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Migrant Life: Legal aid for migrant workers
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Legal aid for migrant workers is getting more attention now. Today, our reporter visits a legal aid center in Beijing, which has helped several thousand migrant workers win back their rights.
Despite China's rapidly expanding legal profession, many migrant workers still find it difficult to gain access to the judicial system. Representation from legal aid centers is limited. And tomorrow, our reporter Wang Mangmang will explore the issue of assimilation of migrant workers in cities. She will explain why the "hukou" system is still a big problem for them.
One step closer to getting paid.
Every day, dozens of migrant workers come to this legal aid center. The lawyers provide free consultations and services.
Each worker has a different story, but their problems are the same. They are owed payment, pensions or compensation. They have been fired. Most have no legal contract to protect their rights.
Xiao Congde and five others want to sue their former employer. They're owed over 60 thousand yuan in back wages, about 10 thousand US dollars. The local Labor Bureau refused to hear their case, as they have no contract.
Xiao Congde, Mifrant Worker from Sichuan, said, "This is my first time to leave the farm and be a migrant worker. I didn't expect to be cheated and get no money to go back home."
Yu Chen, Mifrant Worker from Sichuan, said, "I know of the legal aid center for migrant workers from news. We don't have money to hire a lawyer. This center is free. We have to rely on it. "
Yuan Jiancai is a frequent visitor. For the past 3 years, he's been to court 9 times to get compensation. His brother died in a work-related accident in 2007. Yuan says he wants justice, so he never gives up.
Yuan Jiancai, Mifrant Worker from Henan, said, "Being a migrant worker is so hard. It takes too long to win a case, and the money we get back is not worth what I could get working another job."
Yuan Jiancai says migrant workers are entitled to equal protection under the law, but the law is too complicated.
Lawyer Shi Fumao showed us the profiles of law cases. Over the past five years, he and his colleagues have helped several thousand workers get compensation.
He says migrant workers are handicapped by a lack of evidence and legal knowledge.
Shi Fumao, Lawyer of Zhicheng Legal Aid Center, Beijing, said, "Most migrant workers don't sign contracts, so they have no basic proof. Their employers refuse to admit ever hiring them, and their working relationship can hardly be proved in legal terms."
Shi Fumao's law office is a non-governmental organization.
Besides providing free legal service to migrant workers, they study their status.
And from their observation, less than 30 percent of them are given contracts, which is illegal under China's 2007 Labor Contract Law.
Shi Fumao, Lawyer of Zhicheng Legal Aid Center, Beijing, said, "The most important thing is for the government to strengthen supervision, while punishing those who break the law. We can't expect all migrant workers to learn how to protect themselves, though awareness is also important."
Yuan Jiancai is still waiting for the court to convene the 10th time.
Xiao Congde and his fellow workers are also waiting to get money to go back home for the Spring Festival. They have decided to take up the legal battle. And they've got a long way to go.
"There are just a few dedicated legal aid centers for migrant workers, like this one in China. For most workers going to court to get compensation is still a long and difficult process. A lot of work needs to be done to further improve the current legal aid system, so migrant workers can enjoy the same rights under the same laws. "
