According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in China, six miners were injured when over 2,000 workers staged a road blockade on 20 May, 2002. They were involved in a protest against retrenchment in Datong city in the mid-western province of Shanxi. A jeep reportedly drove at the protesters who were blocking the traffic, badly injuring four people. The four were admitted to the Mining Bureau's First Staff and Workers' Hospital.
The protesting miners had recently been retrenched by the Datong Coal Mining Corporation. The 2,200 workers were unhappy with their forced retrenchment and the provision of a retrenchment allowance of only 50 yuan a month by the company. The minimum wage and necessary living standard in the poorer cities of China usually averages around 150 yuan per capita a month.
The miners held several demonstrations in front of the Datong city government in May. They also reportedly sent representatives to petition the central government in Beijing. On 20 May, the company management agreed to meet with representatives of the protesting workers, but refused to make any concessions to the workers' demands. The disgruntled workers subsequently went to blockade the Maogan Highway, which connects the city to the nearby coal mines.
Datong is one of the key coal producing centres in China.
(Source: BBC, Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in China)
The protesting miners had recently been retrenched by the Datong Coal Mining Corporation. The 2,200 workers were unhappy with their forced retrenchment and the provision of a retrenchment allowance of only 50 yuan a month by the company. The minimum wage and necessary living standard in the poorer cities of China usually averages around 150 yuan per capita a month.
The miners held several demonstrations in front of the Datong city government in May. They also reportedly sent representatives to petition the central government in Beijing. On 20 May, the company management agreed to meet with representatives of the protesting workers, but refused to make any concessions to the workers' demands. The disgruntled workers subsequently went to blockade the Maogan Highway, which connects the city to the nearby coal mines.
Datong is one of the key coal producing centres in China.
(Source: BBC, Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in China)