As the year draws to a close, a new wave of wage disputes has erupted in mainland China. On January 14th, a group of migrant workers revealed that when they went to Xiamen’s Xiangyu Group in Fujian Province to demand unpaid wages, they were driven away with high-pressure water guns by the group’s staff, resulting in misshapen ribs. The incident has sparked outrage online.
According to videos posted by the migrant workers, on the day of the incident, several of them gathered outside the new headquarters building of Xiangyu Group in Xiamen, sitting peacefully to demand the wages owed to them. However, they were violently dispersed by individuals from Xiangyu Group using high-pressure water guns, leaving the workers drenched. There were also individuals at the scene who appeared to be in a leadership position, threatening the workers demanding wages not to film.
A report from the NetEase account “Volcano Poetry” quoted one of the migrant workers involved in the wage dispute as saying that due to Xiangyu Group’s failure to pay the construction company below them, the construction company could not pay the workers. They have been owed over a hundred thousand yuan for two to three years. With the Chinese New Year approaching, when they went to claim their money, they were met with high-pressure water guns.
The migrant worker who filmed the incident further stated, “A person in charge from Xiangyu Group arranged a fire drill to force away the migrant workers. I was filming at the scene and that person from Xiangyu Group sprayed me all over with a fire hose. The hospital report confirmed a slight deformation of my ribs.”
In the video, the person wielding the high-pressure water gun was dressed in a firefighter’s uniform, prompting comments from netizens questioning, “What’s going on? Are firefighters using water guns on you guys?” The migrant worker who filmed the video responded, saying, “It should be a security guard, every building has a temporary fire station with uniforms.”
In response to the incident, on January 15th, administrative staff from Xiangyu Group said in a statement to Chinese media that they were unaware of the workers being sprayed with water and would provide feedback to the relevant departments. They later mentioned that the relevant authorities were handling the situation, and the local police station had also begun an investigation.
The incident has triggered public outrage online. Many netizens expressed their dismay, stating, “Using high-pressure water guns to drive away wage claimants is equivalent to using police equipment. Do companies have the right to do this?” “It’s outrageous; deliberate wage arrears are already illegal behavior.” “If you don’t pay after the work is done, it’s essentially robbery, taking away the fruits of others’ labor…” “Paying wages owed is a matter of common sense.”
Some netizens also analyzed that this is a downside of subcontracting, where if there is a delay in payment at any level, the lowest-tier workers, such as the migrant workers, may not receive their wages.
In light of this, some netizens remarked, “If they don’t find you, who will they find? If it wasn’t for the illegal subcontracting, the money wouldn’t fail to reach the hands of the workers actually doing the work!”
Public records show that Xiamen Xiangyu Group Co., Ltd. is a state-owned enterprise in Xiamen with tens of thousands of employees.