MCLC: workers protest Gangnam style

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: workers protest Gangnam style
***********************************************************

Source: The Guardian (1/23/13):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/23/chinese-workers-gangnam-style-p
rotest

Chinese workers dance Gangnam Style to protest over unpaid wages
Construction workers from Wuhan say dance was the only way to draw
attention to problems
By Tania Branigan 

They have occupied factories and taken to the streets. But Chinese workers
chose a more unusual form of protest when they highlighted their unpaid
wages by dancing Gangnam Style outside the nightclub they had built.

The construction workers from Wuhan said they had concluded it was the
only way to draw attention to their problems.

Confrontations over unpaid wages are common in the runup to the lunar new
year, often the only time when migrant workers can return home. Many fear
they may never be paid if they leave their cities without their wages.

The leader of the dancers, who gave his name only as Mr Lu, told the Wuhan
Evening News that in total 40 workers were owed 233,000 yuan (£23,300).
"There have been many creative protests over the last few years. Younger
workers in particular are very media-savvy and clued-in," said Geoff
Crothall of the Hong-Kong-based China Labour Bulletin.

"They have weibo [microblog] accounts and make sure people are aware of
the fact they are going to do this performance and get the local media on
board … It's fair to say you have a better chance of success if you can
get publicity for your case."

Last year, children as young as five protested over their parents' unpaid
wages 
<http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/08/22/child-protesters-new-tactic-
in-the-fight-for-migrant-workers-wages/>, holding signs with slogans such
as: "I want to eat, go to school, drink milk and eat biscuits."

More recently, a migrant worker became an internet hit
<http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/china/AJ201211050082> by imitating a
bureaucrat calling for the payment of overdue earnings in a video, after
other attempts to win redress failed.

Crothall said delayed payment was "absolutely routine". Many workers end
up permanently out of pocket if bosses with financial problems decide to
flee.

"We are talking hundreds of billions of yuan a year [tens of billions of
pounds]," he added.

The problem is particularly acute in the construction industry, where
workers often have to wait for a single lump sum payment at the end of the
year and money trickles down through tiers of subcontractors to the
labourers – if it appears at all.

But Crothall said there were also a growing number of factory cases.

The manager of the Wuhan construction company said it was still awaiting
full payment from the developers of the nightclub, who said they would pay
up once problems with the project were resolved.