“You'll Be Fired if You Refuse†- Human Rights Watch
“You'll Be Fired if You Refuse†- Human Rights Watch
“You'll Be Fired if You Refuse†- Human Rights Watch
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Even when it is not an emergency situation, but simply normal production, Chinese bosses<br />
have ordered underground miners to work double sh<strong>if</strong>ts when their counterpart in the next<br />
sh<strong>if</strong>t does not report for work. A load operator at NFCA described an experience to <strong>Human</strong><br />
<strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> that he said was repeated frequently:<br />
They treat us very badly. I’m in the day sh<strong>if</strong>t [7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.], and <strong>if</strong> a<br />
person from the afternoon sh<strong>if</strong>t [3:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.] doesn’t come, they<br />
say that I have to do a double sh<strong>if</strong>t. We don’t get a break, just a couple buns<br />
[of bread] and back underground for another eight hours…. Sixteen hours<br />
underground is not easy. And then I don’t even get time off for performing<br />
double duty. If I don’t make it to my day sh<strong>if</strong>t the next day, they’ll mark me<br />
absent, and I’ll lose pay. If I refuse to do the double sh<strong>if</strong>t, they’ll fire me. The<br />
Chinese boss says so…. And I don’t get overtime even for this double sh<strong>if</strong>t,<br />
they view it as just a standard day of work. They don’t give overtime. 268<br />
Several NFCA miners said they had suffered injuries from workplace accidents during the<br />
second sh<strong>if</strong>t, blaming the accidents in part on their exhaustion. 269<br />
Although certain circumstances, including breakdowns and other emergencies in which a<br />
suitable sh<strong>if</strong>t replacement is not available, might necessitate an occasional double sh<strong>if</strong>t,<br />
NFCA appears to have made it the standard response to any absence; rather than an<br />
emergency, it is a manner to ensure that production does not slip at all. The government’s<br />
failure is even more pronounced when NFCA bosses deny miners the ability to rest the day<br />
after a double sh<strong>if</strong>t—requiring them, in practice, to work 24 hours underground in a 32-hour<br />
period, even in the absence of an emergency.<br />
In response, CNMC said:<br />
Due to safety needs, workers charged with key responsibilities related to<br />
underground water discharge, power supplies, and hoisting systems are<br />
required to hand over their task to workers in the next sh<strong>if</strong>t…. This is a<br />
common practice in the mining industry to protect lives and safety in<br />
production. Should workers from the next sh<strong>if</strong>t be unable to take over in<br />
268 <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> interview with underground load operator A at NFCA, Chambishi, July 16, 2011. Another worker<br />
stated similarly, “Sometimes I am forced to work a double sh<strong>if</strong>t, <strong>if</strong> the evening person doesn’t show or is sick. And yet they<br />
only count one sh<strong>if</strong>t, I’m not given overtime. If I even have one absent, my salary goes from 1.2 million down to 900,000. How<br />
is this fair?” <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> interview with underground boomer operator B at NFCA, Chambishi, November 11, 2010.<br />
269 <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> interviews with mine truck operator B at NFCA, Chambishi, July 16, 2011; and with underground drill<br />
operator C at NFCA, Chambishi, July 16, 2011.<br />
83 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | NOVEMBER 2011
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