An employee of the Chinese factory set fire to a textile factory in the Chinese province of southwest Sichuan in his frustration in the face of unpaid wages of only 800 yuan (or US $ 111), according to videos published on social networks and accounts of shared witnesses with Radio Free Asia.
The fire of Sichuan Jinyu Textile Company of Wangchang Industrial Park in the county of Pingshan, of Yibin City of Sichuan, raged for about 37 hours causing significant material damage and sparkling intense online discussions on labor rights.
Social networks publications indicated that Wen, 27, had a stormy exchange with his employers on her rear salary before setting fire to the factory on Tuesday.
The economic losses of the fire are estimated at tens of millions of yuan, according to preliminary estimates cited by a number of Internet users.
Pingshan County Police have confirmed a criminal fire incident and said the fire was held at fire. He said on Friday that the case is under further investigation, including an assessment of the total losses suffered.
The police, however, said that the assertion that “800 yuan in salary was due” was false and that the company was approving the payment of 5,370 yuan in salary. He blamed the factory fire on the fire's suicidal thoughts, and said the police would strictly take care of these rumors.
The Jinyu Textile Company and the Pingshan County office could not be attached immediately to comment.
After Tuesday's incident, Chinese Internet users went to social networks to express their sympathy for the fate of workers like Wen, whose actions, although extreme, were desperate. They said he was “forced to do it” out of pure frustration in the face of the lack of options to recover his money and be heard his voice.
“I have read online that Wen's family is poor and in a disastrous situation, and that her mother is sick and that they have an urgent need,” Wang Shudong, an online user of Yibin City on Friday.
“When those who were to wages requested legal aid, the judges have disappeared and the staff of the Labor Department also disappeared. But when Wen set fire to the factory, the police came and those responsible for the legal system,” noted Wang.
Prevent “800 brother” incidents
To call it “800 brother”, to designate the 800 Yuan that Wen was due by the factory, Internet users and experts said that more should be done to prevent the “800 Yuan tragedies” from performing in the future.
They also questioned what legal rights and avenues are available for ordinary workers with months of unpaid wages.
“Chinese society is heading for an unpredictable future, and the relationship between people is becoming more and more tense under pressure from the economic slowdown,” the Sichuan -based scholarship holder told RFA.
Xue, Guizhou labor relations researcher, said government services, companies and all sectors of society should work together to respond to workers' concerns about wages and unpaid advantages to prevent more incidents “800 brother”.
“If companies can establish a solid salary payment mechanism to ensure that employees receive their salary in time and, in whole, the probability of these extreme incidents can be effectively reduced,” said Xue, who wanted to be identified by a single name for security reasons.
RFA has reported a series of demonstrations in recent days by Chinese teachers, medical staff, construction workers and factory employees requiring unpaid wages.
“In addition to legal compensation, there is an urgent need for institutional reparation, human basic governance and a social mechanism that really listens to the voices of ordinary people,” said RFA Yue Tianli, sociologist based in Lanzhou.
Published by Mat Pennington and Tenzin Pema.