(Broadcast on 23March, 2002)
The Daqing demonstration of retrenched oil workers demanding reinstatement of work and social benefits, which started on 1 March, has now entered in its fourth week. These retrenched workers had accepted and signed an agreement with the management over their retrenchment with compensation. What made them go back on their words now and demanded reinstatement of work and social benefits? To understand this problem, I contacted an official who works for a subsidiary of the Daqing Petroleum Administration Bureau (PAB).
Official:
They dont trouble us at the subsidiary (basic) units. They demonstrate at the PAB. We were all one unit once, belonging to the oilfield bureau. They have now spun us off from the Bureau and dont care about us anymore.
Han:
So, the oilfield company now is just those few oil wells?
Official:
Right, right. Theyve got money! We havent got any; we have no work so we have no money. Theyve got the oil so they have money!
Han:
So, there is no more drilling and no more installations?
Official:
There used to be three drilling companies. The oilfield company kept one, but the other two have been spun off just like us.
Han:
So, does this mean that the oilfield company kept all the oil wells?
Official:
Right.
Han:
And they kept the best drilling company.
Official:
Right, right. Actually, logically, the drilling companies should belong to the oilfield company. Where would the oil come from without drilling? But they got spun off. All those oil wells, pumping stations, oil pipelines; we built them all. Tell me: if we didnt set them up, where would the oil be coming from? At the end they spun us off. What they mean is that they make much less profit if we are with them.
Han:
Where would these oil wells have come from if not for the drillings and installations?
Official:
Exactly! What I meant was, the oil wells have been installed by us. The pump stations, the pipelines, the natural gas pipes, they were all done by us. Now they spun us off, and we have no work to do.
Han:
So before, at time of setting all this up drilling and installing, it was all done in-house, like working for your own family.
Official:
Yes, at that time we were all one unit managed by Daqing Oilfield Company.
Han:
So when everything was set up in this family, this bunch of people ended up
Official:
Yes, it was all set up and then they spun us off. Our company was one, the Petroleum Construction Company was one; even the Petroleum Construction and several other companies, including the water, electricity and gas supply, we were all spun off.
Han:
How about the Oilfield Electricity Company?
Official:
It was also spun off just like us.
Han:
Those drilling companies who got spun off, can they make their payroll?
Official:
I dont know yet if they can pay the salaries, they are also demonstrating! Many people are participating from those two drilling companies. We have been drilling wells all our life. We drilled so many wells, and as soon as the oil comes up the well, you kick us out. If we dont drill where would the oil wells be from?
Han:
Thats right! This is very true. So did the drilling company workers who were not retrenched not participate in the demonstrations?
Official:
No, they didnt. But those who didnt participate have lots of different opinions. Some even want to go to Beijing to file a petition, damn it.
Han:
Can this installation company pay the workers?
Official:
No, we dont have any work to do. There has been no work this year up to now. No work till now in Daqing. A few dozens of people went to this god damn Anhui. You tell me, how much money can be made in a year over there!
Han:
Where does the payroll come from, if you have no work?
Official:
A lot of the workers havent been paid for quite some time.
Han:
How long has the Oilfield Drilling Company been deferring wage payments?
Official:
Now, it is not across the board. We are divided into teams and if your team found work, you get some money.
Han:
How many teams do you have?
Official:
We have eight teams now.
Han:
Which one is the worst off?
Official:
The worst off is the third sector enterprises: the agricultural, industrial and commercial -- these tertiary enterprises have no work at all. Year after year, they have no income and they only try to raise some money at every year-end to pay something [to the workers].
Han:
How about the construction units?
Official:
If they have work, they pay a little. If there is no work, there is no pay. We havent been back to work yet. We went on leave in November last year and we havent started up work until now.
Han:
You have been off from November up to now?
Official:
Yes, what else can we do with nothing to work on? Only two teams work, the others have no work.
Han:
Do only two teams work out of eight?
Official:
Right.
Han:
So the other six are on no-pay leave.
Official:
No pay. They may get half of their salary or some percentage of it.
Han:
Have the workers approached the trade union?
Official:
The trade unions! The PAB union knows better than anyone else; since it is not the oilfield companys union. They have been separated.
Han:
Well, is the PAB union dissatisfied with what the Oilfield Company is doing?
Official:
Dissatisfied! They are all dissatisfied! PAB is just like us; it was also spun off. Originally they were one union, one with the Oilfield Companys. Now they are split in two, into two separate trade unions.
Han:
Rich over there; poor over here
Official:
Exactly. This is where the contradiction lies. We certainly cant solve the problem, who can? We can only swallow our anger. If youve got work you are paid, if you dont have work, you are on your own.
Han:
Then, as you just said, the circumstances of those at the PAB who are still employed and have not been retrenched are not much better off than those who accepted retrenchment.
Official:
Not much better, they cant make any money. In any case, no work, no income.
Han:
If we want to make a comparison with someone of your position at the Oilfield Company, how much would he be getting and how much are you getting?
Official:
I dont know about the present salaries, but the year-end bonus is definitely more than ours. I have heard that no one over there was short changed. If a department-level official in our company gets 10,000 yuan at the end of the year, it is already not bad. In our company even the highest-ranking officials would only get a little more than 10,000 yuan at best. Over there, the managers of the oil-producing enterprise can get 100,000 yuan a year, not including the salary; and section chiefs can get six or seven thousand yuan.
Han:
How about ordinary workers?
Official:
They get ten to twenty thousand yuan. Thats what Ive heard, but Im not sure, I havent been over there.
Han:
It has already been three weeks that people are demonstrating at the PAB, have you seen it?
Official:
I have passed by, on buses. I saw lots of people.
Han:
When was the last time you were there?
Official:
Three days ago. There were about five to six thousand people in the afternoon. I saw a lot of police around, and police vehicles. What can the police do? They cant do anything about them now, when even foreigners have learned about this. The impact is really big. From what I know, they have been retrenched with compensation, and now they are not happy. This bunch of people who accepted retrenchment heard later that those who stayed on the job with the Oilfield Company had been paid a lot. They got upset as they thought that before they got redundant, they had not been paid this much. Mainly, the Oilfield Company has been paying a lot. For those who were spun off from the PBA like us, there is no money even if the management want to pay a lot.
Han:
How many workers does the Oilfield Company have?
Official:
Fifty to sixty thousand.
Han:
How about the PAB?
Official:
PAB has more, probably more than 100,000.
Han:
More than 100,000?
Official:
Yes.
Han:
That means that over 80,000 workers have been laid off.
Official:
In the entire Daqing there are probably eighty thousand; or seventy four thousand.
Han:
So, in reality, the unhappy feelings of these retrenched workers are really the same as those of the PAB employees.
Official:
Yes, more or less.
Han:
I have heard that the central and provincial governments are considering whether they should grant some of their demands. For instance, they are considering if those people over fifty should
Official:
Get retired!
Han:
Have you heard that?
Official:
I have also heard about it. But it is all hearsay.We have not seen any documents about it. We only heard people talking.
Han:
We say that, Daqing workers have, in the sixties and seventies, given so much to the industry of the whole China, for the good of the whole country. And now
Official:
Right, right.
Han:
Like youve said: I have finished drilling the well, I hurt my back, I hurt my legs, ruined my health and body; then you want reforms and you kick me out.
Official:
Got spun off.
Han:
Right, so this is
Official:
This is most unreasonable. Now that they separated the businesses, the ones which do not produce oil, are doomed. Daqing is a heavy-industry area; its main business is to produce petroleum. All the other non-oil producing units, what do you want them to do?
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