The government of Chongqing municipality plans to make the first
Sundays in November each year a special day for its 4 million
farmers-turned-laborers - a further step in the country to create a
better living and working environment for this group of people.
The proposal was submitted to the local legislative body on
Tuesday, according to a report by Chongqing Evening
News.
Chen Xiaoya, Vice Minister of Education, was playing games
with children of migrant workers in a primary school in Chongqing
Municipality, September 25, 2007.
The designation "Chongqing Farmers-Turned-Laborers Day" will
enhance "respect and care for these people", Vice-Mayor Tong
Xiaoping told legislators.
It will also help safeguard their legal rights and interests,
and improve their social status, Tong said.
He said as an effective way to promote social equality, the
special Sundays will focus on such issues as training and
employment, labor protection, social security, children's education
and healthcare of migrant workers.
Scholars said they were happy to see the government's move on
improving the social status of migrant workers, and hoped that more
practical measures could be taken together with the special
Sundays.
"Migrant workers should enjoy the same treatment as local
residents. The Chongqing government is aware of the problem and is
trying to tackle it," Liu Neng, associate professor of the
department of sociology of the Peking University, told China
Daily yesterday.
"However, the government must also monitor the results of these
special Sundays to see whether there is an improvement in the
living and working conditions of migrant workers. That is really a
long-term task and needs more government input and consistent
efforts," Liu said.
Some labor rights advocates, said the title of the special day
should be changed.
"We don't like the title, Farmers-Turned-Laborers Day, as it
already implies some discrimination," Wei Wei, who is in charge of
a hotline in Beijing to help migrant workers, said.
"The government and local residents should be encouraging the
equal treatment of migrant workers," he said.
Figures released by the State Council last year show there are
about 200 million farmers-turned-laborers in the country.
(China Daily September 27, 2007)
