Coal miners in Anyuan, a former revolutionary base of the Chinese Communist Party in Jiangxi, went on strike this week after being put on leave as management prepares to address overcapacity.
The state-owned Pingxiang Mining Group shut down its coal mines during the Lunar New Year and put workers on leave, paying them just 470 yuan per month. Around 150 workers blocked an intersection in the city of Pingxiang on 29 February. Large numbers of police arrived to clear the protest and reports on social media claimed several workers were beaten and one hospitalized.
The Pingxiang Mining Group released a statement later that day claiming that government officials had arrived on the scene to negotiate and that workers were “basically stable.” The following day however protests grew to several hundred workers marching through streets with banners reading “Workers want to live, workers want to eat”. The company stated it will examine the possibility of reopening the mines later this month.