Text: Feng Law lectures
Editor|Feng Lu lectures
In 2019, the construction industry in some parts of the mainland issued a "removal order", which means that male migrant workers over the age of 60 and female migrant workers over the age of 50 are prohibited from entering construction work.
The promulgation of this decree is also to ensure the safety of migrant workers, because after the age of men over 60 and women over 50, their physical functions will decline rapidly.
However, this policy has attracted controversy, because according to the National Bureau of Statistics, as of 2022, the total number of migrant workers in the country has reached 295.62 million.
A considerable number of them need to bear the burden of family responsibilities, but with the issuance of "removal orders" in many places, many migrant workers are facing the dilemma of unemployment.
So, where do these overage migrant workers go, and how do we protect their livelihoods?
The dilemma faced by mainland migrant workers
In 2004, the TV series "Migrant Workers" starring Fan Ming and Chen Sicheng was officially released, in which Fan Ming played a migrant worker from the countryside.
For the livelihood of his family, he had to leave his hometown to work in the city, towering into the sky, with rows of steel and concrete that could not be seen.
not only made Ju Guangda feel painful and confused, but also revealed the plight faced by countless low-level migrant workers in that era.
In order to make their children stand out, countless migrant workers like Ju Guangguang came to the city with snakeskin bags on their backs, thinking that with their hard-working hands, they could change the status quo of their families.
But after working hard for half a lifetime, they found that they were still wearing clothes full of dust and sweat, struggling at the bottom of society.
Under the Fengqi Road overpass in Hangzhou, there are often some migrant workers wearing hard hats and carrying tools on their backs sitting on the side of the road, sitting on the side of the road with a blank face, watching the pedestrians coming and going.
In order to earn a living, they learned many trades, carpentry, painting, punching, etc., sometimes for half a month, just hoping that an employer would hire them to work.
This year's 64-year-old Fu is also a member of the migrant workers' brigade, he is from Yingtan, Jiangxi, as for why he came to Hangzhou to work.
That's what the old man said, he said that although the children have already started a family and started a business, and he has reached the age of retirement, he is still very strong and does not want to cause trouble to the children.
I don't expect to earn much money, I can work day by day, and the money I earn can take care of their old couple's life.
A few years ago, Lao Fu was a worker on a construction site, but with the implementation of the "removal order", the 64-year-old Fu can no longer work on the local construction site.
So, the old man took his tools and went under the overpass, wanting to try his luck and see if any employers hired him as a casual worker.
Speaking of his part-time work experience, the old man sighed, he said that he was a soldier in 1978, and after he was discharged from the army, he farmed and sold vegetables at home.
However, as the children get older, they need more and more expenses, and they need money to go to school, buy a house, buy a car, get married, etc.
When the money is used, the old man will be carried on a large woven bag and go to the construction site in the city to work, over the years, the old man has almost run all over the first and second tier cities in the country.
Where the construction site needs people, the old man will go there. The old man said that the biggest disadvantage of being a casual worker is that his income is unstable, and when he encounters the off-season, he does not work for half a month.
When he doesn't have a job, he can only swipe his mobile phone or chat with other casual workers. The old man is very quick with his hands and feet, and he has a lot of experience, but when competing with other casual workers, the old man still has no advantage.
In particular, some employers still have to look at ID cards, and 64-year-old men are often the first to be eliminated. And there are many migrant workers like Lao Fu, most of whom are over 60 years old, and they are all engaged in decoration, water and electricity.
"It's difficult", when facing the camera, the old man said such a sentence, and this sentence is also the voice of other elderly migrant workers. Among them is Lao Zhang from Zhoukou, Henan.
Where do elderly migrant workers go?
Lao Zhang was a truck driver in his early years, specializing in long-distance running, and the law stipulates that after he is over 60 years old, he can no longer drive large buses.
Therefore, Lao Zhang turned his attention to the construction industry, but with the promulgation of the "removal order", Shanghai, Shenzhen, Nanchang and other places have also successively promulgated relevant measures.
Lao Zhang, who originally wanted to try his luck at the construction site, ate several closed doors in a row, but thanks to the introduction of a friend, Lao Zhang found a cleaning job on the construction site.
Although the salary is not high, only 100 yuan a day, the construction site is responsible for eating and drinking, and Lao Zhang can save a lot of money in a few months, and he can also help his son pay off the mortgage.
Lao Zhang's luck is good among the elderly migrant workers, and there are some unlucky migrant workers who can't enter the construction site, so they can only try their luck under the overpass like Lao Fu to see if they can find a job as a casual worker.
60-year-old Lao Chen was also dismissed from the construction site some time ago because of overage, Lao Chen's family situation is very bad, and the family has to count on Lao Chen's income to live.
But the contractor of Lao Chen's construction site said that in case of an accident, no one can afford to take this responsibility. Considering Lao Chen's family, he was finally allowed to work on the construction site for another year, but after a year, Lao Chen's eyes were full of confusion.
However, the "removal order" will also vary slightly depending on the region where it is implemented. Tianjin, for example, stipulates that if an over-age worker needs to be hired for special reasons, the employer needs to check the health certificate of the over-age worker.
In fact, in terms of social security for retired workers, the mainland has long promulgated relevant documents, and the "Interim Measures of the State Council on the Retirement and Retirement of Workers" reads: Male workers can apply for retirement if they reach the age of 60 and female workers reach the age of 50, and they have worked continuously for 10 years.
However, according to the feedback from some migrant workers, the pension that can be applied for a year is only more than 1,000 yuan, which is not enough at all, and a considerable number of migrant workers have not signed labor contracts.
Therefore, the question of what will happen to the over-age migrant workers in the areas where the "removal order" is implemented is still a question.
summary
As of 2021, the total number of migrant workers in mainland China has reached 292.51 million. Among them, more than 27.3 migrant workers are over 50 years old, which shows that the current situation of overage migrant workers in the mainland is still not optimistic.
In November last year, in order to solve the employment problem of over-age migrant workers, the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau also issued relevant guidance, believing that the treatment of over-age migrant workers should not be "one-size-fits-all".
With the issuance of the Guiding Opinions, many places have also made relevant adjustments. Under the adjustment of national policies, it is believed that the situation of over-age migrant workers will definitely be improved.