China's trade unions expect to recruit eight million rural
migrant workers in each of the next three years, an official with
All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) said on Sunday.
"Hundreds of millions of migrant workers have become an
important part of the Chinese workforce and they are helping drive
economic and social development, so it's imperative to safeguard
their rights," said Sun Chunlan, vice chairman of the ACFTU, at
Sunday's national conference on protecting migrant worker's
rights.
Sun said migrant workers who join trade unions would have their
rights better protected. She says union members are usually better
paid and that union officials will ensure the migrant workers are
paid extra for working overtime and their medical insurance
premiums are paid.
Twenty-three million rural migrant workers belonged to trade
unions at the end of 2005, representing only 20 percent of the
total rural migrant labor force. During the first half of 2006
about 6.5 million migrant workers joined trade unions, and that
number is expected to hit 10 million by the end of the year.
Statistics show there are more than 200 million farmers-turned
workers and that number grows by 13 million every year.
Sun said it's difficult representing workers who float from
construction job to construction job often times moving to
different cities.
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2006)