The Logic behind “Separating the Victims’ Families for Better Settlement”

(Broadcast on December 9, 2002)

On December 6, 2002, a fire ripped through the Wanbao Coal Mine, an illegal single-shaft mine in Taonan City, in the northeastern province of Jilin. According to the news released by the State Administration of Work Safety at 5 p.m. on December 9, twenty-seven miners were killed in the accident and three miners were still missing. A staff from the Wanbao Coal Mine’s Control Office told China Labour Bulletin on the phone that the single-shaft coal mine has been on fire for two whole days and the prospects for the 3 miners buried were grim. However, he said that the mining company had been handling the problems arising from the accident quite well.

Staff from the Control Office [Staff]:

So far… [the aftermath of the accident] has been well handled.

Han Dongfang [Han]:

What is the death toll in the mine? Has it been confirmed?

Staff:

Now…thirty. Twenty-seven bodies have been recovered. Three are still down there, already two days.

What does “well handled” mean? A Wanbao Coalmine Cement Factory worker, who lives near Shaft No. 7, the fatal mine, described it in details.

Worker:

I live right in front of Shaft No. 7, very close to it.

Han:

Very close to the pit?

Worker:

Yeah.

Han:

What is the scene like today?

Worker:

Well, smoke is still coming out from the pit.

Han:

Are you working in the coal mine?

Worker:

Oh I work in the cement factory, but the neighbour behind my house is one [of the victims].

Han:

Who is the victim in that family?

Worker:

The husband of the family.

Han:

How old is he?

Worker:

Fifty-something. No one is at home at the moment. No settlement has been made and they all stay in the Wanbao Guesthouse.

Han:

Are all of the victims’ families staying in the Wanbao Guesthouse?

Worker:

Some are in the guesthouse, some in the hospital wards, some at other hostels. The reason? [The mining company] dares not put them together, worrying they would organize against it.

Han:

Against whom?

Worker:

The mining company. The victims’ families would for sure talk about it if they were together.

Han:

Was that the reason the government and the mining company had to separate them?

Worker:

Right, exactly. They are all separated. Some live here, some live there, either in hospital wards, hostels or guesthouse.

A secretary from the Wanbao Coal Mine office, Mr. Jiang, said that the provincial mining authority was setting up thirty work groups to handle the problems arising from the accident. However, he admitted it was difficult to stabilize the situation.

Secretary:

Thirty deaths were confirmed. Working groups are formed to deal with the aftermath of the accident; there are thirty of them.

Han:

How is the situation now?

Secretary:

Not good. No breakthrough, no progress at all. You know our mining company is not in good shape financially and has been in wage arrears all these years. Some work units have not paid the workers for a total of twenty-three months. The whole wages arrears of the company are RMB 16 million. Thus, ideological persuasion works no more. The work groups have to deal with issues like picking up victims’ families, arranging for their families’ living. That includes providing coal, food, and daily necessities to those families with financial difficulties.

Han:

Is the Trade Union [All-China Federation of Trade Union, ACFTU] providing help in this case?

Secretary:

The Trade Union… oh yes, it is helping a lot. The officials have been assigned to Work Group No. 30. They are very active in handling the victims’ families and ensuring stability.

Thirty work groups for thirty deaths, so each work group deals with one victim’s family. CLB called the Wanbao Guesthouse for a whole day, until evening when he finally got connected. The guesthouse manager confirmed to CLB that the government accommodated those families separately, in different small hostels, in order to avoid the families’ collective effort in bargaining for compensation.

Guesthouse Manager:

The families are not put up in the guesthouse.

Han:

Where are they then?

Guesthouse Manager:

In some other local hostels. The guesthouse is for the officials from the government to dine.

Han:

Do the officials sent by the provincial government stay there?

Guesthouse Manager:

Right, all here.

Han:

Have you got other hostels’ telephone numbers? I would like to talk to those families.

Guesthouse Manager:

No, I don’t know. We have no contact with them.

Han:

Can you recall any name of those hostels?

Guesthouse Manager:

They are all small hostels, privately run. Some don’t even have a name, seems all are private.

Han:

Why put them up in the hostels?

Guesthouse Manager:

The hostels can help arrangements concerning their problems.

Han:

Aren’t those families all locals?

Guesthouse Manager:

Yes.

Han:

Then why put them in the hostels? They can just stay at home, can’t they?

Guesthouse Manager:

Staying at home…with the deaths in the accident…they would discuss it with each other. You know, they would stir up troubles if they were together.

Han:

So is it because they worry about them doing something together?

Guesthouse Manager:

Yes, it is exactly the point.

Han:

Isn’t it inhumane?

Guesthouse Manager:

No, not really. It is actually good for handling the accident.