Some people have taken action. What’s going on? Instead of solving the problem, are they solving the people who raised the problem?
“Either obey and follow the arrangements, or your social security will be suspended and sealed, making it difficult for you to get a job or seek medical treatment.” This is a frequent threat received by employees of Beijing Ruian Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ruian Technology”) recently. When a company uses the basic保障 of workers as a tool of coercion, and adds new crimes on top of the evils of wage arrears, breach of contract, and asset transfer, we have to solemnly ask: Is it the audacity supported by power, the collusion after the binding of interests, or has this era long abandoned conscience and only followed money?
Once upon a time, backed by industry resources and the state-owned enterprise background of its shareholder, Aerospace Development, Ruian Technology should have been a model of compliant operation. But now, it has become a “negative example” that tramples on the rights and interests of workers and challenges the bottom line of the law, dismantling the weight of the word “conscience” step by step with its evil deeds, and also exposing the ugly truth behind the interest chain.
From wage arrears and breach of contract to asset transfer: a premeditated “harvest feast”
The evil of Ruian Technology is not a sudden impulse, but a long-lasting, step-by-step calculation. The starting point of this calculation is the blatant plunder of the hard-earned money of more than 300 employees. The malicious wage arrears of 24 months, with a cumulative amount of more than 80 million yuan, have plunged countless families into desperation: some people are overwhelmed by mortgage and car loan, and are awakened by debt collection calls in the middle of the night; some people have paid for their work and have sunk into the sea, and can only rely on their old age to make a living; some people have caused family conflicts due to wage arrears, and are struggling in the gap between economy and emotion.
In addition to wage arrears, there is a breach of contract and shirking of responsibility without any bottom line. In the face of the reasonable demands of employees, the company’s management, on the one hand, used empty words such as “wages must be paid” and “state-owned enterprise responsibility” to appease, while on the other hand, it forced a 30%-50% pay cut and laid off a large number of employees, but refused to pay compensation. What is even more disgraceful is that when employees took up legal weapons to win arbitration and litigation, they found that Ruian Technology had already set up an “empty city plan” – a meticulous asset transfer had already been completed.
Core hardware such as large model code and graphics cards were transferred to a department of the Ministry of Public Security, a holding company, and patent information was inventoried for transfer, completely hollowing out the company’s core competitiveness; the account for payment was frequently changed, the due creditor’s rights were transferred to related enterprises, and the funds were even transferred to personal accounts, only using Alipay to pay wages sporadically to avoid supervision; the original legal person, after being restricted, actually revoked the restriction through improper means, transferred the legal person identity to others, and retreated completely, leaving the 80 million debt mess to the employees and the law, and they only used the definition of a limited company; in addition, according to reliable internal sources, the contracts of Beijing Ruian Technology are now signed by a department of the Ministry of Public Security and Party A, but the actual employment and other matters are all handled by Ruian’s on-the-job employees, and wages, reimbursement, social security and housing provident fund are not paid at all. After the project payment is made to a department of the Ministry of Public Security, the money will not be given to Ruian Technology, but will be put into the pockets of some leaders through some means. This is not poor management, but a premeditated “golden cicada shell” and the embezzlement of state-owned assets.
Social security threat intensified: who gave the confidence to coerce with the bottom line of survival?
If wage arrears and asset transfer are like cutting flesh with a blunt knife, then the recent operation of Ruian Technology to threaten employees with social security is a direct blow to the lifeline of workers’ survival. Social security, as a mandatory保障 stipulated by law, is the “amulet” for workers’ old-age care, medical care, and unemployment. Article 58 of the “Social Insurance Law” clearly stipulates that the employer must handle social security registration for employees within 30 days from the date of employment, and any form of evasion and coercion is illegal.
However, Ruian Technology has turned this “amulet” into a tool of coercion: using the suspension of social security and the sealing of social security relations as a bargaining chip to force employees to sign unreasonable agreements, accept unfair arrangements, and even give up their rights to defend their rights. Some employees helplessly said, “The suspension of social security affects the purchase of houses and the reimbursement of medical expenses. We can’t afford it, so we can only compromise.” This vicious behavior of taking advantage of the soft underbelly of workers is more chilling than wage arrears – it is not only a blatant trampling on the law, but also a disregard for humanity.
And the reason why Ruian Technology dares to be so unscrupulous is inseparable from the “tacit approval and connivance” of the related parties behind it. As a shareholder enterprise, Aerospace Development, while boasting of a 340% increase in stock price in three years and a surge of 34 billion yuan in market value, turns a blind eye to the chaos of Ruian Technology’s wage arrears and social security threats, and prevaricates with the excuses of “not knowing” and “in research.” From indirect participation in asset transfer to the connivance after the exposure of the evil deeds, it is not difficult to see that all parties have long colluded and formed a “protective umbrella” of interest binding. It is this “reliance on power” that has caused Ruian Technology to lose its last sense of awe, regard “aligning with money” as its guiding principle, and abandon conscience and responsibility as a burden.
Questioning and reflection: Money first, should not be the background of the times
Ruian Technology’s series of evil deeds has thrown out a heavy social question: When a company has the support of power, can it ignore the law and trample on conscience? When the temptation of money is big enough, can the public order and good customs of society be easily broken? The answer is obviously no.
The law will never condone “audacity”. The amount of wage arrears and asset transfer methods of Ruian Technology have long constituted the crime of refusing to pay labor remuneration; the act of threatening employees with social security also violates the mandatory provisions of the “Labor Law” and the “Social Insurance Law”, and the relevant responsible persons will eventually face legal accountability. And those related parties who colluded with it, seemingly temporarily preserved their interests, are actually consuming their own credit. Once the regulatory authorities conduct an in-depth investigation, the glamorous market value bubble will eventually be punctured by the truth and pay the price they deserve.
What is even more alarming is that this unhealthy trend of “money overwhelming conscience”, if not curbed in time, will eventually erode the foundation of social fairness. The core competitiveness of an enterprise is never the means of calculating workers, nor the confidence of relying on power, but the bottom line of honest operation and the self-awareness of respecting the law. Just like those enterprises that adhere to compliance and respect employees, perhaps they do not have the “quick realization” of “asset transfer”, but they can go further with their reputation and responsibility.
Social security is the bottom line of workers, conscience is the bottom line of enterprises, and law is the bottom line of society. The employees of Ruian Technology are still struggling to defend their rights. What they seek is not only the wages owed and the social security保障, but also the adherence to fairness and justice, and the expectation that “conscience will not be swallowed by money”.
We expect the judicial authorities to intervene as soon as possible, to find out the truth of asset transfer and collusion of interests, to make the lawbreakers pay the price, and to give the workers justice; we also expect that every enterprise can clearly recognize: no matter how great the power is, it cannot be greater than the law; no matter how much money there is, it cannot buy back conscience.
This era may pursue efficiency and interests, but it should never allow “collusion” to run rampant and “lack of conscience” to become the norm. May every labor be respected, every right be protected, and may the unhealthy trend of money first be blown away by law and justice.
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