Bad News from Zuoyun, China
Comments of the recent news on trapped workers:
http://news.sina.com.cn/z/sxzykn/index.shtml (in Chinese)
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/Asia/China_Mine_Flood.html (English)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196553,00.html (English)
(Pictures are from Xinhua net)
Crews are still searching for 57 coal miners trapped by an underground flood. It has been 9 days since it happened. Residents began to lose hope for a rescue. Several issues attract people’s attention. The first one is the poor working condition for Chinese coal miners. The risk had been there for long before it happened. The private contractors of the mineral omitted it for the cost of making it safe was high. The governmental agency with the responsibility to check the risk did not or did not want to require the contractors to meet the national standard for a safe working condition. The second one is the deception by the private contractors. They tried to report a much lower number of the coal miners trapped. He claimed 5 in stead of 57 on the first day. It was soon found by the central government officials and then made public. The third one is the corruption behind the tragedy. The reason that they could deceive the public is that several local officials helped to hide the truth. One of the officials charged by deception is the major contractor’s brother.
Among many reasons that lead to this tragedy, the right to have an association is a major one. Mineral Workers, the sufferers of the tragedy, do not have their own union. They need a union of them, by them and for them. But they do not have one. The existed labors’ union is a governmental controlled one. It serves primarily the government’s interest other than the workers. And the rigid control of individuals’ right to have an association has prevented them from having one.