When Ma Jixing contracted the fatal lung disease pneumoconiosis his former employer refused to pay any compensation claiming Ma had never worked for the company

During the run-up to the Spring Festival holiday, government and trade union officials were once again prioritizing the resolution of labour disputes, to ensure that migrant workers could return home with at least some of the pay owed to them by employers. In December 2011, at least eight government departments issued notices demanding that employers pay their workers on time, and the national trade union urged local unions to mobilize and prioritize legal assistance for migrant workers in these matters

Han Dongfang talks to a young couple fighting an obstinate employer and buck-passing officials to get unpaid social security contributions who finally got some help after posting an account of their struggle online.

Amendments to China’s Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Occupational Diseases (职业病防治法), approved by the National People’s Congress on 31 December 2011, will go some way to ease the ordeal workers face in getting diagnosed and compensated for occupational disease, according to a leading labour rights activist.

A former miner with third-stage pneumoconiosis tells Han Dongfang about the terrible cost of working in the lead and zinc mines of Sichuan for two decades with no protection from the clouds of deadly mineral dust enveloping him.

In a bid to gain compensation and highlight the workplace health and safety obligations of local governments, a group of 75 former miners and their families from remote villages in Sichuan have filed an administrative lawsuit against a local county health department for dereliction of duty.

A job applicant is suing a Chongqing subsidiary of Taiwanese electronics giant, Foxconn, after the company allegedly rescinded an offer of employment in its purchasing department when a medical test indicated the applicant had a tuberculosis infection. The Legal Daily said it is believed to be China’s first case of employment discrimination based on tuberculosis.

A university graduate employed as a “village official” in rural Sichuan for three years was denied unemployment benefit because the local government refused to pay his social security contributions.

An electrician from Heilongjiang spent more than a decade battling with his boss, local government officials and the courts trying to get compensation for a work-related injury that left him with severe burns and a Grade 5 disability.