Original title: Migrant worker seeking unpaid wages ambushed and killed by personnel from China Railway 15th Bureau project department

 

　　Migrant worker Zhao Zhiming was hacked to death by employees of the defaulting company simply for trying to recover his 8,000 yuan in unpaid wages. The recent incident at the China Railway 15th Bureau's Guangle Expressway project has shocked the public. An investigation by reporters found that some construction companies resort to violence in dealing with migrant workers' wage demands, occasionally leading to bloody incidents. Local governments are reluctant to offend these key project construction units, allowing defaulting companies to act arrogantly while wage-seeking migrant workers become victims.

 

　　Wage-seeking migrant workers ambushed on the road

 

　　"The police had just left, and right after that we were ambushed, like the mafia on TV." More than ten days after the incident, Zhao Xinbiao was still shaken.

 

　　On March 6, Zhao Xinbiao, his nephew Zhao Zhiming, and 21 other fellow villagers from Quanzhou, Guangxi, went to the China Railway 15th Bureau's Guangle Expressway T22 project department in the suburbs of Yingde City, Guangdong Province, to demand wages that had been in arrears for over half a year.

 

　　Shortly after 1 p.m., the workers left the project department without success. Unexpectedly, more than ten minutes later, they were intercepted by a group of people. Zhao Xinbiao said: "Three cars came. Two were lying in ambush ahead, and one chased from behind to block us. More than twenty people, armed with machetes over a meter long and iron rods, charged at us without a word."

 

　　Zhao Xinbiao recalled that the workers, unarmed, were stunned. Many were knocked to the ground, and then scattered in all directions. After the group swaggered off, they found Zhao Zhiming lying in a roadside ravine, bleeding profusely. "He blinked once and was gone, without leaving a last word," Zhao Xinbiao said.

 

　　According to the head of the criminal investigation brigade of the Yingde Public Security Bureau, preliminary investigation showed that the leaders of the attack that noon were Li Yukun and three others, all from Langbu Village in Chengnan, near the project site. Li Yukun was an employee of the China Railway 15th Bureau project office and, according to the contract, a material contracting transporter for the project department. Currently, the public security organ has criminally detained four suspects and is pursuing three others online.

 

　　Reporters confirmed from multiple sources that since September 2013, Zhao Xinbiao and others had long been owed wages. After repeated demands, more than 140,000 yuan was still owed after the Spring Festival, of which Zhao Zhiming was due 8,000 yuan.

 

　　China Railway enterprises: untouchable everywhere?

 

　　Zhao Ping, deputy manager of the China Railway 15th Bureau's Guangle Expressway T22 project department, denied that the project department instigated the retaliation, but said "supervision was indeed inadequate" and "we don't speak the local language, so we usually ask Li Yukun to help handle some disputes with villagers."

 

　　In recent years, a few central enterprises involved in key project construction have resorted to violence to deal with economic disputes, resulting in bloody incidents.

 

　　According to incomplete statistics, over the past few years, just two companies under the "China Railway" umbrella have been involved in more than 10 serious violent assault incidents while handling economic disputes such as wage arrears.

 

　　Industry insiders analyze that the construction industry has a mixed workforce, and some "China Railway" enterprises have extensive management and rough working styles.

 

　　Involving key projects, trying to minimize?

 

　　Reporter investigation found that most such cases involve key projects. Local governments depend on these projects and sometimes "turn a blind eye" in handling them.

 

　　Zhao Yongqi, vice chairman of the labor union of the First Company of China Railway 15th Bureau, said: "China Railway has no direct responsibility. Out of humanitarian considerations, we are giving the family a one-time compensation of 180,000 yuan."

 

　　Grassroots cadres in Yingde City reported that the China Railway 15th Bureau project team had defaulted on migrant workers' wages for years, but the local government was helpless. Because the Guangle Expressway project is Yingde's "No. 1 project," authorities blindly "smooth things over" to ensure early opening to traffic; another reason is that China Railway 15th Bureau is a central enterprise, and the local government is unwilling to court trouble.

 

　　China Railway enterprises

 

　　Wage arrears incidents review

 

　　● July 13, 2009: During a confrontation with wage-seeking workers, the China Railway 23rd Bureau's Darui Railway project department beat workers, causing the death of one worker.

 

　　● July 2010: In the Pingbian County section of the Menghe Railway in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, an incident of beating wage-seeking workers occurred. The Fifth Company of China Railway First Bureau organized more than ten workers armed with machetes and iron rods to drive away and beat migrant workers, injuring five on the spot.

 

　　● August 2012: A brawl occurred in the Anhui section of the Beijing-Fuzhou High-Speed Railway. China Railway Sixth Bureau organized over a hundred people armed with sticks and iron pipes to beat wage-seeking migrant workers, injuring more than 20.

 

　　● May 2013: In the Lingshi section of the Datong-Xi'an Passenger Dedicated Line in Shanxi, due to a dispute over project payments, a brawl broke out between China Railway 15th Bureau and site employees, injuring the local police station chief and multiple workers.