Police disperse protesters over death of migrant worker Zhang Derong
Riot police sent in to disperse colleagues and supporters of migrant worker who was beaten to death after a dispute over payment of wages
Authorities in Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu, sent about 1,000 riot police to disperse a protest by a group of migrant workers and hundreds of supporters in Wenjiang district on Monday after Zhang Derong, a 20-year-old migrant worker involved in a back-pay dispute, was beaten to death allegedly by thugs hired by a local company.
Wenjiang district police confirmed the man's death on their microblog on Monday, saying it had followed a dispute between a construction company and a labour outsourcing firm. They did not elaborate on the labour outsourcing firm's relationship to the developer, Tianlai Group.
The police said yesterday that they had launched a criminal investigation into the case but declined to provide more details.
Delays in paying migrant workers, especially before the Lunar New Year holiday, have long been a cause of discontent on the mainland. Labour market analysts say rogue employers are a particularly serious problem on construction sites owing to lax supervision of building projects by authorities.
Workers are often left to deal with many layers of employers who can blame others and shirk responsibility for payment.
To make matters worse, few migrant workers on construction sites sign contracts and those who do hold little sway in enforcing their rights.
Zhang was beaten to death and two other migrant workers were injured when they were confronted by thugs at the Tianlai Plaza construction site at lunch time on Monday, local resident Zhang Yi said.