Ironically, companies that delay paying wages to their workers enjoy a competitive edge in the market because of lower production costs, instead of facing legal hurdles. Worse, such companies’ competitors, in their bid to minimize their disadvantages, could follow the malpractice and deny their workers their rightful dues. Under such a twisted market competition, it will be impossible to rule out default of wage payments and the resultant conflicts and tragedies.

The wage arrear factor has turned the creditor-debtor relationship upside down. In such cases, migrant workers become the creditors of their employers that have to pay not only the wage arrears but also the necessary compensation. But despite being creditors, workers have to humbly seek their rightful dues from the debtors.

Therefore, to solve the wage arrear problem, migrant workers who do not get their wages should be given the legal status of creditors and their employers compelled to pay their dues even at the risk of going bankrupt.

But reality is always more complex than ideals in theory. Apart from the systemic and institutional imperfection, the other main reason why migrant workers cannot safeguard their rights as creditors is related to the exercise of official power. For example, when funds promised for some government projects are not made available on time, workers have to go without salaries.

In such situations, enterprises and local governments have to form a close-knit community of interests to ensure that migrant workers get their salaries on time and are not denied their legitimate rights as creditors.

And to solve the problem of wage arrears, decision-makers should change their old way of thinking and take measures not only to help migrant workers get their wages on time but also to ensure that fewer companies get away with non-payment wages to workers. If migrant workers, as creditors, could be empowered to demand their wages even at the risk of driving their employers to bankruptcy then perhaps we can still hope the chronic social problem would be eliminated.

The author is a researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.