Wei Shaoshan never loses concentration when he is processing reinforced bars at a construction site in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China Shaanxi Province.

But once a hard day's work is done, Wei's anxieties bubble to the surface.

"The high-rise we are constructing is going to be 130 metres high," he says. "But what I worry about most is whether I will be paid for working on the heavy and cold reinforced bars, and if I will be able to find a new job after this building is completed."

Wei, 31, comes from Yongcheng County in Henan, a province next to Shaanxi.

Wei and his 18 fellow villagers have been working at many construction sites in Xi'an for six years.

"We do not care how hard the work is, but we do care about that fact that we are owed pay, that our kids face difficulties in education in cities and that we have dull and insipid cultural lives, in addition to there being inadequate social insurance and security," Wei says.

During the last six years in Xi'an, Wei says that he and his fellow villagers have only been fully paid once.

"Beside the living allowances we got from our boss every month, we were usually paid anything between about 300 and 500 yuan (US$36-60) when we went home for Spring Festival. Yet our total payment should be 10,800 yuan (US$1,301) for a year of hard work," he says.

But things changed for the better this Spring Festival in February.

The central government urged local governments at all levels to put the settlement of migrant workers' salaries to the top of their agendas.

"Thanks to that and the help given to us by the local government departments concerned, we, for the first time, got our total payment before the Chinese New Year." Wei says.

Another change migrant workers want is to be able to pay the same education fees for their children as urban parents.

Lao Zhang, one of Wei's fellow villagers, has to pay extra fees for his children's schooling, otherwise they cannot go to city-based schools.

"After we pay for textbooks and other stuff required by the school, we are asked to pay an extra fee called jiedu fei (a fee to study at a school on a temporary basis). Every semester, I have to pay an extra 1,000 yuan (US$120) for my two children," Lao says.

When hearing that migrant workers in Changchun of Jilin Province will soon not have to pay extra, Lao says he hopes his family will also get such a break.

Wei's and Zhang's concerns mirror the results of a large-scale investigation carried out last May by members of the Sociology Research Institute at the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences.

The three-month-long investigation attempted to shed some light on the situation being faced by the farmer-turned-labourers working in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province and the largest city in Northwest China. They make up about one-sixth of the city's population of 6 million.

The investigation shows that migrant workers are an often neglected group in society, even compared with other disadvantageous groups such as laid-off workers, disabled people and the destitute.

The investigation shows that more than 95 per cent of the migrant workers have no social insurance and security, and no insurance to cover work-related injuries.

At the same time, more than 50 per cent of them agree that cities have provided them an opportunity to improve their lives and choose to stay, despite the difficulties.

Asked if they were satisfied with their work, 76.7 per cent of respondents agreed, illustrating that they treasured their jobs, says Jiang Bo, deputy director of the institute.

"The lawful rights and interests of migrant workers are often violated, because employers usually do not sign labour contracts with them," Jiang said.

"It is partly because the farmers do not know the importance of labour contracts and partly because there is a surplus in the labour force in urban areas. Contracts are purposely or unwittingly ignored."

Wei's concern about timely payment is echoed by his peers. The survey reveals that migrant workers are most worried about getting paid on time.

According to official statistics, migrant workers in the country were owed 100 billion yuan (US$12.05 billion) last year -- 70 per cent of which was unpaid by construction companies.

Not being paid in full has caused serious social problems, while attracting great attention from the central government.

Since last year, a number of tough measures have been issued to ensure payments are made on time.

"This is a good sign. We hope it will assist us in the future," Wei says.

(China Daily March 31, 2004)