Workers assured of wages ahead of festival

In Guizhou province, employers who default on the payment of more than 10 workers, delay paying for more than three months or are more than 100,000 yuan in arrears, will face a fine of up to 100,000 yuan, under regulations provincial legislators passed on Friday.

The regulation stipulates that enterprises in the construction, transportation and power generation businesses will have to deposit an amount of money in a government fund as a bond for worker's wages.

The precautionary measures follow a series of high-profile disputes that have drawn attention to the plight of laborers.

On Tuesday, two waitresses in their 20s attempted suicide in Dalian, Liaoning province, after their employer refused to pay their full salaries.

The women, both from Shanxi province, told police their employer would pay them only 600 yuan for 18 days' work, instead of the 2,000 yuan agreed upon.

They had gone to the labor supervision authority for help but were turned down because they did not sign contracts with the restaurant owner.

In Beijing, on Jan 14, about 140 migrant workers barged into a diplomatic residential compound on Chang'an Avenue to demand their salaries from a man who workers said hired them in Shandong province and had an office in the compound.

Almost 100 officers from the armed police division and public security bureau were dispatched.