China News Service, Lanzhou, September 10th (Dai Wenchang) I have been chasing "salary" for 22 years in order to change my "heart" and peace of mind for my fellow migrant workers. Niu Chengmin, director of the Labor and Social Security Rights Protection Center of the Gansu Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, has been working as a labor and social security supervisor for 22 years. During this period, he witnessed the legalization and institutionalization of wage payment for migrant workers, and witnessed tens of thousands of migrant workers putting their hard-earned money into their pockets.
On April 23, 2021, Gansu held a legal publicity and education day event for migrant workers with the theme of "strengthening legal protection and working in accordance with the law to safeguard their rights." (Information picture) Photo by Zhang Jing
On the 10th, the Gansu Provincial Government Information Office held a media meeting event called "Strugglers on the New Journey" - a special session for representatives of the human resources and social security system. According to Niu Chengmin, he has been dealing with migrant workers all year round and knows that behind every penny of wages is the livelihood and hope of a family. This job is not only a duty, but also a matter of conscience.
In recent years, the Gansu Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government have insisted on "removing excess, curbing increase, and grasping the source" to work together, and complaints of unpaid wages have been steadily declining. Where do the results come from? It relies on doing it one move at a time. From clarifying wages at their source, to smoothing the way for people to defend their rights, and then to moving forward to take precautions, the chain of managing unpaid wages is getting tighter and tighter in Gansu.
Paying wages to a "clear account" is the first step in dealing with wage arrears. Niu Chengmin said that Gansu Province has comprehensively implemented information supervision and has integrated more than 20,000 projects under construction into the "Longminggong" platform. Attendance and salary payment are clear at a glance; wages are sent directly from special accounts to personal cards, avoiding interception at all levels. Since the platform was put into operation, it has supervised and distributed a total of 62.2 billion yuan in wages, allowing 2.11 million migrant workers to receive "clear money."
Wages should be paid clearly, and channels for people to safeguard their rights should also be open. Gansu has established a wage arrears complaint platform so that migrant workers can make complaints at any time by scanning the QR code; labor and social security supervision agencies at all levels have set up complaint windows and published reporting hotlines, and rights protection notices have been posted at the entrance of every construction site. The intelligent voice calling system also randomly calls on-the-job migrant workers on a regular basis to proactively inquire about their salary payment status. It has visited more than 430,000 people and discovered more than 500 clues, ensuring early detection and early processing.
The picture shows female workers at a lily company in Qilihe District, Lanzhou City, packaging lilies on the production line. (Information picture) Photo by Zhang Jing
If unblocking channels is about "protecting rights after the fact," then source governance is about moving the gate forward. Gansu pays close attention to the "first gate" of engineering projects, implements real-name attendance systems for all projects under construction, implements separate accounts for project and salary payments, and special accounts to ensure that salaries are paid and paid on time; it also cooperates with the competent departments of housing construction, transportation, water conservancy and other industries for regular inspections to solve problems in the bud and achieve monthly settlement of wages.
Prevention comes first, and punishment must not be absent. Every quarter, Gansu regularly announces major labor and security violations, and places companies and individuals with serious wage arrears on the list of joint punishments for breach of trust, making them "untrustworthy in one place and restricted everywhere." Those suspected of refusing to pay labor remuneration are transferred to the public security organs for investigation and investigation, so that those who owe wages are afraid to reach out if they want to be owed wages.
"Recovering more wages can give a family more stability." Niu Chengmin said that this is the original intention that has supported him through 22 years of rights protection. (over)
