ChenJiashun(left)showsanemptynesterhowtouseacellphone.
BEFOREtakingupthepositionofdeputydirectoroftheBureauofHumanResourcesandSocialSecurityofQujingCityinYunnanProvince,ChenJiashunworkedinmanyenterprisesintheguiseofamigrantworker.Hehasconsequentlyworkedatloadingandunloadinggoods,aswarehouseman,evenswineherd.Hispurposewastoacquainthimselfwiththeactualconditionsunderwhichmigrantworkersareemployedandsobebetterequippedtohelpthemfindsuitablejobs,aswellastoresolvevariousdisputesbetweenthemandtheiremployers.
LearningontheJob
“IhadnobetterchoicethantopretendtobeamigrantworkerifIwantedtolearnabouttheworkers’realneeds,”Chensaid.
Owingtoinsufficientjobopportunities,thelocalgovernmentofZhanyiCountyofQujingCitymadelaborexportapillarindustry.ChenJiashun,thendeputydirectoroftheBureauofHumanResourcesandSocialSecurityofZhanyiCounty,successivelyledsevenbatchesoflocalfarmerstofindjobsinareasofthePearlRiverDelta.Butmorethan80percentreturnedtotheirhometownafterworkingforshortperiods.
Tofigureoutthereasonforthisandexperiencetheactualconditionsofmigrantworkers’dailylives,asregardseating,accommodation,payment,andhoursofwork,Chensoughtmanualworkatfiveenterprises.
InSeptember2008,ChengotajobwithananimalhusbandrycompanyinYiwuCityofZhejiangProvince.Hewasassignedtotakingcareofsickpigs.Everydayhewouldfirstcleanoutpigmanureandthendealwiththedeadpigs.Thesmellmadehimvomit,andunabletoeat,eventhoughheworeamaskatwork.ButChennevergaveup.
“Afterdoingthejobforaperiodoftime,Ifounditstablewithreasonableworkinghours,andnottoointense,andsosuitableforseniorfarmerswithoutprofessionalskillsinneedofastablesourceofincome,”Chensaid.Helaterrecommended14seniorcouplesfromhiscountyasworkersforthatcompany.
Inthepastfiveyears,hehaspersonallyinspectedandcoordinatedwithmorethan680enterprises,andrecommendedmorethan10,000farmerstothemasworkers.Onlyfivepercentquittheirjobsandreturned.
SafeguardtheRightsofMigrantWorkers
WhenChenledmigrantworkerstofindjobsinYiwuCity,healsohelpedtosettle1,000ormorelabordisputes,sorecoupinglossesworthnearlyRMB2million.Atthattime,migrantworkersinYiwuwouldimmediatelygotoChenwhenevertheyencountereddifficulties,becausehewasalwaysavailable.
FengShui’eandDingDonghuafromZhanyiCountyquittheirjobsatasmallgarmentfactoryafterworkingtherethreemonths,buttheemployerwithheldasubstantialportionoftheirwages.Chenvisitedthefactoryandwenttoalotoftroubletomeetthemanager,whowentasfarastowarnhimnottointerferewiththedispute.However,Chenstilldidhisbesttoconvincehim:“Theydeservewhattheyhaveearned,”hesaid.Eventually,thefactorymanagerpaidFengandDingtheRMB3,700hehadpreviouslyretainedfromtheirwages.
HuJiajiangfromDapoTownshipofQujingCityaccidentlyinjuredhislefthandwhileoperatingamachineatwork,butreceivednocompensationfromtheemployer.Afterstudyingthesituation,ChennegotiatedtwicewithHu’ssupervisor,andevenmadeanoverseascalltothemanager,whowasonabusinesstriptotheU.S.Thetwosidesfinallyreachedagreementoncompensation.
InMarchof2014,afterChenhadbeenpromotedtodeputydirectoroftheBureauofHumanResourcesandSocialSecurityofQujingCity,heremaineddevotedtosafeguardingtherightsandinterestsofmigrantworkers.“ItwasdifficulttocollectevidenceandexerciselawenforcementinareasoutsideQujing,”Chensaid.Tosolvethisproblem,ChenpromotedthesigningofacooperationactionplanwithhumanresourcesandsocialsecuritybureausinthesixregionswheremostmigrantworkersfromQujingwereemployed,sotobettersafeguardtheirlawfulrights.
Chenalsoappointedstafftothetaskofkeepingintouchwithmigrantworkerstoascertaintheirneeds.Hemightthencommunicateandcoordinatewithleadersoftheothersixbureaustodealwithsituationsthataroseandsettledisputes.“Thisismuchbetter,becausenowIcanhelpourworkersjustbymakingafewcalls,”Chensaid.
ProvideJobsLocally
InFebruary2013,ChenwastransferredtothepostofvicedirectoroftheInvestmentInvitationBureauofQujinginSuzhouCityintheYangtzeRiverDelta.Thefocusofhisworkthusshiftedfromhelpingfarmersfindjobsandsafeguardingtheirrightstoattractinginvestment.
DuringhistimeinSuzhou,Chenvisitedmorethan60enterprises.HerealizedthatChina’sprivateenterprisesindeedfacedmanydifficulties.“Myfocusnowismoreonfindingabalancebetweenmigrantworkersandenterprises,andgivingequalattentiontotherightsandinterestsofbothsides,”Chensaid.
ThisworkexperienceinSuzhoualsomadecleartoChenthateffortsshouldbemadetocreatelocaljobopportunitiesinQujing.Farmersmightthenfindsufficientworkintheirhometowntosupportandtakecareoftheirfamilymembers.
Throughhisefforts,twoenterprisessetupfactoriesinQujing.OneistheDadiElectricCo.,Ltd.ofNantongCity,JiangsuProvince,whichcreatednearly200jobs.TheotherisaShenzhenenterprisethatgrowsvegetablesandbreedsmudfish.Itmainlyemployswomenvillagerswhosehusbandsworkoutoftheregion,andprovidesasmanyas150jobsinthebusyseason.
Chenisnowfocusingonpovertyalleviation.“Weareimplementingaprojecttohelpruralresidentsfindjobsinother,moreeconomicallydevelopedareas,tohelpthemshakeoffpoverty.Weplantoexport600,000workersinfiveyears,”Chensaid.
TakeCareof“Left-Bhind”ChildrenandSeniors
DongYa,apupilatBaishapoElementarySchoolinLingjiaoTownshipofZhanyiCounty,looksforwardtoseeingChenJiashuneverymonthwhenhevisitstheschool,becausehebringssnacksandstationery.HerparentsareworkinginZhejiangProvinceandonlyreturnhomeonceayear.
Whensheparticularlymissesherparents,DongYamakesavideocalltothem.“Ourschoolprovidesatoll-freephoneforstudentstocalltheirparentsatnoonorintheeveningafterclass,”Dongsaid.“Therearealsotwocomputersthatwecanusetomakevideocallstoourparents.”
ThefundsobtainedfromthelocalgovernmentforsuchequipmentarethroughChen’sefforts.“Ifyoungparentsneedtogoelsewheretowork,thegovernmentshouldpayextraattentiontotheirchildrenandparents,”Chensaid.Hehasalsosuggestedestablishingamechanisminthisregard.
Moreover,Chenalsoactivelycoordinateswithpublicwelfareorganizationstohelpleft-behindchildren.Forexample,hejointlylaunchedwiththeLovefromthePearlRiverPublicWelfareOrganizationanactivitytodonatebooksandclothestoBaishapoElementarySchool.Hehasalsoinvitedvolunteerstogivepsychologicalconsultationatlocalschools.
InJiaonikaVillage,ChinaTodaysawmanyfinefree-standinghouses.“ItonlycostsaroundRMB200,000tobuildsuchahouse,andaroundRMB400,000foroneinafavorablelocation,”Chensaid.“NormallyacouplecanearnRMB60,000ayeariftheyworkaway.”Butthenumberofleft-behindseniorsgrowswhenthefamilygetsrich,Chenadded.Amongthetotal20ormorehouseholdsinthevillage,nineareoccupiedbyleftbehindeleders.Lastyear,hehelpedtoraisefundsandmaterialsworthRMB800,000tohelpsuchseniorcitizens.
Chenhelpedtoequipeachhouseholdinwhichleft-behindseniorslivewithacellphonewithaprepaidfeeofRMB300,tomakeitconvenientforthemtocontacttheirchildren.Chenalsooftenbringsthemdailynecessitiesaccordingtotheirneeds.Inaddition,heappointedacontactpersonineachvillagetomonitortheseelders’needsandensuretheirwellbeing.
ChenJiashun(left)tellsmigrantworkershowtosafeguardtheirlegalrights.