in some cases using public funds to pay workers who were deserted by their former bosses.
Communist leaders fear the unrest could spread to the countryside where jobs have always been scarce. Migrant workers contribute 65 percent of the average rural family's income, according to the People's Bank of China.
Sun Chunlan, vice-chairwoman of the government-sanctioned All-China Federation of Trade Unions, told union leaders and local government officials in a teleconference Tuesday that massive unemployment among the rural work force could seriously affect national stability.
Labor officials should help migrant workers express their demands through "rational and legal methods," and prevent the emergence of "illegal 'rights protection' groups" who could instigate unrest, Sun said.
"Be on guard for hostile forces from both home and abroad that use the problems that businesses are facing to infiltrate and undermine the migrant work force," she said, according to a transcript of the conference posted on the Communist Party's People Daily newspaper Web site.
Sun did not elaborate. China often describes anyone deemed to be anti-government as a hostile force.
The federation is an umbrella group for Beijing-approved unions and generally represents employers' needs to the workers rather than advocating for employees' rights.
As many as 26 million of China's estimated 130 million migrant workers have lost their jobs because of a sharp decline in overseas demand for Chinese goods, including toys, shoes and electronics.
Growing joblessness could also compound simmering dissatisfaction among the poor over corruption, a widening gap between the rich and poor, and a widespread lack of funding for basic services such as education and health care.
(AP)
