A woman who lost a sex discrimination case against
her former employer at a local labor dispute arbitration committee
on October 17 said yesterday she had filed her case with a local
court. Her law postgraduate son said the committee's ruling had
been the result of applying inappropriate laws.
Zhou Xianghua said her case is due to be heard on
December 9 at Zhanhe District People's Court in the prefecture of
Pingdingshan in Henan Province, and that she had decided to go
ahead with it only after careful consideration.
Zhou, now 56 years old, became a clerk at the
Pingdingshan Branch of China Construction Bank (CCB) in
1989 and chief teller three years later. In January, she was
instructed to retire, but she said she hoped to retire at the age
of 60 as male employees did.
The CCB refused, citing state regulations. Liu
Xinhua, director of the branch's personnel office, said the
decision abided by the Provisional Regulations on the Resettlement
of Old and Weak Cadres, promulgated by the State Council, China's
cabinet, in 1978.
According to these, the age of retirement for women
employees is five years less than that for men; 50 and 55 for
blue-collar workers, 55 and 60 for cadres.
After negotiations failed, Zhou filed a complaint
on August 23 with Pingdingshan's labor dispute arbitration
committee.
The committee ruled that Zhou had failed to provide
sufficient evidence and legal basis to support her case and that it
was unable to judge whether state regulations run contrary to the
Constitution, Labor Law or international conventions signed by the
government.
It said she would have to bear the total arbitral
fee of 420 yuan (US$52).
Zhou's son, Li Hao, is assisting her with her
case.
(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2005)