Thousands of miners marched through the streets of a coal town in Heilongjiang in north-eastern China over unpaid wages.
The protesters were employees at Shuangyashan Mine which is owned by the Longmay Group, the biggest state-owned coal mining group in the region. During the march they were said to have held up banners saying: “We want to live, we want to eat.”
The protesting Longmay workers were furious when provincial governor Lu Hao said Longway had never been late in paying workers, and "not a penny is overdue".
They called this "a big fat lie,” and responded by blocking the town's railway.
The incident's been a top-trending topic in social media, and Mr Lu subsequently apologised. According to local media, he's admitted he made a mistake and said Longmay will soon raise funds to repay its workers.
Coal consumption for energy in China has fallen in recent years, dropping 3.7 per cent in 2015. Longmay has been in the red since 2012 and had been instructed to comply with Beijing’s order to cut industrial overcapacity.
Last year Longmay said it would cut its 248,000 headcount by as many as 100,000 workers.
China is expecting to lay off five to six million state workers over the next two to three years as part of efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and pollution. Analysts say the unrest in Heilongjiang could be a sign of more to come.
Mr Koepp says the government will need to actively provide comprehensive support programs, in addition to funding, to prevent similar incidents happening in future.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/03/15/apology-unpaid-coal-miners-chinas-heilongjiang
Underpaid for 6 months?
5-6 million people being laid off?
DEB
