The year has seen no let up in the fatalities that plague the fireworks industry in China. One of the worst accidents took place in a fireworks factory near the Chinese city of Xinji in Hebei province. The Global Unions must again call on the international labour movement to intervene urgently on behalf of Chinese workers. Together with coal mining, China's fireworks sector has one of the worst safety records in the country, a problem further exacerbated by the home-based production of fireworks. On October 19, 2003 a 14-year-old child worker was killed and 11 other workers badly injured at an explosion in Dapingling village in Hunan province. Nine of the eleven injured were under the age of 15 and employed illegally.

The table below shows reported accidents in the fireworks industry so far this year:   

Guoxi Fireworks: "It was like an earthquake"

At 18.08 on July 28, a series of three or four explosions, which some residents likened to an earthquake, demolished most of the Guoxi Fireworks Factory killing 29 workers and injuring at least 100. The factory is located in the Wangkou township near Xinji city. Initial investigations point to a temperature build up inside the main workshop as a possible cause of the explosion.    

The governor of Hebei province, Li Chongshi called for an inquiry into the cause of the accident and for the local authorities to ensure stability. To this end, units of the People's Armed Police were sent to the area along with rescue teams.  

According to reports from the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the Xinji City Guoxi Fireworks Factory was established in 1984 and had obtained the relevant operating licence from the local Public Security Bureau (PSB). The factory employed 220 workers and 169 were in the factory at the time of the explosion. Chairman Wang of the Xinji City Federation of Trade Unions claimed that there was a trade union branch at the factory. However, this has not been confirmed. 

There are conflicting reports as to whether the factory, described as a "family-owned joint stock company", was operating with all the legally required permits. The fact that locals reported seeing the owner of the factory – whose mother died in the blast – abscond on a motorbike after calling emergency services is not a good sign. Moreover, an official quarterly report on product safety published in late 2002 listed one of the factory's products as not meeting mandatory firework safety requirements.

In the view of Global Unions, it is entirely possible to run a fireworks factory safely. The industry can be highly profitable and there is no excuse for companies such as Guoxi not to organise safe production. Dangerous chemicals such as sulphur, sulphide and chlorates need not be used in the production process and all movement of explosive materials in fireworks factories should be strictly controlled. There are unconfirmed reports from the factory that a safety regime was in place. If this is the case, it clearly failed

Compensation

While Global Unions encourages the local authorities to pursue the planned investigation with vigour, we do not believe that future tragedies can be avoided by a continuation of the usual response of investigation and punishment. Moreover, issuing a temporary ban on production, as the authorities did in Jiangxi province following a fireworks tragedy in 2002, is also a knee-jerk reaction that plunges employees into further poverty and often drives production underground. Of course, if there is criminal negligence this must be dealt with via the proper procedures. Moreover, full compensation must be paid to the families of the victims. As already mentioned, there are conflicting reports on whether there was a local branch of the state-run All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) at the factory. However, we urge officers at the Xinji City Federation of Trade Unions to take up the cause of obtaining just compensation for the injured workers as well as the families of the dead. A Work Injury Compensation Law will come into effect on January 1, 2004. This is a clear sign that the authorities are aware of this issue and we urge the trade union to use all possible avenues in pursuit of just compensation for the victims.  
　

Freedom of Association

Important as they are, Global Unions believes the root of the problem does not lie with factors such as incapable individual managers or even a lack of training among the workforce. The root is the lack of an independent trade union with the capacity to monitor production methods from the membership's point of view. Only a democratic and participatory trade union can give workers the confidence to get involved in safety issues and act as a check on the unbridled pursuit of profit that is doing such damage to China's industrial relations.  

Independent trade unions are banned in China, in violation of Article 35 of China's Constitution. The ban also violates the ILO's Declaration on Fundamental Principles at Work and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Economic Rights which the Chinese government has signed and ratified.

While calling for the right to organise independent trade unions as soon as possible, Global Unions also urges the authorities to ensure the full implementation of China's new Work Safety Law and encourage workers to get involved in safety issues. The law contains principles that allow workers basic occupational health and safety rights such as knowledge of dangerous materials (Article 45), the right to criticise dangerous work practices without dismissal and the right to refuse to work in life-threatening conditions (Article 46).  

Most important of all, workers must be encouraged and given room to organise health and safety committees under their own direction and without fear of interference from either employers or government officials. Article 19 of the Safety Law provides for such committees although it is not specific on how they can be established. As a member of the ILO, we believe the Chinese government and trade unions are duty-bound to encourage workers to set up safety committees and actively pursue officials and employers who block them. 

We ask trade union federations, their affiliates and supporters to write to the Chinese leadership urging full implementation of Chinese law in all matters pertaining to occupational safety at work. Below is an English-language model letter that can be sent as written or serve as a template.

This campaign is being run by the ICFTU/GUF/HKCTU/ HKTUC Hong Kong Liaison Office (IHLO). Please inform the IHLO, fax: 852 2770 7388 or e-mail: ihlo@hkctu.org.hk of any action you may take and do not hesitate to contact us if you require assistance.