"Ask a trade union for help if migrant workers have any difficulty," has become a national slogan, leading committee members and deputies who participate in the "two sessions" have provided suggestions about what trade unions should do for migrant workers.

"It is necessary for trade unions to accept migrant workers," said Zhang Yan, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top advisory body, and chairman of the Jiangsu Province Federation of Trade Unions.

More than 40 million migrant workers had joined trade unions by September 2006 and the number of migrant workers who join trade unions is increasing continually, according to the data provided by the National Federation of Trade Unions.

Qin Chijiang, deputy of National People's Congress (NPC), said that ensuring migrant workers become legal and formal trade union members is the basis of protecting the rights of migrant workers.

Zhang Yan, who has been working for trade unions many years, said that the first thing that trade unions could do is to ensure migrant workers can earn the same wages as city citizens if they are in the same job position. They must also focus on contracts between migrant workers and employers to ensure the workers are protected.

Additionally, trade unions should provide job skill trainings for migrant workers to improve their employment prospects, and instruct migrant workers on how to maintain a healthy life style.

"Trade unions should help migrant workers to protect their rights with legal measures when their rights are violated," Zhang Yan said, "but difficulties do exist in the process of protecting migrant workers rights, for example, the current insurance system cannot cover migrant workers and migrant workers are not willing to join insurance because the insurance fund can not be transferred if they move from one city to another city or move to rural areas; the education for children of migrant workers is also a problem because children of migrant workers cannot enjoy the same benefits as children of city citizens under the current education system."

(China Development Gateway by Wang Sining on March 13, 2007)