Name and Shame Them

When the 10 most serious public health incidents in east China’s Shandong Province for 2006 were announced to the public earlier this year, none of the companies involved were mentioned by name. Given the fact that the cases are about food safety and medical services-crucial to people’s health-to conceal the names of those responsible is unacceptable.

Local authorities explained that by doing so, they intended to reduce the financial losses a bad reputation might give those businesses. Heavy fines are already severe punishment, they said. However, this explanation seems in favor of those who should be held accountable and totally disregards the interests of the ordinary people.

Open criticism by name will help companies to learn from past mistakes. When certain organizations in the industry are seriously punished, it is actually a warning to the whole industry.

Criticism without referring to the true names of relevant companies is always an ineffective punishment. Sometimes, the authorities do so to save the reputation of those at fault and worse still, sometimes, there might exist under-the-counter deals between them. As a result, these companies will carry on with their malpractices, resulting in more serious or even irreversible aftermaths. Moreover, the government’s image is also damaged due to its tolerance toward those who do harm to the public.

Procuratorial Daily

People’s Government

During the latest Spring Festival holiday, many government officials went to visit ordinary residents in need, bringing them gifts.

Such visits can offer government officials first-hand information of the disadvantaged group of society. Chatting with the ordinary people in their homes, officials can get to know the hopes and fears of average Chinese. The real living conditions can also tell officials how government polices are implemented, reveal hidden problems, and help them to come up with tangible solutions.

To pay home visits to common folk during such an important traditional holiday is well received. If more regions and government officials can take tangible actions like this to show people they care, it will undoubtedly help to build a harmonious society.

Workers’ Daily

Workers Have No Voice

On the first workday after the Spring Festival, migrant workers in south China’s Guangdong Province saw local trade union officials deliver them pamphlets on the streets, which tell how to safeguard their rights. However, many recipients reportedly showed little interest in these brochures, tearing them up and scattering them as litter, in what was an embarrassment for the givers.

Why are migrant workers so indifferent to their own rights? Is it because they do not care about their interests? Frequent pay defaults show that the protection of migrant workers’ rights is now a top social concern. The workers’ indifference to the pamphlets results very likely from their distrust of the trade union organizations.

It’s important for workers to know how trade union organizations can help them, but more important is how to encourage the workers to safeguard rights by themselves. The workers know what they are demanding more than anyone else, so despite the importance of external aid, to empower them to speak for themselves will prove to be more effective.

For years, migrant workers have been struggling to safeguard their legitimate rights, but always ending in failure. It’s not because they are incapable or ignorant but because there is no organization and no effective legal channels for them to voice their demands aloud.

Only when their dignity and confidence is restored can we expect them to take those who try to help them seriously. Maybe at that time, similar brochures will be well received.

The Beijing News

Equality a Pipedream

According to the Employment Promotion Law that is being drafted, China is to set up a system that provides equal employment opportunities to dwellers in cities and the countryside.

When there still exists a large gap between China’s rural and urban areas, equal employment, if realized, will surely help to narrow the disparity.

However, to make employment equal to both urban and rural laborers is undoubtedly a time-consuming project. The country’s urbanization is dragging tens of millions of farmers to cities for jobs. Nevertheless, however long they have stayed in a city, rural workers’ roots are imbedded in the countryside.

Striking employment discrimination does not happen in companies, but in state departments. Companies do not care about where workers come from as long as they can do a good job. By contrast, state departments seldom consider farmers. In almost every Chinese city, migrant workers are engaged in the hardest jobs, while better positions are preserved for locals and workers laid off from state-owned enterprises.

It’s necessary to reform the unequal household registration system and to develop a more equal social security system. If these problems are not resolved, equal employment will remain a pipedream forever.

Guangzhou Daily