中國勞動人口年齡變大 逼迫社保制度變革步伐

When workers at a major footwear factory in south China walked off the job earlier this month, demanding better social insurance benefits, they threatened to upend a cozy system.

中國南部一家大型製鞋廠的工人本月早些時候舉行罷工，要求更好的社保待遇，此舉可能會引發中國一項社保制度的變革。

It is a dispute that will hit the pocket book of a key supplier to some of the world's footwear giants and to the workers themselves. It's also a stark reminder that China's labor force is aging.

這場糾紛不僅會衝擊全球一些製鞋巨頭的重要供應商，也會傷及工人自身的利益，同時也敲響了中國勞動人口年齡正在變大的警鐘。

Workers at the Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) struck at least some of the facilities in Dongguan in Guangdong province, demanding years of owed social benefits be paid to them and disrupting production at a plant that supplies Nike Inc and Adidas among others.

裕元工業（集團）有限公司(Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Ltd., 簡稱：裕元集團)在廣東東莞工廠的部分工人舉行了罷工，他們要求公司償付拖欠多年的社保。罷工行動中斷了一家工廠的生產，該廠是耐克公司(Nike Inc)和阿迪達斯(Adidas)等企業的供應商。

The workers said the Hong Kong-listed company has been making social insurance contributions based on basic wages rather than total actual pay as required by law.

罷工的工人們稱，裕元集團一直按照基本工資繳納員工社保，而不是依照法律規定按實際工資繳納足額社保。裕元集團是一家香港上市公司。

The average monthly salary of the more than 40,000 workers at Yue Yuen is about 3,000 yuan ($482), but payments to social insurance were based on income of around 1,810 yuan for most workers, workers say.

工人們表示，裕元東莞工廠有4萬多名工人，每月的平均工資約爲人民幣3,000元（約合482美元），但多數人的社保繳納基數僅爲人民幣1,810元。

The company, which has some 40,000 workers at its plants in Guangdong, has acknowledged the discrepancy and agreed to make up the owed payments. In some cases, that means years of benefits. The problem is that many of these workers may not want to top up their mandated co-contributions because they are migrants who will return to their home towns at some point. Social insurance comprises pension, medical and other benefits. But the scheme isn't national. So migrants may not be able to take those benefits with them if they retire to their home provinces.

裕元集團承認沒有爲工人繳納足額社保，同意補繳。在某些情況下，這意味着要補繳多年的社保費用。問題在於，許多工人可能不想補足社保的自付部分，因爲他們是外來務工人員，將來某個時候他們將返回家鄉。社保包括養老金、醫療保險以及其他一些福利。但社保制目前並不是全國統一的。許多情況下，社保不能隨人流轉，當外來務工人員離開工作所在地區返回家鄉時，他們可能無法將社保金轉回家鄉。

That prospect has unnerved some of the workers at Yue Yuen's production facilities in neighboring Jiangxi province. Inspired by the Guangdong protests, they have started a work slowdown, fearing that larger company payments for social insurance will require them to make bigger co-payments to their accounts for benefits they will never be able to collect, management officials said.

這方面的問題令裕元集團江西工廠的一些工人也開始感到不安。據管理人員稱，受到廣東工人抗議活動的“啓發”，他們已開始拖慢工作速度，因擔心公司補繳社保金會需要他們向帳戶中繳納更多的自付部分，而社保金背後的福利他們可能永遠也享受不到。

Guangdong was at the forefront of China's economic opening to foreign investors and attracted swarms of migrants to staff production lines that turned the province's Pearl River Delta region into the world's factory floor. Labor groups say the fact that the current disputes are about social insurance, rather than wages, shows that the workforce is aging.

廣東曾站在中國經濟對外開放的最前沿，吸引大量外來務工人員進入生產線，推動珠三角地區成爲“世界工廠”。勞工組織稱，當前抗議活動的起因是社保而非工資，說明勞動人口的年齡正在變大。

According to an estimate by a not-for-profit labor support organization, Yue Yuen's back payments could total more than 100 million-200 million yuan ($16 million-$32 million) depending on how many of the workers are owed for long years of service.

據一家非營利勞工支持組織的推測，裕元集團補繳的社保金總額或高達人民幣一億到兩億元（合1,600萬到3,200萬美元），具體數額取決於有多少工人多年來的社保金被拖欠。

'It's a long-time issue commonly seen throughout the entire Pearl River Delta,' said Zhang Zhiru, director of Shenzhen Spring Breeze Labor Disputes Service Center.

深圳春風勞動爭議服務部(Shenzhen Spring Breeze Labor Disputes Service Center)負責人張治儒稱，整個珠三角地區普遍長期存在這一問題。

'Employers, workers and local governments all have long been aware of the under-paid social insurance for a long time but it's becoming an issue now because the workers are getting old,' Mr. Zhang said.

他說，僱主、工人和地方政府早就都意識到，社保長期存在繳納不足的情況，但現在因爲工人變老，這便成爲了一個問題。

That could mean Yue Yuen is not alone. Analysts and the government may be waiting to see where and when another shoe will drop.

這或許意味着裕元集團並非特例。分析人士和政府或許正在觀察何時何地將再度發生此類事件。

Liyan Qi

Liyan Qi