黑龍江多地教師罷課抗議薪資不公

BEIJING — Strikes by thousands of teachers frustrated by low salaries and mandatory payments to pension plans have spread across cities in northeast China, state news media reported on Monday.

北京——中國的國有媒體週一報道稱，成千上萬的教師因對低工資和強制繳納養老保險不滿而舉行罷工，已擴大到中國東北的多個城市。

The strikes began last week and now encompass a half-dozen cities or counties surrounding the city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, an area of the country where economic growth has long been relatively slow. Classes in some primary and high schools have been suspended, the reports said.

罷工從上週開始，現已擴大到黑龍江省會哈爾濱附近的多個縣市，這裏是國內經濟增長相對緩慢的地區。報道稱，一些小學和中學已經停課。

Teachers are asking for raises and for the government to end a requirement that teachers make payments to a pension plan as part of an experimental policy. China National Radio reported that one teacher was making less than $400 a month after working for 25 years. A report by Global Times, a state-run newspaper, said teachers in Yilan County held up a banner that said: “We are 4,000 Yilan teachers. Return my withheld money!”

教師要求增加工資，並要求政府停止從工資中扣除養老保險，那是一個實驗性政策的一部分。中國國家廣播電臺報道說，一位有25年教齡的老師每月的淨收入僅2500元。在國有報紙《環球時報》的一篇報道中，依蘭縣的教師舉着一個橫幅，上面寫着：“依蘭4000教師維權。返還剋扣工薪！”

A one-minute video posted on the video hosting site Youku said that Monday was the sixth day of protests by teachers in Yilan and showed a group of banner-waving people gathered in the snow in front of the county government offices. “Give me back my salary, give me back my dignity,” the people shouted in unison. In China, teaching has long been a profession with relatively low pay. Teachers from Yilan have posted an open letter online that says veteran educators who have worked two decades make just over $320 per month and new teachers make $160 — “even more pathetic,” according to the letter.

視頻網站優酷上發佈的一個一分鐘視頻稱，依蘭縣教師的抗議活動在週一已進入第六天，視頻顯示了一羣人拉着橫幅在雪中聚集在縣政府辦公大樓前。人們齊聲高喊，“還我工資，還我尊嚴。”在中國，教師一直是工資相對較低的職業。依蘭縣教師在網上發佈的一封公開信中稱，有二十年教齡的老教師每月工資才2000多元，新教師的工資“更可憐”，還不到1000元。

The authors acknowledged the hardships on students caused by the strike. They wrote, “It hurts us that kids are affected because of this. We’re profoundly sorry. Whatever we owe the kids, we’ll make up for in the future by being available all the time.”

公開信的作者承認停課給學生帶來困難。他們寫道，“孩子們因此受影響，我們很傷心。我們十分抱歉。我們欠孩子們的，將通過把未來所有的時間提供給他們來彌補。”

In recent years, there have been more reports in China of strikes by people in a wide range of low-paid occupations. The labor pool of younger workers is getting smaller. Because of cheap smartphones, workers are able to share information across distances about wages, labor conditions and acts of protest. A wave of strikes in 2010 at factories in southern China brought these issues to the fore. Furthermore, the growth rate of the Chinese economy as a whole has been slowing, and salary increases for lower- and middle-class workers have lagged behind inflation in many regions.

近年來，有較多關於中國的一系列低工資職業的人罷工的報道。年輕工人的勞動力資源正日益減少。由於便宜智能手機的普及，工人能夠跨地區共享有關工資、勞動條件和抗議活動的信息。2010年中國南方工廠的罷工潮突出地反映了這些問題。此外，中國經濟的總體增長速度已經放緩，而許多地區中低層收入者的工資增長落後於通貨膨脹。

The grievances over the teachers’ pension plan have arisen because of a pilot project undertaken by Heilongjiang Province and supported by the central government. The project, which began in 2004, is aimed at having government workers, including teachers, contribute part of their salaries to a centralized provincial pension payment plan for all citizens. Previously, government workers were exempt from making payments.

教師對養老保險的不滿，針對的是得到中央政府支持的一個黑龍江省的試點項目。該項目始於2004年，目的是讓政府工作人員、包括教師在內，繳納自己工資的一部分，作爲省政府爲所有公民支付退休金的集中基金。在這個項目出臺之前，政府工作人員免付養老保險。

An open letter circulating online said teachers should not be forced to contribute to the pension plan. The authors of the letter, teachers in the city of Shuangcheng, west of Harbin, said teachers in Heilongjiang should be required to make the payments only if such a policy is enacted across the nation. A report in Beijing Times said that the irate teachers in Shuangcheng were from elementary and junior high schools and had begun protesting with banners in front of the government offices on Nov. 24.

一封在網上流傳的公開信稱，教師不應該被強迫支付養老保險。這封信的作者是哈爾濱西部雙城市的教師，他們說只有在全國範圍實施這種政策的情況下，黑龍江省的教師才需支付養老保險。《京華時報》的報道稱，雙城市的憤怒教師來自小學和初中，他們於11月24日開始在政府辦公樓前打着橫幅抗議。

A person answering the telephone at the education bureau of Shuangcheng declined to discuss the matter. A person answering the phone at the local propaganda bureau said officials in charge were not available to answer questions. People answering the telephones at four rural schools and four urban schools in the Shuangcheng area said the schools were operating normally.

一位在雙城教育局接聽電話的人拒絕討論此事。一位在當地宣傳局接聽電話的人表示，有關負責人不在，沒人能回答問題。在雙城市的4個鄉區學校和4個市區學校接聽電話的人說，學校在正常運轉。

The wider protests throughout Heilongjiang began after teachers in the city of Zhaodong, in the same province, took to the streets in mid-November to demand higher salaries. The local government approved an average monthly salary increase of $125 and promised to investigate working conditions, state news media and Global Times reported. The teachers then went back to work.

在黑龍江省肇東縣教師於11月中旬走上街頭、要求提高工資後，全省爆發了更大範圍的抗議活動。國家新聞媒體和《環球時報》報道稱，肇東縣政府批准了給教師每月平均加薪800元，並承諾對他們的工作條件進行調查。這之後，教師重返工作崗位。

Last year, researchers at Peking University released survey results that showed the average annual income for a Chinese family in 2012 was about $2,100. That amount varied widely by region. The average family in Shanghai, on the east coast, made $4,700, while the average in Gansu Province, a mostly rural area in the northwest, was just over $2,000.

去年，北京大學的研究人員公佈了一個調查項目的結果，顯示2012年中國人均家庭純收入的平均值約爲13000元。不同地區的家庭收入有很大的差別。在東部城市上海，人均家庭收入爲29000元，而在地處西北，農村爲主的甘肅省，人均家庭收入不到12000元。

Strikes by teachers have taken place recently in other parts of China. Teachers at one junior high school in Guangdong Province protested in late October when the government began paying them about $260 a month after having promised a monthly salary of $800, according to a report on the website of People’s Daily, the main Communist Party newspaper. A similar walkout occurred in March at a kindergarten in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong.

中國其他地區最近也發生過教師罷工。據共產黨的主要報紙《人民日報》的網站報道，廣東省一個地方政府曾向當地一所初中的教師承諾每月5000元的工資，但只發給了他們1600元，之後教師向政府提出抗議。三月份在廣東省省會廣州的一所幼兒園也發生過類似的罷工。

In early September, teachers at a high school in the city of Xiaogan, in Hubei Province, went on strike over what they called the government’s refusal to give them the proper status in the public employment system. The status helps determine details of their pension plans.

九月初，湖北省孝感市一所高中的教師罷課，他們對政府不給他們所謂的正式編制不滿。正式編制讓員工能享有養老金待遇。