On December 30, 2001, a gas explosion killed 20 miners in the mine of Fengcheng City Mining Bureau, Jiangxi Province, injuring over 30 miners with two of them in critical conditions. China Labour Bulletin (CLB) called the Fengcheng City Mining Bureaus hospital, hoping to talk with some lightly injured miners and learn about the mines safety installations.
The hospital branch of ACFTU received our call but the official refused to reveal the ward where the injured were hospitalised. CLB learned from the hospitals reception office that they were at the internal medicine ward, and when we called there, a nurse told us that over 30 people were lightly injured, and the two seriously-injured miners were still in critical conditions. When we asked if we could talk to one or two lightly injured miners about the circumstances in the shaft at the time of the explosion, the head nurse said they would have to ask the mine management.
In a further effort to find out how the blast happened, CLB called the Mining Bureau ACFTU. An official replied that they were not sure if deficiencies in the mine safety installations led to such a grave accident. She said that every grieving family could get about RMB30,000 in compensation, and added that this was clearly included in the agreement signed by the agreement workers, but she refused to discuss the difference between a contract worker and an agreement worker. However, she frankly admitted that wages were in arrears for October, November and December for all employees of the Mining Bureau, including herself.
One official at the Fengcheng City Mining Bureau gave CLB details of news blackout in the province as well as in the mine, saying that all visiting Hong Kong and Guangzhou journalists had been sent away. He also said that Fengcheng Mining Bureau concealed the number of casualties in an accident on August 28, 2001. Eight miners were killed and more than 80 injured, but it was reported to the State Production Safety Supervisory Bureau as 4 killed and 30 injured.
He reckoned one of the main reasons for the repeated serious accidents in this mine was that mining areas had been contracted out to the officials. To save money, the mine owners do not spend on safety installations. A built-up of gas in the poorly-ventiled shafts would easily lead to explosion in these mining areas.
He said that every time they went down the shaft for check-ups, they were really scared that they would not come up again. At some places the shafts were so narrow that they had to twist around the mine lamp from their back to their stomach to be able to crawl through. He was compelled to say, when he saw those peasant workers from the countryside, he always felt guilty, but could not really help.
The official also explained the situation with the agreement workers, which the Mining Bureau ACFTU official was reluctant to discuss. The agreement is basically a life-and-death disclaimer signed by the agreement worker. In case of a fatal accident, the compensation will follow the amount stipulated in the agreement and thats it.
In this day and age, none of the miners children would go down the shaft. All that the mine owners can do is to dupe country folks around this area into agreement workers. In his opinion, these untrained agreement workers have no idea of safety procedures and have not gone through any serious training. Under this recruitment system, there is absolutely no way to avoid mining accidents.
The official went on to say bitterly that the life of coal miners in China was worse than pigs and dogs. When we asked him what he thought the coal miners needed, he blurted out: This is the place where Liu Shaoqi mobilised the workers to go on strike. Today again, we need Liu Shaoqi; we need the Communist Party of 80 years ago!
(China Labour Bulletin, 7/1/2002)
The hospital branch of ACFTU received our call but the official refused to reveal the ward where the injured were hospitalised. CLB learned from the hospitals reception office that they were at the internal medicine ward, and when we called there, a nurse told us that over 30 people were lightly injured, and the two seriously-injured miners were still in critical conditions. When we asked if we could talk to one or two lightly injured miners about the circumstances in the shaft at the time of the explosion, the head nurse said they would have to ask the mine management.
In a further effort to find out how the blast happened, CLB called the Mining Bureau ACFTU. An official replied that they were not sure if deficiencies in the mine safety installations led to such a grave accident. She said that every grieving family could get about RMB30,000 in compensation, and added that this was clearly included in the agreement signed by the agreement workers, but she refused to discuss the difference between a contract worker and an agreement worker. However, she frankly admitted that wages were in arrears for October, November and December for all employees of the Mining Bureau, including herself.
One official at the Fengcheng City Mining Bureau gave CLB details of news blackout in the province as well as in the mine, saying that all visiting Hong Kong and Guangzhou journalists had been sent away. He also said that Fengcheng Mining Bureau concealed the number of casualties in an accident on August 28, 2001. Eight miners were killed and more than 80 injured, but it was reported to the State Production Safety Supervisory Bureau as 4 killed and 30 injured.
He reckoned one of the main reasons for the repeated serious accidents in this mine was that mining areas had been contracted out to the officials. To save money, the mine owners do not spend on safety installations. A built-up of gas in the poorly-ventiled shafts would easily lead to explosion in these mining areas.
He said that every time they went down the shaft for check-ups, they were really scared that they would not come up again. At some places the shafts were so narrow that they had to twist around the mine lamp from their back to their stomach to be able to crawl through. He was compelled to say, when he saw those peasant workers from the countryside, he always felt guilty, but could not really help.
The official also explained the situation with the agreement workers, which the Mining Bureau ACFTU official was reluctant to discuss. The agreement is basically a life-and-death disclaimer signed by the agreement worker. In case of a fatal accident, the compensation will follow the amount stipulated in the agreement and thats it.
In this day and age, none of the miners children would go down the shaft. All that the mine owners can do is to dupe country folks around this area into agreement workers. In his opinion, these untrained agreement workers have no idea of safety procedures and have not gone through any serious training. Under this recruitment system, there is absolutely no way to avoid mining accidents.
The official went on to say bitterly that the life of coal miners in China was worse than pigs and dogs. When we asked him what he thought the coal miners needed, he blurted out: This is the place where Liu Shaoqi mobilised the workers to go on strike. Today again, we need Liu Shaoqi; we need the Communist Party of 80 years ago!
(China Labour Bulletin, 7/1/2002)