According to a social media report, the government of the Hanjiang District in Putian City, Fujian Province, has not paid grid workers their salaries for six months, and it has recently ceased deposits of workers’ social security contributions as well.
“Grid workers” (网格员) are the lowest level of stability maintenance forces in China. The term “grid worker” or “grid administrator” refers to individuals responsible for managing various subdivisions of neighborhoods within Chinese communities. They are tasked with collecting information on residents, promoting government policies, mediating conflicts, and other miscellaneous tasks. Recently, work conducted by grid workers in China has gone hand-in-hand with collection of big data use of artificial intelligence by the Chinese government. Grid workers played a significant role in enforcing the government’s COVID control measures by conducting inspections, information reporting, health monitoring, and monitoring of “key individuals.” China’s grid workers have been referred to as the ‘capillaries’ and ‘nerve endings’ of the Communist Party’s governance system, and “the most direct embodiment of Xi Jinping’s concept of ‘fine-tuned social management.'”
The social media post regarding the current grid worker budget shortfall in Putian City also revealed that Hanjiang District has around 700 to 800 grid workers, with a monthly salary of 2,200 yuan. A state-controlled media outlet confirmed the report: “on the morning of August 23, the district government coordinated and indeed issued one month’s salary to all grid workers who were owed wages, and efforts are being made to resolve the remaining wage arrears.” Similar issues of delayed wages to grid workers and social workers are reported in Linyi, Shandong. A Radio Free Asia report on this subject commented that “such a confirmation by Chinese state-run media is a rare occurrence.”
The reports indicate that Beijing is running short of stability maintenance funds.
According to 2020 census data, there is approximately one grid worker for every 600 citizens in the Hanjiang District. The ratio of grid workers to citizens is similar in Shenzhen.
Source: Radio Free Asia, August 26, 2024
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/jj-china-internet-control-08262024103632.html