Chinese Lawyer Fights for Disabled
KARUNA SHINSHO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Southern China and the industrial city of Shenzen, just across the border from Hong Kong. The city's factories lure a constant stream of unskilled workers from less-developed regions. But, as Glen Van Zutphen reports, for many, the jobs they find come with potential dangers.</s>GLEN VAN ZUTPHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's lunchtime in a crowded home in Shenzen, but these men are not members of the same family. What they have in common are disabilities, from injuries suffered their former workplaces. Without any income, they live in the home of lawyer Zhou Litai. He fights for compensation for disabled workers. His house is a temporary shelter for those who've lost limbs or suffered other workplace injuries. They come with stories that are distressingly familiar, like that of Dang Jian-Yun, who came to Shenzen four years ago to work in a factory producing metal casings. Dong lost both of his forearms when a machine he was using malfunctioned.</s>DANG JIAN YUN, MIGRANT WORKER (through translator): My boss told me to leave the factory, and said that I should got to the Social Security Bureau for help. I said I got injured in this factory, and no matter what happen, for humanitarian reasons, you should let me stay so that I can have a place to live and eat.</s>VAN ZUTPHEN: Fu Shun Lin worked sixteen hour days in a factory making Christmas toys. He lost his right hand on the job. With lawyer Zhou's help, he took his employer to court and won $21,000 in compensation. Zhou charges the men for services only if he wins their cases. But the work he has undertaken has made his own life a difficult one.</s>ZHOU LITALI, LAWYWER (through translator): I can't easily explain the difficulties I faced over the past five years and more. Since I was first asked to come down to Shenzen, I've had to face the government, businessmen and my clients. Other lawyers have their own cars and live in nice building with air-conditioners. I am here with my stable of clients, sharing their plight and bitterness.</s>VAN ZUTPHEN: Shenzen is a magnet for poor workers from China's less developed regions. It's been booming since 1980, when then leader Dong Xao Ping (ph), declared it part of China's first economic zone, but conditions in the factory complexes are often dangerous, workplace accidents are common. Across the border in Hong Kong, the Christian Industrial Committee monitors working conditions.</s>WONG YING CHIT, CHRISTIAN INDUSTRIAL COMM. (through translator): Worker safety and health add to factory production costs, so if some factories want to cut costs, we expect that in the short run negligence of worker safety and health will become worse, because owners want more profits..</s>VAN ZUTPHEN: All of which means plenty of work for lawyer Zhou, and a full house that is hostel for the disabled in Shenzen. Glen Van Zutphen for INSIDE ASIA.