(Broadcast on July 27, 2002)
On April 24, a gas explosion in a high ceiling shaft at Huashan Coalmine which was run by the Panzhihua Mining Bureau (PMB) in the western province of Sichuan. Twenty-three miners from Team No.2 of Zone 3 were killed at Coalface 4234. Three months after the accident, a listener from Panzhihua City called China Labour Bulletin to complain for the families of the victims. The following transcript is the conversation between CLB and this caller.
Caller:
Well, the families of the miners are really scared. You know it is an international call and once they are caught calling out to complain, they would be seriously punished. But... the compensation they received is just unfair! The funeral cost more than ten thousand and they [PMB] just agreed to pay Rmb 5,000, without talking it over with the victims' families. Actually I told them [the victims' families] about actions they could take to achieve justice, for example through Labour Bulletin [this radio programme], but they were just scared off. I started listening to Radio Free Asia a couple of months ago and every night you have the Labour Bulletin, at Saturday nights, isn't it? Since I have listened to your programme, I started to develop the thought of calling you to publicize the situation here. You know, not long after the Huashan Coalmine accident, there was another blast in Yangjiang Coalmine and eight miners died.
Han Dongfang (Han):
Was that a state-owned or small [private] coalmine?
Caller:
A state-owned one. Before there were a lot of small, privately run coalmines, usually not safely operated and the miners were pretty unskillful. Most of them were the local farmers, digging and extracting from the mines without any order. In the recent years, Panzhihua City government did do some work [on closing small mines] . I mean... they [small mine owners] must have somehow... provided the government officials with kickbacks and therefore they didn't shut down certain small coalmines. But they shut down those not connected to them and also some small-scale coalmines. Frankly, small coalmines do still exist and you can't shake those coalmines protected by officials, not at all.
Han:
After the accident, for each of the victims, how much compensation did their families get?
Caller:
In average... hmm... some got more, because their length of service was not the same.
Han:
What was the highest compensation you have heard of?
Caller:
Something about Rmb 8,900?
Han:
For how many years of seniority?
Caller:
Thirty-four years! They were all old miners. In a place like ours, usually the elder miners work in the pit and the younger miners work on the surface.
Han:
Why so?
Caller:
The elder miners usually live in more difficult circumstances, they have to support their parents and kids. You know what it is like for the middle-aged, when the kids are still in school and the wife is jobless.
Han:
And were the workers farmers from the villages or miners originally?
Caller:
Some came to Panzhihua as soldiers to work on the Saxian Construction Project (Note) and have stayed here since then. The others were from the villages and they were recruited later. A city like ours usually has more non-locals than locals to work in the mine.
Han:
Since when did the workers start working in the mines?
Caller:
Most of them, I mean most of the victims, about 50% to 60% of them... since 1970s I suppose, and they were treated as regular workers. They all would receive pension.
Han:
Were all of the victims this type of workers?
Caller:
Besides this type, about 10% of the victims were younger workers, twenty to thirty year old lads. They were much worse off and therefore arranged to work in the pit, to get more wages than working on the ground, so that they could support their families.
Han:
Then were they from the villages or...?
Caller:
They were rotate-workers [lunhuan gong].
Han:
What do you mean by rotate-worker?
Caller:
It means the father was a miner and after he retired, the son takes up the post of the father.
Han:
Is such a situation common among the villages?
Caller:
Oh yeah!
Han:
So what is the victims... families' worst fear? Or anything they are worrying about the most?
Caller:
To be seen to be against the Communist Government. Like this phone call... making international calls is forbidden in my place, but I don't give a damn now. Because I really think... that if I don't help uphold justice for them, I would be really upset. My father used to work in the pit and he didn't have those hardships and dangers as a miner, but I do understand how harsh it is. Last night I went to Huashan Coalmine and discussed with her [a victim's wife] about the situation, but she was... she was so silent. I asked her why she didn't say anything and she said life under the Communists' rule had always been the same and what could they achieve if they spoke out. Nowadays, all those courts, government departments are actually... backing [the PMB]. Take the example of the mining bureau. After the explosions, how does it punish the mine bosses? Fining a small sum is all it can do and that is all... If a worker dare sue those officials, he would for sure get into big trouble. Besides not paying you back the compensation, they could even put you into jail for some years if you dare offend them. They [the victims' families] haven't made up their minds, probably because they still grieve for their family members'.
Han:
So revenge and punishment are the things they are most afraid of?
Caller:
Right, indeed.
Han:
Is there any connection or contact between them?
Caller:
Er... they are just so... like even if they would get together... the connection is simply too weak, as they are really scared of getting into trouble. Actually it [taking the mine bosses to law] happened before. In our place, gas explosions happened very often in a lot of small coalmines, like once in a small coalmine at Taiping Coalmine in 1997. That blast killed eighteen miners and they did that [the victims' families sued the mine boss]... The Panzhihua Coal Mining Group was located in the western district of Panzhihua, so they went to the western district law court to sue the mine boss. But eventually they got a small sum of compensation, too small that it would be neither enough for pensioning them off, nor covering the hospital fees.
Han:
Did the families discuss this with the trade union of the coalmine?
Caller:
One or two did. But that trade union... excuse me... is bullshit! They don't really have the workers in mind.
Han:
How did the trade union reply to them?
Caller:
They [trade union] talked like "well, isn't it all right that you got some money back? How much do you want?" The victim's families said "our family members were killed and you thought I wanted just money? They couldn't live again, no matter how much you pay us." But sometimes the people in the trade union simply shut them out of the office and ignore them outside. Strike works no more in our place; before the restructuring of PMB, if the worker didn"t get their wages back, they would block the roads to protest. Usually after the armed police came, officials from PMB would ask the workers, "Old uncles, please come to our office and we can talk over it." Nowadays they don't talk to you at all. You dare block the roads? You will get water cannons and smoke bombs without any warning. If you would still block the roads then, they attack you with batons. That's why I said that strike has no use in our place; it has been years since people last blocked the roads. In 1999, the Yanjiang Coalmine didn't pay the miners wages and they blocked the Taojiadu Suspension Bridge and the city government called a lot of armed police. At first, they [government officials] sounded quite friendly, but of course those old workers, after working all their lives for the Communist Party, were very displeased with not getting their wages back. They complained a bit and the armed police didn't bother about that, they simply beat the workers up. Some of the old comrades were sent to hospital then.
Han:
Since then they dared not block the roads anymore?
Caller:
No more! And you know now it is not just the issues of coalminers. Public order is so poor in our city and it can be summed up to one cause -- the government's mismanagement of retrenched workers. Those solutions the government provided are simply unrealistic. Lots of robberies, like taxi-thefts, are done by the retrenched workers.
Note: The PRC Government divided China into three fronts, according to its military deployment and economical development policy. The coastal area was the first front, middle China was the second, and the NW and SW remote area was the third. From 1964, the government started sending soldiers and youngsters to different fronts to construct different types of infrastructure and facilities of the place. This Sanxian [literally means three fronts] Construction Project ended in late 1970s. Sichuan Province [where Panzhihua City is located] was on the third front.) Back