[Broadcast on 17 September 2005]
Cangzhou Refinery is a subsidiary of the Sinopec Group. In 2001, Sinopec launched a program so-called to "reduce workforce for higher efficiency" in order to terminate labour relations with its workers. Out of some 3,600 workers of Cangzhou Refinery, 895 had signed up for the termination of their labour relations. Did this quarter of workers really sign the termination voluntarily? CLB talked to an official of the women workers' department of Cangzhou Refinery's Union. She told us that some were tricked and threatened into signing the termination.
Ex-union Official:
I am Feng. I worked for the female workers. I was in charge of the section dealing with issues about women workers.
Han Dongfang [Han]:
Was the section dealing with women workers belonging to the trade union?
Ex-union Official:
Right, it belonged to the trade union. It 2001, Sinopec launched a voluntary contract dissolution program aiming at to reducing the number of employees. We were workers from the refinery and they launched a strong campaign, telling us that the refinery business was doing so badly that it would likely shut down very soon. We were all very scared.
Han:
What did they tell you?
Ex-union Official:
They said China was going to join the WTO and Sinopec employed too many workers, which made it difficult for the company to compete with foreign companies. It also said that small enterprises under the company would have to shut down or change its status. Our refinery was considered a small enterprise under Sinopec, so it may be shut down as a result.
Han:
Was it why you chose to sign the agreement [to terminate the labour relation]?
Ex-union Official:
We are the older staff and they said old staff couldn't compete with others.
Han:
Did they really say so?
Ex-union Official:
Yes. They said that Sinopec would be able to pay us compensation and it was actually for our own good to retire earlier. They kept saying so. When we reach retirement age, we could apply for it and get the same terms as others who normally retire [at the age of 55 or 60]. In other words, it was a termination of our current labour relations before we have reached retirement age. Then we would receive the same treatment as other retirees. So the older workers, like those who had to retire five to ten years earlier than normal retirement age, would accept the retrenchment program.
Han:
How did they calculate the retrenchment compensation per year of work?
Ex-union Official:
[For each year of work] they said they would pay us two-and-a-half-month wages.
Han:
How much exactly for a year of work then?
Ex-union Official:
3,450 Yuan per year.
When the workers signed the retrenchment agreement, they all complained that the offer was too low. As the payment of pension premium and medical insurance premium has largely increased over the years, the compensation they could receive was barely enough for paying the pension and insurance premiums before they retire.
Ex-union Official:
At that time, we all thought it [the offer] was a bit low. And we told them that we would have to pay pension premiums [if we accepted the offer]. You know, the company did not help us buy medical insurance [according to local government's requirement] at that time. [In 2001] the pension premium used to be 1,200 Yuan per year, but now it has gone up to 2,300 Yuan each year - it is nearly a double now. We all knew that the pension premium was going to increase but we just didn't know that it would surge that much. Well, nobody knows how to calculate it. We didn't know that we had to pay for our medical insurance later. At that time, we had no idea how much it would eat up our compensation.
Han:
So now…?
Ex-union Official:
I have worked for the refinery for 27 years and I got some 90,000 Yuan. I have still five years before I reach the retirement age and I have to pay some 10,000 Yuan each year [for pension and insurance premiums].
Han:
Is it the pension premium you have to pay each year before your retirement?
Ex-union Official:
Right, for our pension.
Han:
Did you make a once-off payment [at the time you received the compensation]?
Ex-union Official:
No, we pay it annually. We pay the pension premiums in accordance with the provincial requirement, 18% of estimated wages.
Han:
So you pay according to the current year's pension standard.
Ex-union Official:
Right. We were retrenched in 2001 and starting from 2002, we had to pay our medical insurance premiums, for some 1,000 Yuan per year. It has increased to some 3,000 Yuan this year. The two payments [pension premium and medical insurance premium] together amount to some 3,600 Yuan this year.
Han:
How much difference when compared with 2001?
Ex-union Official:
Three times more. They [the pension premium and medical insurance premium] were set at 1,200 Yuan when I was first retrenched, I was lucky that there areonly five years before my retirement. Those who left the factory ten years before their retirement would have to pay 60,000 to 70,000 Yuan in total.
Han:
Does it mean that they end up paying the whole sum of money which they would get as compensation from the company?
Ex-union Official:
They all pay it back. In the last few years, they didn't get anything. No wages, nothing.
In 2001, when the refinery wanted its workers to accept the retrenchment, it promised the retrenched workers that they would be treated as the retired workers once they reached the age of retirement. Yet, in 2004, the refinery, instead of shutting down, it paid its managers high wages for some 100,000 to 200,000 Yuan each. When the retrenched workers went back to the factory to claim the terms they had promised, the factory management refused to give them right away.
Ex-union Official:
I complained about the factory's subsidy [to the regular retired workers]. The feedback I got was that because of the low pension and high living costs, the retirees were in fact getting a very low pension. I mean, if they [the factory management ] thought that the retirees who were receiving some hundred Yuan a month [had a too low pension, then how about us?]. We didn't even get a penny.
Han:
How much is the subsidy?
Ex-union Official:
The minimum subsidy at my [former] factory is 280 Yuan.
Han:
Is it extra money?
Ex-union Official:
Extra, apart from the pension. Now the lowest subsidy is set at 280 Yuan per month. The [retired] leaders would get some 1,000 Yuan, while those of lower rank would get 800 to 900 Yuan.
Han:
Are you saying the retrenched workers are thinking…?
Ex-union Official:
We think that we should enjoy the same rights, as they told us that we would get the same treatment after we retired. We believe we are the same. They [retired workers] terminated their contracts with the factory and we dissolved our contracts after some negotiation. We are both old workers and we had contributed so much to the factory. We left the factory because we thought it would be good for Sinopec. Just think about it, why would we want to quit our jobs when we are getting old? It is because they told us they would give us compensation. We thought we would get the same treatment as the retirees, but now, it is totally different. So we all think it is unfair.
Han:
When you dissolved your labour contracts in 2001, did you think about that? Did you figure out the amount [if the compensation was worth]?
Ex-union Official:
No, we didn't know the whole picture. Most of us didn't know. We had no idea that the pension premium would increase so much and we didn't know that our pension would be affected. We haven't thought about it.
Since last year, some retrenched workers went back to the Cangzhou Refinery and visited the headquarters of Sinopec in Beijing to ask for the compensation the company promised to give them.
Ex-union Official:
We started complaining about that since last year. We went to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the State Council, and we also petitioned to the Hebei Provincial Government and the factory leaders.
Han:
What kind of outcome do you want to achieve with your complaints?
Ex-union Official:
We want to get the factory's subsidy, which means we can receive the factory's subsidy like other retired workers when we retire.
Han:
Do you mean you want to get it when you retire, not now?
Ex-union Official:
Of course, they won't offer us the subsidy now, they even say no when we ask for it when we retire. Many of us have financial difficulties. The children are going to school and we are not able to find other jobs. Some do find jobs but they could only earn 300 to 400 Yuan per month, while some get even only 200 to 300 Yuan. You know, the workers [currently working at the refinery] have their wages increased for 600 to 800 Yuan in the last ten years but they [the factory] still refuse to give us the tiny subsidy we are asking for.
It was until recently the workers realized that they were cheated by the factory.
Han:
So, after all, the retrenchment has taken place. Do you think some of you actually accepted the retrenchment voluntarily?
Ex-union Official:
They say we signed the agreement voluntarily, because they have our signatures on a contract, saying that we agreed to be retrenched. Even if we would sue them, they could say that we made the choice. But you know, if they didn't exaggerate the retrenchment package, not so many people would have signed it.
Han:
What do you mean by "exaggerating the retrenchment package"?
Ex-union Official:
They said the factory was shutting down, going to close soon. [In fact] it was not that bad.
Han:
How is the factory doing?
Ex-union Official:
Pretty good, don't you know about Sinopec's profitability?
Han:
How about the factory you belonged to?
Ex-union Official:
Also quite good. The factory leaders are earning 100,000 to some 200,000 Yuan.
Han:
Annually?
Ex-union Official:
Right, per year. Even those workers who got the 100,000 Yuan of compensation are getting less than what they received per year. That is why the workers felt that they were cheated.
Han:
So do they regret now?
Ex-union Official:
More than that. You know a lot of other issues are affected. For example, the Family Planning Regulation in Hebei Province says that workers who have only one child would be awarded with 3,000 Yuan when they retire, but nobody pays us. The factory refuses to pay, the local government says no. So everybody is affected.
Han:
It looks like you find out more and more defaults in the last few years.
Ex-union Official:
Right, we are dumped; the factory doesn't want us anymore.
Han:
How many workers from the Cangzhou Refinery are affected?
Ex-union Official:
There were 3,600 workers in the factory and 895 of them were retrenched.
Han:
What do these [895 retrenched workers] people do to make a living?
Ex-union Official:
All sorts of things. Some work, some stay at home idly. In some families, both husband and wife got retrenched. They are really poor. Some jumped from the height, some committed suicide and some became robbers.
Next Saturday, CLB will continue to broadcast the conversation with this ex-union official from Hebei Cangzhou Refinery.
Cangzhou Refinery is a subsidiary of the Sinopec Group. In 2001, Sinopec launched a program so-called to "reduce workforce for higher efficiency" in order to terminate labour relations with its workers. Out of some 3,600 workers of Cangzhou Refinery, 895 had signed up for the termination of their labour relations. Did this quarter of workers really sign the termination voluntarily? CLB talked to an official of the women workers' department of Cangzhou Refinery's Union. She told us that some were tricked and threatened into signing the termination.
Ex-union Official:
I am Feng. I worked for the female workers. I was in charge of the section dealing with issues about women workers.
Han Dongfang [Han]:
Was the section dealing with women workers belonging to the trade union?
Ex-union Official:
Right, it belonged to the trade union. It 2001, Sinopec launched a voluntary contract dissolution program aiming at to reducing the number of employees. We were workers from the refinery and they launched a strong campaign, telling us that the refinery business was doing so badly that it would likely shut down very soon. We were all very scared.
Han:
What did they tell you?
Ex-union Official:
They said China was going to join the WTO and Sinopec employed too many workers, which made it difficult for the company to compete with foreign companies. It also said that small enterprises under the company would have to shut down or change its status. Our refinery was considered a small enterprise under Sinopec, so it may be shut down as a result.
Han:
Was it why you chose to sign the agreement [to terminate the labour relation]?
Ex-union Official:
We are the older staff and they said old staff couldn't compete with others.
Han:
Did they really say so?
Ex-union Official:
Yes. They said that Sinopec would be able to pay us compensation and it was actually for our own good to retire earlier. They kept saying so. When we reach retirement age, we could apply for it and get the same terms as others who normally retire [at the age of 55 or 60]. In other words, it was a termination of our current labour relations before we have reached retirement age. Then we would receive the same treatment as other retirees. So the older workers, like those who had to retire five to ten years earlier than normal retirement age, would accept the retrenchment program.
Han:
How did they calculate the retrenchment compensation per year of work?
Ex-union Official:
[For each year of work] they said they would pay us two-and-a-half-month wages.
Han:
How much exactly for a year of work then?
Ex-union Official:
3,450 Yuan per year.
When the workers signed the retrenchment agreement, they all complained that the offer was too low. As the payment of pension premium and medical insurance premium has largely increased over the years, the compensation they could receive was barely enough for paying the pension and insurance premiums before they retire.
Ex-union Official:
At that time, we all thought it [the offer] was a bit low. And we told them that we would have to pay pension premiums [if we accepted the offer]. You know, the company did not help us buy medical insurance [according to local government's requirement] at that time. [In 2001] the pension premium used to be 1,200 Yuan per year, but now it has gone up to 2,300 Yuan each year - it is nearly a double now. We all knew that the pension premium was going to increase but we just didn't know that it would surge that much. Well, nobody knows how to calculate it. We didn't know that we had to pay for our medical insurance later. At that time, we had no idea how much it would eat up our compensation.
Han:
So now…?
Ex-union Official:
I have worked for the refinery for 27 years and I got some 90,000 Yuan. I have still five years before I reach the retirement age and I have to pay some 10,000 Yuan each year [for pension and insurance premiums].
Han:
Is it the pension premium you have to pay each year before your retirement?
Ex-union Official:
Right, for our pension.
Han:
Did you make a once-off payment [at the time you received the compensation]?
Ex-union Official:
No, we pay it annually. We pay the pension premiums in accordance with the provincial requirement, 18% of estimated wages.
Han:
So you pay according to the current year's pension standard.
Ex-union Official:
Right. We were retrenched in 2001 and starting from 2002, we had to pay our medical insurance premiums, for some 1,000 Yuan per year. It has increased to some 3,000 Yuan this year. The two payments [pension premium and medical insurance premium] together amount to some 3,600 Yuan this year.
Han:
How much difference when compared with 2001?
Ex-union Official:
Three times more. They [the pension premium and medical insurance premium] were set at 1,200 Yuan when I was first retrenched, I was lucky that there areonly five years before my retirement. Those who left the factory ten years before their retirement would have to pay 60,000 to 70,000 Yuan in total.
Han:
Does it mean that they end up paying the whole sum of money which they would get as compensation from the company?
Ex-union Official:
They all pay it back. In the last few years, they didn't get anything. No wages, nothing.
In 2001, when the refinery wanted its workers to accept the retrenchment, it promised the retrenched workers that they would be treated as the retired workers once they reached the age of retirement. Yet, in 2004, the refinery, instead of shutting down, it paid its managers high wages for some 100,000 to 200,000 Yuan each. When the retrenched workers went back to the factory to claim the terms they had promised, the factory management refused to give them right away.
Ex-union Official:
I complained about the factory's subsidy [to the regular retired workers]. The feedback I got was that because of the low pension and high living costs, the retirees were in fact getting a very low pension. I mean, if they [the factory management ] thought that the retirees who were receiving some hundred Yuan a month [had a too low pension, then how about us?]. We didn't even get a penny.
Han:
How much is the subsidy?
Ex-union Official:
The minimum subsidy at my [former] factory is 280 Yuan.
Han:
Is it extra money?
Ex-union Official:
Extra, apart from the pension. Now the lowest subsidy is set at 280 Yuan per month. The [retired] leaders would get some 1,000 Yuan, while those of lower rank would get 800 to 900 Yuan.
Han:
Are you saying the retrenched workers are thinking…?
Ex-union Official:
We think that we should enjoy the same rights, as they told us that we would get the same treatment after we retired. We believe we are the same. They [retired workers] terminated their contracts with the factory and we dissolved our contracts after some negotiation. We are both old workers and we had contributed so much to the factory. We left the factory because we thought it would be good for Sinopec. Just think about it, why would we want to quit our jobs when we are getting old? It is because they told us they would give us compensation. We thought we would get the same treatment as the retirees, but now, it is totally different. So we all think it is unfair.
Han:
When you dissolved your labour contracts in 2001, did you think about that? Did you figure out the amount [if the compensation was worth]?
Ex-union Official:
No, we didn't know the whole picture. Most of us didn't know. We had no idea that the pension premium would increase so much and we didn't know that our pension would be affected. We haven't thought about it.
Since last year, some retrenched workers went back to the Cangzhou Refinery and visited the headquarters of Sinopec in Beijing to ask for the compensation the company promised to give them.
Ex-union Official:
We started complaining about that since last year. We went to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the State Council, and we also petitioned to the Hebei Provincial Government and the factory leaders.
Han:
What kind of outcome do you want to achieve with your complaints?
Ex-union Official:
We want to get the factory's subsidy, which means we can receive the factory's subsidy like other retired workers when we retire.
Han:
Do you mean you want to get it when you retire, not now?
Ex-union Official:
Of course, they won't offer us the subsidy now, they even say no when we ask for it when we retire. Many of us have financial difficulties. The children are going to school and we are not able to find other jobs. Some do find jobs but they could only earn 300 to 400 Yuan per month, while some get even only 200 to 300 Yuan. You know, the workers [currently working at the refinery] have their wages increased for 600 to 800 Yuan in the last ten years but they [the factory] still refuse to give us the tiny subsidy we are asking for.
It was until recently the workers realized that they were cheated by the factory.
Han:
So, after all, the retrenchment has taken place. Do you think some of you actually accepted the retrenchment voluntarily?
Ex-union Official:
They say we signed the agreement voluntarily, because they have our signatures on a contract, saying that we agreed to be retrenched. Even if we would sue them, they could say that we made the choice. But you know, if they didn't exaggerate the retrenchment package, not so many people would have signed it.
Han:
What do you mean by "exaggerating the retrenchment package"?
Ex-union Official:
They said the factory was shutting down, going to close soon. [In fact] it was not that bad.
Han:
How is the factory doing?
Ex-union Official:
Pretty good, don't you know about Sinopec's profitability?
Han:
How about the factory you belonged to?
Ex-union Official:
Also quite good. The factory leaders are earning 100,000 to some 200,000 Yuan.
Han:
Annually?
Ex-union Official:
Right, per year. Even those workers who got the 100,000 Yuan of compensation are getting less than what they received per year. That is why the workers felt that they were cheated.
Han:
So do they regret now?
Ex-union Official:
More than that. You know a lot of other issues are affected. For example, the Family Planning Regulation in Hebei Province says that workers who have only one child would be awarded with 3,000 Yuan when they retire, but nobody pays us. The factory refuses to pay, the local government says no. So everybody is affected.
Han:
It looks like you find out more and more defaults in the last few years.
Ex-union Official:
Right, we are dumped; the factory doesn't want us anymore.
Han:
How many workers from the Cangzhou Refinery are affected?
Ex-union Official:
There were 3,600 workers in the factory and 895 of them were retrenched.
Han:
What do these [895 retrenched workers] people do to make a living?
Ex-union Official:
All sorts of things. Some work, some stay at home idly. In some families, both husband and wife got retrenched. They are really poor. Some jumped from the height, some committed suicide and some became robbers.
Next Saturday, CLB will continue to broadcast the conversation with this ex-union official from Hebei Cangzhou Refinery.