Chinese workers demand release of labour rights activists

BEIJING: Some 100 Chinese workers suffering from a workrelated disease have signed a petition demanding the release of three prominent activists in southern China amid a crackdown on labour activism.

Wei Zhili and Ke Chengbing, editors of a labour rights news site that reported on the workers’ cases, were arrested last month for ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ – a broad charge that Chinese authorities often use to sweep up activists and dissidents.

Yang Zhengjun, editor-in-chief of the iLabour news site, has been in police detention since January.

“They’re not guilty – they have caring hearts and because of that they face pressure from the government. I’ve been thinking, this isn’t what my country is about. They should look after us.” said Gu Fuxiang, one of the workers who signed the petition told AFP.

Hundreds of migrant workers, mainly from central Hunan province, protested last year for compensation in Shenzhen after contracting silicosis, a deadly lung disease, when they helped transform the southern city from a fishing village into one of China’s biggest tech hubs.

When workers were ignored by the government and pressured to stop protesting, the three labour activists were there for support, said Gu.

Their petition, which is posted online, urges the Shenzhen police to release the three labour activists and is addressed to the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions.