The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) revealed on April 24 that more than 6.8 million migrant rural workers will receive employment assistance this year. The organization will help 200,000 laid-off jobless and migrant rural workers enter the household management service industry.
Approximately 20 million migrant rural workers lost their jobs in the period before and after the Spring Festival holiday. According to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics, the average cash income of rural households in the first quarter of this year stood at 1,622 yuan, an increase of 8.6 percent compared with the same period last year. Of these, the average wage income was 655 yuan per rural household, an increase of 7.7 percent compared with the same period the year before. The average wage income from off-farm employment was 383 yuan per household, an increase of 8.2 percent.
In February, the ACFTU started an assistance campaign covering more than 10 million migrant workers, prioritizing employment assistance. The campaign plans to provide employment assistance and offer rights protection services as well as livelihood assistance to over 5 million people. The campaign also plans to acquire over 5 million new migrant rural worker members.
This year, 100 employment training (practice training) bases with names designated by the ACFTU will be established around China. At the same time, the ACFTU will finance the establishment of 10 bases for the training and demonstration of migrant workers' skills in provinces with high populations of migrant workers, in order to train a group of medium to high-level technicians. According to the plan, more than 2 million migrant rural workers will be trained this year. Over 500,000 of these are expected to obtain certificates for technical proficiency. More than 3 million migrant rural workers will be given help to find employment.
At the same time, the ACFTU is in active communication with China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Finance, planning to train 200,000 laid-off workers and migrant rural workers to provide household services in 2009. The ACFTU will also launch a micro-credit program together with the China Banking Regulatory Commission, to solve issues such as venture capital bottlenecks for migrant rural workers and laid-off workers through communication and coordination to help them start their own businesses independently.
By the end of 2008, China's total number of migrant rural workers had reached 230 million. Of this 230 million, those working in cities amounted to 130 million, three times more than the total workforce of state-owned enterprises. To date, the number of migrant rural workers who have been a member of the ACFTU stands at 72.16 million.
The entire campaign requires a total fund of more than 800 million yuan, all of which will come from public funds. The funds will be issued through strict approval procedures, and the allocation and disposition of the employment training fund and assistance fund will regularly be announced to the public.
By People's Daily Online
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article