Beijing-based charity Little Bird provides hope to migrant workers by helping to solve industrial disputes, providing legal counseling and career guidance. This grassroots organization is the first labor NGO established in China that can work directly in the community with migrant workers. Little Bird founder Wei Wei, a former migrant worker himself, sat down to tell us more about his organization and the difficulties that migrant workers face in China.

They are China’s most valuable economic asset, providing the labor force behind the nation’s world-beating manufacturing sector, yet migrant workers face many difficulties when they arrive in the cities. They do not have the same legal rights as local residents, and are thus subjected to unfair contracts, poor working conditions, difficulty in receiving wages or compensation following an accident, as well as social isolation. The migrant population in China doubled between 1993 and 2003 to 140 million, as the GDP grew by ten percent each year; there are now an estimated 150-200 million migrant workers nationwide.

Tell us about Little Bird.
Little Bird Mutual-Assistance Hotline for Migrant Workers was established in 1999. We are a grassroots NGO, based in Beijing, dedicated to helping migrant workers, by defending their legal rights, offering training sessions on urban integration and providing information on job opportunities.

What have been the main achievements of the organization so far?
In the past decade, Little Bird has answered more than 130,000 hotline calls about rights protection, urban integration and information on job hunting. In 2004, in co-operation with the Beijing government, Little Bird’s Beijing branch established a People’s Mediation Committee. This enabled Little Bird to become the first labor NGO in China that can do “on-the-spot” mediation in the communities or construction sites with the employers and help the migrant workers reclaim their due salary.

Why did you decide to found Little Bird?
I set up Little Bird because I myself was migrant worker. I came to Beijing in 1997 from Henan, and in the following two years I did many kinds of jobs, through which I gained a deep understanding of the helplessness that migrant workers in the city may feel. Due to the lack of social resources, such as support from their family members or employers, migrant workers have to confront many kinds of troubles and difficulties when they come to city. After considering this, I thought it was necessary to set up an organization for migrant workers, where they can access social resources and information sharing. In this way, migrant workers can help each other and overcome difficulties confronting them in their daily work and life, in order to realize their potential.

What problems do migrant workers in China face?
In China, migrant workers are usually confronted by four problems:
1) Migrant workers’ rights can’t be secured. Due to their lack of common legal knowledge, the migrant workers may not sign a fair contract or even any contract at all with their employers.
2) Some of the government departments concerned are not able to enforce the law effectively, thus, the migrant workers whose legal rights are violated can’t get immediate help.
3) Migrant workers face difficulties in getting used to urban life. They are unfamiliar with the city and public resources, less informed on legal matters, and may not fully integrate into city life.
4) There are only a few NGOs that are dedicated to helping migrant workers. The government can’t focus all its attention on the migrant workers, and so NGOs have become an important force in this regard. However, due to the lack of favorable governmental policies towards NGOs, labor NGOs have difficulty in developing further and can’t offer enough help to the migrant community.

How has the central government reacted to Little Bird?
While helping the migrant workers, Little Bird has made full use of the media and has been highly report by the press, so Little Bird has gained good public credibility. Therefore, the government is mild toward Little Bird and offers their support to us. As I mentioned earlier, the Beijing Dongcheng District Judiciary Bureau authorized Little Bird to create the People’s Mediation Committee.

Little Bird has three offices across China in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shenyang - do you plan to open more offices across China in the future?
The objective of Little Bird in the ten years is to open offices in 10 major cities in China. If government policy permits and if Little Bird has enough funds, we will open the hotline in more cities to help more migrant workers, and ultimately create an intercity network system for information sharing. We hope to become a support, help and legal information platform for migrant workers.

Do you any need volunteers?
Due to lack of funding and staff, Little Bird needs as much help as people can offer. In particular, we are looking for volunteers who are fluent in English and Chinese to translate project proposals and to maintain the international contact so that we can apply for international funding.

For more information on how you can help via donations or volunteering with Little Bird go to www.xiaoxiaoniao.org.cn or call 010-68515323