Black lung patients face a long wait for compensation
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E-mail China Daily, March 25, 2013
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As of the end of 2010, some 676,000 cases of pneumoconiosis had been reported and 22 percent of those patients have died, according to the health authority.
The actual number of patients could be closer to 6 million because a large number of workers in small factories are not under the health authority's occupational disease supervision, according to NGOs, labor experts and lawyers who attended a seminar in Beijing last month.
Liu Jianwei, 41, has a bad cough. Last year, he was diagnosed with first-stage black lung disease after working at a gemstone factory in Beijing for 15 years.
Liu spent the past six years fighting to protect his rights and helped 25 black lung patients who worked at the same factory, including his wife, get compensation from the employer or work injury insurance fund.
Workers diagnosed with first-stage pneumoconiosis received one-off compensation of some 160,000 yuan. Others who had more severe complications from the disease received a one-time compensation of 50,000 yuan and were eligible for a 2,000-yuan subsidy every month and full reimbursement of their medical expenses.
Liu is still waiting for a settlement from a court about his compensation.
Current laws require companies to provide work injury insurance for employees and ensure the country's work injury insurance fund covers treatment fees and compensation to those with occupational diseases - as long as the employee's company paid for the insurance.
An injured worker could receive compensation equal to 7 to 27 months of his monthly salary based on the severity of the injury or disease.
If the employer did not pay for the insurance, it should be responsible for all fees.
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