By Lu Chen
The Shanghai Labor Union and the Shanghai Bar Association in Zhabei district have sponsored a series of events in the run-up to Wednesday's International Labor Day holiday to build awareness about the gaps in worker rights, the Shanghai Evening Post reported.
The organizations held the events in Xuhui, Zhabei and Fengxian districts, along with Pudong New Area, to educate the public and provide legal aid to workers who have encountered problems at their jobs.
Neither young interns nor workers over the country's retirement age - 60 for men, 50 for women, and 55 for female officials - receive protection under China's Labor Law, which leaves them vulnerable, said Huang Qi, vice president of the Shanghai Bar Association.
"Problems arise when seniors get injured on the job," Huang told the Global Times. "It is one of the questions we are most often asked during these events."
China's Labor Law, which provides workers with a variety of legal protections, does not cover workers after they pass the official retirement age, though they are still protected to a lesser degree by other laws and regulations, Huang said.
Another much talked-about labor problem related to students and graduates who have taken unpaid company internships.
Because most companies do not sign contracts with their interns, interns don't receive protection under the Labor Law. "And there is no mandatory regulation that they must get paid for their work," Huang added.
However, Huang believes that companies should pay their interns, depending on how much creative work they do for their employers.
She also acknowledged that employers expend resources training and educating their interns.
Still, if each party is satisfied with the other, she suggested that they should sign an agreement about duties and payment. "It would better protect each party's interests," she said.
Also in the run-up to the holiday, students from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics launched a hot line to provide legal aid to workers involved in labor disputes.
"The hotline opens another channel for college students to help disadvantaged groups," said Zheng Shaohua, dean of the School of Law at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. "It is a good platform for law school students to practice what they have learned in the classroom.
(来源：Global TimesMetro Shanghai
