Some residents of Chongqing, one of the hottest cities in China,
say workers should be given reduced duty when temperatures exceed
35 degrees Celsius.
The city has promised to enact a regulation that allows people
to stop working when it gets too hot outside. Municipal officials
held a three-hour hearing last week seeking suggestions.
The hearing, which was attended by 60 people, was also broadcast
online. Most of the participants endorsed the idea of allowing
workers to have shorter work days in hot weather and be provided
with cold drinks.
Liu Jiefeng, one of the meeting participants, said the law
should kick in at 35 degrees - not 40 degrees as suggested in the
current draft rule.
"When the weather forecast says it will be 35 degrees Celsius,
the temperature of the actual working environment is usually much
higher than that," Liu said.
Liu's view was opposed by Pi Li, who represents the Chongqing
City Federation of Trade Unions. Pi said there are too many days
between May and October when the temperature in Chongqing reaches
35, and not enough work would get done if that figure was accepted
as the cutoff point.
Luo Quanshui, who works for the Chongqing Public Transport
Group, also said a forecast temperature doesn't represent true
conditions on the job. "When it is 38 degrees Celsius outside, the
temperature inside a bus without air conditioning can reach 50
degrees Celsius."
More than 3,000 non-air-conditioned buses ply the streets of
Chongqing.
"Last year, some bus companies placed blocks of ice in buses to
bring down the temperature," Luo said.
No matter where the benchmark is set, it will be business as
usual for workers in air-conditioned environments, however.
The draft regulation, which is expected to take effect in June,
also includes a hot weather allowance that will be paid to outside
workers between July and September.
The city experienced a nightmarish summer last year with a
prolonged heat wave and drought. In some parts of the city, there
were 25 successive days when the temperature climbed above 40
degrees.
On August 15 the mercury reached 44.5 degrees in Qijiang County,
the highest temperature since records began to be kept 53 years
ago. Some 20,000 people suffered sunstroke - most of them at
work.
(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2007)