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Chinese workers who
were once masters of their own destiny are now getting killed in thousands in
individual accidents as the new capitalist rulers have done away with all safety
measures at the work place in order to maximize profits. This is particularly so
in the Chinese coal mining sector.
The Chinese
government itself admitted that 6,027 workers were killed in coal mine accidents
last year. But according to reliable sources the death toll stands at around
20,000. This year, by August itself about 7,000 workers were killed in various
accidents in coal mines all through China. 254 workers were killed in a ghastly
gas explosion in February. 16 workers were killed due to poisonous gas in a mine
in North China. 60 workers were killed due to a gas explosion on the 19th of
August in a coal mine in Northern China. Around 6,000 were killed when water
seeped into a mine in August. There seems to be no end to these ghastly deaths.
The Chinese coal
industry is the largest in the world. It accounts for around 35% of the annual
total world coal output. More interestingly, it accounts for 80% of the annual
fatal accidents all around the world. The death rate due to accidents in coal
mines in China is hundred times more than any other country.
With the restoration
of capitalism in China and its subsequent integration into the imperialist world
market, the Chinese industry has been facing more direct competition with the
corporations around the world. Its inhuman labour policies make it the ideal
place for all capitalists of the world to invest and make super-profits. The
gigantic flow of foreign capital into the country each year is for this reason.
The slave-like labour conditions is something that the imperialist developed
economies cannot even dream of — except of course in US prisons. With this huge
industrial growth the demand of fuel is increasing fast.
Coal accounts for
about 70% of Chinese fuel resources and 80% of the total electricity generated
in China is coal-based. With the demand of fuel going up the price of coal also
went up by 40% last year. The demand for coal is expected to reach 21 billion
tones by this winter.
With the restoration
of capitalism, as in other fields, there was a change of ownership in the coal
mines too. Thousands of coal mines which were under the public sector earlier
went into private hands. There are 23,600 officially recognized coal mines in
China. Another 40,000 coal mines are being operated illegally by private
operators — ofcourse with the collusion of the state and the party machinery.
The amount this private pillage of Chinese people’s natural resources can be
gauged by the fact that, th largest chunk if he total of 1.9 billion tones
extracted in China last year came from these privately operated illegal mines.
In China the workings
of the free market are in full bloom with the restoration of capitalism in China
— with all its brutalities and inhumanities. Today millions of people in China
lie unemployed due to downsizing of industry and displacement of the peasantry.
The huge army of unemployed is estimated at some 300 milion people who are
serving as the main source of cheap labour for the capitalists.
As the demand for
coal increased and subsequently its price skyrocketed the predatory drive for
profits of the capitalist in both the private and public sectors led to the
complete neglect of any safety measures for the workers whatsoever. Abandoned
coal mines are being re-opened forcing workers to go deeper and deeper below the
surface to extremely dangerous levels. These mines were closed during the
socialist period keeping the health and safety of the workers in mind. It is
these conditions that are leading to the death of thousands of workers each
year.
It is not that laws
are non-existent. But, in typical fake ‘socialist’ style these are there merely
to fool the people and the world, the laws made during the socialist period are
only on paper and never implemented due to the large capital expenditure it will
entail. More important if the laws were to be implemented they would have to
close down thousands of illegally functioning mines.
But all this is not
going unchallenged. Each week is bringing news of at least one or two incidents
with thousands of workers and/or uprooted peasants joining in pitched battles
with the police. The Chinese government itself admitted that there were 74,000
mass demonstrations and riots during 2004. This has forced the government to
take note of the horrifying situation and in order to pacify the anger of the
workers they announced last March that $6 million will be allocated to improve
safety measures in the mines and that two lakh Yuan will be given to the kin of
the workers killed in accidents.
The coal miners of
China have a great history of being the first to carry the communist ideology to
various parts of the country. There is no doubt that they will in future restore
the great legacy of a class conscious working class and as a vanguard force to
overthrow the present capitalist usurpers from their throne.
It brings to mind the
phenomena of the famous (earlier infamous) Kailan coal mines. Earlier, when
controlled by the imperialists, it was like a hell hole swallowing up worker’s
lives by the hundreds. Few miners survived into the new society in 1949. The
imperialists had robbed 200 million tones of coal from this mine alone. After
the revolution the communist government invested large sums in safety measures.
Coal dust is a major killer even if accidents are not there. Huge amounts were
invested in ventilation, dust-control pipelines, good labour protection
conditions, proper clothing etc. Apart from safety personnel, there were those
who were responsible for fire prevention, checking water, ventilation, tunnel
maintenance, and examining dust and gas. And even when the horrifying earthquake
struck this area in 1976, with the imperialist shouting that all the 10,000
workers would have been killed, not a single life was lost due to swift rescue
operations.
Today the Kailan Coal
mines are once again a hell hole under the new capitalist rulers.
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