Nearly 13 percent of Chinese firms were found to be paying their
employees less than the local minimum wage last year, according to
a national inspection carried out by China's trade unionists.
"Workers' wages on the average were rising rapidly, but some
employees were underpaid and their wages dwindled year by year,"
Dong Li, director of the expenses review committee under the
All-China Federation of Trade Unions said on Thursday. ?
The average wage of employees in some firms was only 68 percent
of the local average wages, Dong said.
According to the international standard, the minimum wage was
set at 40 - 60 percent of the local average, but some employees
were underpaid, Dong said.
The situation varied among regions, industrial sectors and
firms, Dong said, adding that "it was common for some firms to
demand overtime, but to delay the payment of wages."
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in his annual government work
report that the government should endeavor to raise urban
residents' income by overhauling income distribution and by
increasing the wages of the low-paid.
Unionists have urged the government to make wage rises a
criteria in evaluating the work of state firm managers, and to
issue regulations guaranteeing fair payment of employees.
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2006)