Zhang Guangli was a worker at the No. 1 Steel Plant operated by Angang New Steel Co Ltd., a subsidiary of the Angang Steel Group in Anshan city, Liaoning province. On 23 April 1993, Zhang had four fingers and the skin on the thumb of his left hand torn off while operating a machine at work. In November 2000, the Anshan Labour Appraisal Committee certified that Zhang had a “grade six disability.” Because the factory did not pay him the work-related injury and disability compensation and allowance that are required by state regulations, in May 1994 Zhang began to appeal to the authorities for redress. On two occasions, he appealed to the local LDAC and court to help him get his disability compensation. In April 2007, Zhang and the factory reached a “mediation agreement” under the auspices of the Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court.
Six years and three months had elapsed between 2 January 2001, when Zhang submitted an application for arbitration to the Anshan Municipal LDAC, and 10 April 2007, when the Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court issued civil mediation letter (minshi tiaojie shu) (2007) Min-Yi-Zhong-Zi No. 28. In total it took 13 years from May 1994, when Zhang was first treated for his injury and demanded that Angang Steel acknowledge its responsibility for the accident, to the time when the court issued the mediation award.
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23 April 1993
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While operating a machine at work, Zhang Guangli has four fingers and the skin on the thumb of his left hand torn off. After the accident the factory pays for the medical treatment of Zhang's left hand, but fails to pay him the him the work-related injury and disability compensation and allowance that are required by state regulations; nor does the factory appraise his degree of labour incapacity.
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May 1994
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Zhang Guangli's medical treatment is finished and the doctor writes out a return-to-work certificate. After that, Zhang repeatedly demands that his employer accept responsibility for the accident, but he is brushed off and threatened with dismissal. Zhang also appeals to the local labour dispute arbitration committee and the local court but both refuse to hear his case. Zhang then begins to petition the No. 1 Steel Plant where he worked, the Angang Steel Group, the municipal and provincial government departments concerned, as well as relevant central government departments.
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16 October 1996
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The No. 1 Steel Plant informs Zhang that he must consider whether or not to sign a contract with it within 30 days. On 16 October the plant stops paying Zhang's wages and benefits (fuli daiyu).
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March 2000
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To stop Zhang Guangli from petitioning the authorities, the No. 1 Steel Plant's and the Angang Petitions' Office detain him and prevent him by various means from leaving his home several times.
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20-23 April 2000
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On the way home from his afternoon shift, Zhang is followed by a group of men. At 7.30 am on the 23rd, men break into his home and stop him from leaving until 4 pm. The intrusion is timed to coincide with Premier Zhu Rongji's inspection tour of Angang Steel.
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November 2000
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The Anshan Labour Appraisal Committee conducts a work-related injury disability appraisal and concludes that Zhang has a "grade six disability".
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December 2000
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The director of the Angang Petitions' Office informs the Anshan Labour Dispute Arbitration Committee that he agrees to the arbitration committee hearing this case.
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2 January 2001
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Zhang Guangli submits an application for arbitration to the Anshan Municipal Labour Dispute Arbitration Committee. He makes seven demands: a disability appraisal conducted with the support of a nurse; an appraisal of responsibility for his work-related accident; a lump-sum work-related disability award; payment of wages lost during medical treatment; a work-related injury certificate; compensation for a one-pay-grade adjustment of wages denied on account of the work-related injury; compensation for lost wages for missing work and for transport costs incurred and psychological damage suffered while struggling to petition the authorities.
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1 March 2001
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On the eve of a session of the National People's Congress the local police station sends a policeman to Zhang Guangli's home to inform him that he has to report to the police station the next day for a chat.
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2 March 2001
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When Zhang shows up at the police station, he is forcibly taken from there by a dozen men hired by Angang Steel and whisked away by car to the company's Qianshan Sanatorium, where he is held against his will. That evening, Zhang is subjected to a brutal beating that leaves him with a severed thumb tendon on his right hand and a broken nose. He is detained for 48 hours.
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4 March 2001
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Zhang is sent home under guard and Angang Steel sends someone to keep a watch on him. After Zhang demands to be taken to a hospital for treatment, the company sends someone to take him to the hospital.
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23 November 2001
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The Anshan Municipal Labour Dispute Arbitration Committee issues arbitration ruling (2001) An-Lao-Cai-Zi No. 67, rejecting every single one of Zhang's demands.
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5 December 2001
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Zhang files suit in the Anshan City Tiexi District Court asking the court to quash the Anshan Municipal Labour Dispute Arbitration Committee's arbitration ruling (2001) An-Lao-Cai-Zi No. 67.
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4 June 2002
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The Anshan City Tiexi District Court issues civil judgement (minshi panjueshu) (2002) Xi-Min-Chu-Zi No. 32, upholding Zhang's claim for a lump-sum work-related disability award and rejecting the six other claims he had made.
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12 July 2002
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Zhang files suit in the Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court asking the court to quash the Anshan City Tiexi District Court's civil judgement (2002) Xi-Min-Chu-Zi No. 32.
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20 October 2002
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The Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court issues civil judgement (2002) An-Min-Yi-Zhong-Zi No. 117, raising the court of first instance's lump-sum work-related disability award of 3,167.5 yuan to 8,598.38 yuan, but upholding the rest of that original judgement.
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June 2003
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Zhang Guangli submits an appeal for retrial to the Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court.
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31 March 2004
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The Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court issues a notification rejecting the application for a retrial.
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August 2004
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Zhang Guangli stops working at the No. 1 Steel Plant to convalesce.
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11 May 2004
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Zhang Guangli submits an application for arbitration to the Anshan Municipal Labour Dispute Arbitration Committee, demanding that Angang New Steel Company Ltd., a subsidiary of the Angang Steel Group, pay him his 1,200-yuan wage for the period of July 2002 to January 2003 as well as his disability pension for the period after August 2004, which had not been paid in full.
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13 June 2005
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The Anshan Municipal Arbitration Committee issues case rejection notification (2005) An-Lao-Zhong-An-Zi No. 83, declaring that Zhang Guangli's claim falls outside the jurisdiction of the arbitration committee.
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23 June 2005
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Zhang Guangli files suit in the Anshan City Tiexi District Court demanding that the employer pay back his unpaid wages in full and pay out a disability pension equivalent to 70 percent of the average wage in the plant where he worked.
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22 November 2005
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The Anshan City Tiexi District Court issues civil ruling (2005) Dong-Min-Yi-Chu-Zi No. 452, dismissing Zhang Guangli's request for a trial and finding that a suit concerning the same cause of action and the same facts cannot be brought.
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16 December 2005
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Zhang files suit in the Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court, arguing that all previous court judgements concerned matters and problems that occurred before 2002, but this suit concerns matters and problems that occurred between 2003 and August 2004 and after.
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6 April 2006
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The Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court issues civil ruling (2006) An-Min-Li-Zhong-Zi No. 11, quashing the Anshan City Tiexi District Court's civil ruling (2005) Dong-Min-Yi-Chu-Zi No. 452 and ordering this court to hear the case.
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25 October 2006
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The Anshan City Tiexi District Court issues civil judgement (2006) Dong-Min-Yi-Chu No. 335, ordering Angang New Steel Company Ltd., a subsidiary of the Angang Steel Group, to pay Zhang Guangli a disability pension equivalent to 70 percent of the average wage in No. 1 Steel Plant before he voluntarily stopped working there.
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8 December 2006
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Zhang Guangli files suit in the Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court.
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10 April 2007
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The Anshan Municipal Intermediate Court issues civil mediation letter (2007) Min-Yi-Zhong-Zi No. 28, stating that Angang New Steel Company Ltd. undertakes to pay a lump-sum compensation of 20,000 yuan and, beginning on 1 January, to start paying a disability pension equivalent to 70 percent of the average wage in the enterprise; Zhang, for his part, agrees to drop his other demands.
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