Tens of thousands of migrant workers are looking forward to a happier holiday after receiving delayed wage payments, following a campaign by authorities in Guangdong province.

Between October and the end of last month, more than 8,000 officials from the departments of labor and social security, construction and public security, plus the Guangdong provincial workers union, investigated almost 75,000 companies across the province.

As of Thursday, they had succeeded in securing 211 million yuan ($29.4 million) in overdue pay for some 295,000 workers, 274,000 of whom were migrants.

A grading system was implemented during the campaign to identify companies based on their payment histories.

"We rated the employers from A to D," Chen Yisi, director of the wage division of the labor department, said on Friday.

He said firms with an "A" rating are those that have no record of delaying wage payments for the past three years. Those with "B" and "C" ratings have a moderately good record, while those rated "D" have been known to have delayed payments on more than one occasion.

During the campaign, 45 firms were given "D" ratings and were blacklisted by the labor department for serious rule violations, including delaying wage payments, forcing workers to do overtime and refusing to buy social insurance for them, Chen said.

(China Daily February 2, 2008)