Miners’ protest: ailing Chinese coal firm Heilongjiang Longmay told to pay workers
Biggest coal enterprise in China’s northeast plans to lay off up to 100,000 workers to cut overcapacity, but has yet to pay many of them
The government of northernmost Heilongjiang province has vowed to “financially support” a struggling state-owned coal firm after miners went to the streets to protest over unpaid wages.
Governor Lu Hao said on Saturday that his government would continue to support Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group but also ordered the firm to pay its miners their overdue salaries, a government statement said.
It was the first time Lu, who is in Beijing for the annual National People’s Congress, has acknowledged backpay problems at Longmay, the biggest coal enterprise in China’s northeast.
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Lu’s promise came hours after miners and their families took to the streets in Shuangyashan to demand their wages.
Videos online showed angry miners holding banners and shouting slogans. One banner read: “We want to live. We want to eat.” A video showed the miners being dispersed by armed police.
But Lu’s latest comment contradicted remarks he made just a week ago at a Heilongjiang delegation meeting during the congress, in which he said the miners did not have “even a penny” cut from their pay. Lu had also cited Longmay as a prime example of an inefficient, overstaffed state-owned firm, saying that the government could not afford to bail out the group.
