Migrant workers in Beijing ( 2003-09-09 08:36) (bjtoday.com)
"Mingong" or migrant workers may perform vital tasks, but that
doesn’t make them more popular. Dressed often in ragged or dirty clothes,
carrying huge bags and speaking in distant dialects, they suffer rather than are
welcomed in the capital.
Guo
Tao
"Beijingers think we pollute their air
and that our baggage takes their space, even though we’ve bought tickets for the
bus, just like them," says Guo Tao, a worker from the countryside who had high
hope when he came to the big city. “They always look at us scornfully, but our
work is also great. Without us, they couldn’t live in their new houses."
Different status
Guo Tao, 20, has been working on a construction site for one year.
Three years ago, after having graduated from junior middle school in
Gu’an county, Hebei Province, Guo Tao came to Beijing. He did a variety of jobs
but eventually had to settle for life as a builder. “My father is a builder. I
don’t have much education, and few chances to find other jobs. But being a builder
is at least a straightforward job. And they treat me well because I am the smallest
one.” Guo Tao is working as a “shuigong”; he is in charge of waterpower for a
local construction company.
“I know one of the leaders in the company, so I got the chance to be a water
worker. The job is not too tiring compared with what other workers do, but it
isn’t that well paid. I get about 500 yuan per month.That's probably better off
than the most basic laborers. Lacking any skills, they do the most physical work
like digging ad moving bricks. They get around 20 yuan for a day’s work. Tilers
and men who work with concrete get about 30 yuan per day. The signaler is the
only worker who is required to have a national license, and gets about 600 uan
per month.
The leader of one group, usually of about 10 workers, is called a Zuzhang(team leader).
They don’t get any more money but can delegate tasks. The section chief
(Gongzhang) does not work. He gets about 1,000 yuan a month for supervising and
reporting to the boss.
Living in the buildings on his construction site, over 1000 workers used
to sleep in one basement. That was before SARS, after which such large crowds in
one space became too dangerous. Now 14 builders share one dormitory according to
the regulations. Taps for washing are out in the yard. And of course, only the
bosses have air conditioning in their dormitory.
Though standards vary at different building sites, food usually isn’t provided free
of chanrge. The builders whom Guo works with pay 5 yuan per day for
their food, even though they only get the cheapest stuff, usually vegetables.
Bosses occasionally buy builders some meat, in order to encourage them to work
hard. After getting their money, the builders often go to a restaurant for a
proper feed.
“I have to do that,” says Guo, “in order to settle a month’s worth of hunger
in one supper."The workers get up at 4:30 am. The work time is about 13 hours,
but if the project is running behind, overtime is a must. Only in the heaviest
rains will work be suspended. The workers put up with this, knowing that if the
boss is penalized for any delays, the workers will be the scapegoats in the end.
Countrymen
Tower building is very dangerous, and accidents often happen. But workers
usually have no insurance and must rely on their company’s “generosity” to cover
medical bill. Guo Tao says he has been lucky and has yet to suffer an accident.
But once, when he was working in Tongzhou, a suburb of Beijing, he saw one man
fall from a building and injure his leg.
“The boss brought him to hospital and paid the fees. But the man did not get
any time to rest. For each day he didn’t work, he got no money.” That worker was
relatively lucky. Other injured workers have been left without a cent to cover
their medical costs.Trust is a key part of construction employment, so people
often agree to work for someone from their hometown. As most construction firms
are privately owned, the guarantees for both sides are less binding.
Often there is no written contract. Bosses don't want
to be left in a hole if their workers strike. They only pay the workers after the completion of
the job. But for workers, this poses the problem that bosses frequently refuse
to pay them after they’ve finished. Both sides, the workers in particular, feel
safer working with people from their part of the country. Fights often break out
over disputes, but usually among the workers. They regard this as the only way
to settle a dispute, having little or no recourse to the law. Reprisals against
bosses who have refused to pay up are rare.
It is unjust
“Everyone knows that Beijingers dislike us. They always complain about how
dirty we are. But how are you supposed to stay clean on a building site?
Beijingers should try working there themselves,” Guo says angrily.
There is a bridge in front of Guo’s building site. In their spare time, builders will
wash and change into clean clothes. Standing on the bridge, no one notices
them or looks at them, just because they don’t look like mingong. Most
builders are young. Generally they leave for big cites seeking work after
finishing primary school. Those with high school diplomas are considered well
educated.
Like a lot of the other workers, Guo Tao wanted to get out of his village, to see
the outer world and to broaden his mind. But there’s little time for that if
you’re working 13 to 14 hours everyday. There are no newspapers, radios or TV
sets provided on building sites.
Guo Tao doesn’t smoke. “I like to go out and see people in the street or find
a lively restaurant. I look at the different people and wonder what difference
there is between us." “We have the same ideals in our childhood as people in
Beijing, but we are not able to choose how to live.” Guo feels he is just a
passenger in the city, staying for a few years, even though he has helped in
building it. “We have no money or education so Beijing can’t be our
home."
