SHUANGYASHAN – A protest by thousands of state coal
mine workers in a depressed part of northeastern China has ended, with locals
saying authorities agreed to pay the labourers two months’ salary if they
called off the demonstration.

The speedy end to a protest that erupted on
Saturday in the city of Shuangyashan underscored the government’s sensitivity
to labour unrest, as it embarks on plans to restructure state-owned industries
that involve laying off 5-6 million workers.

Thousands of coal miners employed by Longmay
Group-owned Shuangyashan Mine had marched through the city’s streets holding up
banners saying “We want to live, we want to eat,” according to
photographs posted on social media.

Police cars and patrolmen were still at the site of
the demonstration on Tuesday, but shopkeepers nearby said the crowd dispersed
quickly after the Shuangyashan city government offered them money.

“Now that they’ve given out two months of
salaries, the workers have stopped stirring up trouble,” said a worker in
a nearby district who said he was employed by Dongrongsan Mine, part of
Shuangyashan Mine.

“It shows that all workers want is stable
pay,” he added, declining to be named for fear of reprisal from the
authorities.

Another Longmay worker said on Monday that he had
been notified of the payout.

According to state-run Global Times, the protests
were sparked by comments made last week by the Heilongjiang governor, Lu Hao,
who said the largest coal mining group in the province, Longmay Group, had not
withheld salaries despite suffering heavy financial losses.

Lu apologised on Saturday and conceded that the
company still owed wages, the newspaper added.

Longmay Group, owned by the provincial government,
has been making losses since 2012 and said last year that it would adopt a
“wartime work atmosphere” to cut its bloated 248,000 headcount by as
much as 100,000.

“We don’t understand these things,” said the Dongrongsan mine
employee, when asked about Longmay’s restructuring plans. “We’re just
workers and peasants. What we care about is filling our stomachs and having
warm clothes.”

– Reuters