BEIJING: Spiralling unrest ahead of the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4 has China extremely worried, sources told TOI.
Over the past few months, China has seen a sharp rise in protests by workers as factories shut down or resort to selective closures, large-scale retrenchment, wage cuts and production cutbacks. The economy has grown at a much lower rate of 9% in 2008 as compared to the 13% clocked in 2007.
The total number of protests in 2008 stood at 693,000, Yang Zhiming, vice-minister of human resources, said. Efforts are on to safeguard labour interests while helping the economy get on track, he added.
Yang said more than 23 workers were involved in each of the 22,000 cases of collective labour dispute registered in 2008, a spurt of 71% against 2007. Among the issues raised in these disputes were demands by workers for protection of their basic rights, including no layoffs, payment of withheld wages and ending delay in wage payment.
May 11, 2009
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