Website launched to safeguard workers' interests
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-01-18 08:56

A professional website was launched in Beijing Tuesday to safeguard legitimate rights and interests of rural migrant workers working in the cities throughout the country.

The website, operated by the Beijing Workstation of Legal Aid for Rural Migrant Workers, publishes laws and regulations on safeguarding interests of migrant workers as well as typical lawsuits against those who infringed on migrant workers' interests,said Dong Lihua, director of the website.

It also lists 10 lawyers with the workstation who specialize inhandling the cases involving migrant workers. Migrant workers in need of help can dial the hot line for legal aid from the lawyers.

There are about 140 million migrant workers who have come from rural areas to seek fortune in cities. Though rural migrant workers have been playing a vital role in construction and development of cities, their social and political status remains relatively low.

According to statistics, 48.1 percent of rural migrant workers have had the experiences of payment default. As many migrant workers do not know how to protect themselves in legal ways, some of them even turned to violence and illegal methods instead.

As soon as the website was opened on Tuesday morning, some rural migrant workers called in for legal advices, Dong said.

"The website is a new way to help migrant workers," Dong said. "Besides offering legal help and advices so that migrant workers could solve their problems quickly in a low-cost way, we also hope they can raise awareness of safeguarding legitimate rights and interests and then help themselves and others."

The website provides not only help and legal information for migrant workers, but also a platform for the whole society to care about them and learn related laws, said Li Dajin, the chairman of Beijing Lawyers' Association.

Since its establishment in September 2005, the Beijing Workstation of Legal Aid for Rural Migrant Workers, a non-profit organization, have offered professional legal aids on 2,007 law cases and benefited 15,000 migrant workers with legal advices.