BEIJING, April 4 -- They are impressive in numbers. They are the backbone of China's manufacturing and construction industries.

    But they are far too often a disadvantaged group, which, to some extent, can be attributed to their lack of a legal organization to represent and advance their rights.

    They are farmers-turned-workers, or migrant workers, a group now estimated to number 210 million.

    They come from the country's poor rural areas and make a living working on assembly lines or construction sites.

    Now they are dubbed the newly-emerging working class.

    But unlike older workers, who have trade unions to ensure their voices are heard, most migrant workers have no such organization.

    Many of them are illiterate, and have a poor awareness of how to protect or advance their rights through an organization.

    And many of the enterprises they work for, mostly private firms, do not have trade unions.

    All of this means migrant workers are often disadvantaged in labour disputes and in championing their rights.

    The back payment issue, a widely reported problem in recent years, is an example.

    Working hard all year long and going home empty-handed is the most feared scenario for migrant workers.

    But this worst-case scenario has been a widespread and chronic reality for migrant workers in recent years.

    To have their plight noticed and addressed, some migrant workers have resorted to violence or suicide attempts to attract the attention of the public and the authorities.

    If there were organizations representing their rights, the problem might not have become so acute.

    The absence of a formal and legal organization to which they can turn in labour disputes has led migrant workers to form their own organizations made up of people from the same locality.

    These, to a certain extent, perform some of the functions that a formal trade union does.

    For example, in labour disputes, they negotiate pay or other issues with the employer.

    These associations, however, often operate outside the legal framework, leading to many social problems.

    For example, they sometimes try to settle disputes by violence or other extreme acts if negotiation fails. They seldom seek to resolve issues through legal means. And they collect protection fees from workers.

    How to bring their operations into the legal framework is a vital task.

    One way is to replace them with formal trade unions.

    According to the country's trade union law, a legal trade union should first be registered with the civil affairs department and should also be recognized and belong to the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).

    In fact, migrant workers attempted to set up their own officially recognized trade unions as early as the 1990s. Calls for the establishment of trade unions have become more vocal in recent years.

    But the movement did not gain momentum until 2003 following a call from the ACFTU. That year saw many migrant workers' trade unions spring up across the country.

    Hometown fellows' associations have gradually disappeared in places where formal trade unions for migrant workers have been established.

    Recognizing this trend, ACFTU issued a directive last August, calling for trade unions at all levels to bring migrant workers into their organizations and vigorously safeguard their rights and interests.

    A good example of this is in Yiwu, a booming city in East China's Zhejiang Province. It has now been promoted by ACFTU as a model to be followed in other places.

    A famed trading hub for small commodities, Yiwu boasts a vibrant private economy, which mainly thrives on labour-intensive industries.

    As a result, the city has attracted massive numbers of migrant workers to small and medium-sized private firms.

    But as the economy boomed, labour disputes soared, with more than 10,000 cases each year.

    Armed with little legal knowledge and facing lengthy or exorbitant legal costs, many migrant workers turned to various illegally-formed organizations for help.

    At that time, the Yiwu municipal trade union set up a legal assistance centre, specially designed to help workers - migrant workers included - safeguard their rights with free legal assistance.

    By the end of last year, the legal centre had accepted 3,112 cases, of which 2,832 have been addressed.

    With the centre now able to offer them help, migrant workers' reliance on other organizations has ebbed, leading to their gradual disappearance as the centre has improved its reputation.

    Besides setting up the centre, the Yiwu municipal trade union has also helped private firms with 25 or more workers to establish trade unions.

    These grassroot trade unions then act as intermediaries between the municipal trade union and workers. When workers' rights are violated, the trade unions, on behalf of the workers, will report to the municipal trade union's legal assistance centre for help.

    By 1999, firms with 50 or more workers each had all set up trade unions in Yiwu. Enditem

(Source: China Daily)