More must be done to help migrant workers receive wages

Local authorities should step up efforts to help migrant workers receive their wages on time, rather than erecting procedural barriers for them, according to a Beijing Youth Daily article.

Here are excerpts:

In dealing with this issue, some local authorities require migrant workers to supply as many as nine documents. The workers also have to visit local government offices dozens of times.

Migrant workers face great difficulties in asking for their wages, which poses the question as to whether local authorities are willing to help members of this disadvantaged group receive money owed to them.

Every year as Spring Festival approaches, many migrant workers encounter the problem of bosses defaulting on their wages. If they want to recover their wages through legal means they have to turn to local authorities. But relevant departments always set up bureaucratic hurdles.

On the one hand, a majority of migrant workers are poorly educated and lack necessary knowledge, which makes it difficult for them to fill in complicated documents and forms.

On the other hand, government employees who deal with cases where wages have not been paid, are always indifferent and inpatient. They are always unwilling to provide necessary help to migrant workers, which makes the procedure even harder for these workers.

It may be much easier to hire a lawyer to handle legal affairs, but migrant workers can seldom afford a lawyer's fee.

Moreover, some of the documents local authorities require are very hard to obtain. Many migrant workers don't know how to protect their legal rights. As a disadvantaged group, they are not always able to sign contracts with companies.

The problem of unpaid wages undermines migrant workers' interests. The authorities should act to help them get their wages back, rather than set up more obstacles.