Extortion schemes show sympathy for stricken workers

• Source: Global Times
• [22:10 June 17 2010]
• Comments

Illustration: Liu Rui

By Chen Chenchen

When talking of labor contractors in China, most people will instantly think of arrogant and potbellied misers roaring toward a group of swarthy and thin migrant workers.

Labor contractors, always seen as pitiless explorers, are demonized figures. So, isn't it astonishing to hear that in East China's developed coastal areas, some labor contractors murmured assent to a group of migrant workers who did almost nothing but asking for money?

This is an absolutely true story. Tang Jinhong, a 35-year-old man from Anhui Province, ran a mahjong club in suburban Shanghai in early 2009. Many customers were migrant workers, who exchanged all kinds of gossip while playing there.

Some boasted about how they made money by extorting their bosses, which deeply impressed Tang. After he went bankrupt several months later, Tang decided to try his hand at the con himself.

The plan was deliberately plotted, which included several key steps. First, Tang went to a labor contractor at a local construction site, saying that he wanted to introduce six or seven migrant workers to them. Second, once he got a signed contract, Tang changed the number of migrant workers to 16 or 17. Third, he mustered nearly 20 villagers from his hometown, led them to the labor contractor and asked for jobs.

Then came the most brilliant part of the entire plan. Most labor contractors, who refused to arrange work for so many people, and were subsequently threatened by violence, would buy peace with money, rather than go to the local labor bureau for negotiation.

A few labor contractors, who felt cheated but still arranged jobs for them, soon found that they had to fire these troublemakers.

Therefore, Tang's gang could still extort a fee, since their victim had called for unilateral termination of the contract. Before launching attacks on all fronts, Tang's team ran the con three times at construction sites in Shanghai, and succeeded all three times. They then pulled the trick at all kinds of construction sites in East China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, until they were eventually arrested six months later.

The biggest irony was undoubtedly that during the six months, no one believed the labor contractors were the victims. A construction site manager surnamed Liu from Jiangsu Province regarded his experience of being extorted as "unforgettable."