When workers at a major footwear factory in south China walked off the job earlier this month, demanding better Social insurance benefits, they threatened to upend a cozy system.
中国南部一家大型制鞋厂的工人本月早些时候举行罢工，要求更好的社保待遇，此举可能会引发中国一项社保制度的变革。It is a dispute that will hit the pocket book of a key supplier to some of the world's footwear giants and to the workers themselves. It's also a stark reminder that China's labor force is aging.
这场纠纷不仅会冲击全球一些制鞋巨头的重要供应商，也会伤及工人自身的利益，同时也敲响了中国劳动人口年龄正在变大的警钟。
Workers at the Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) struck at least some of the facilities in Dongguan in Guangdong province, demanding years of owed social benefits be paid to them and disrupting production at a plant that supplies Nike Inc and Adidas among others.
裕元工业（集团）有限公司(Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Ltd., 简称：裕元集团)在广东东莞工厂的部分工人举行了罢工，他们要求公司偿付拖欠多年的社保。罢工行动中断了一家工厂的生产，该厂是耐克公司(Nike Inc)和阿迪达斯(Adidas)等企业的供应商。
The workers said the Hong Kong-listed company has been making social insurance contributions based on basic wages rather than total actual pay as required by law.
罢工的工人们称，裕元集团一直按照基本工资缴纳员工社保，而不是依照法律规定按实际工资缴纳足额社保。裕元集团是一家香港上市公司。The average monthly salary of the more than 40,000 workers at Yue Yuen is about 3,000 yuan ($482), but payments to social insurance were based on income of around 1,810 yuan for most workers, workers say.
工人们表示，裕元东莞工厂有4万多名工人，每月的平均工资约为人民币3,000元（约合482美元），但多数人的社保缴纳基数仅为人民币1,810元。The company, which has some 40,000 workers at its plants in Guangdong, has acknowledged the discrepancy and agreed to make up the owed payments. In some cases, that means years of benefits. The problem is that many of these workers may not want to top up their mandated co-contributions because they are migrants who will return to their home towns at some point. Social insurance comprises pension, medical and other benefits. But the scheme isn't national. So migrants may not be able to take those benefits with them if they retire to their home provinces.
裕元集团承认没有为工人缴纳足额社保，同意补缴。在某些情况下，这意味着要补缴多年的社保费用。问题在于，许多工人可能不想补足社保的自付部分，因为他们是外来务工人员，将来某个时候他们将返回家乡。社保包括养老金、医疗保险以及其他一些福利。但社保制目前并不是全国统一的。许多情况下，社保不能随人流转，当外来务工人员离开工作所在地区返回家乡时，他们可能无法将社保金转回家乡。That prospect has unnerved some of the workers at Yue Yuen's production facilities in neighboring Jiangxi province. Inspired by the Guangdong protests, they have started a work slowdown, fearing that larger company payments for social insurance will require them to make bigger co-payments to their accounts for benefits they will never be able to collect, management officials said.
这方面的问题令裕元集团江西工厂的一些工人也开始感到不安。据管理人员称，受到广东工人抗议活动的“啓发”，他们已开始拖慢工作速度，因担心公司补缴社保金会需要他们向帐户中缴纳更多的自付部分，而社保金背后的福利他们可能永远也享受不到。Guangdong was at the forefront of China's economic opening to foreign investors and attracted swarms of migrants to staff production lines that turned the province's Pearl River Delta region into the world's factory floor. Labor groups say the fact that the current disputes are about social insurance, rather than wages, shows that the workforce is aging.
广东曾站在中国经济对外开放的最前沿，吸引大量外来务工人员进入生产线，推动珠三角地区成为“世界工厂”。劳工组织称，当前抗议活动的起因是社保而非工资，说明劳动人口的年龄正在变大。According to an estimate by a not-for-profit labor support organization, Yue Yuen's back payments could total more than 100 million-200 million yuan ($16 million-$32 million) depending on how many of the workers are owed for long years of service.
据一家非营利劳工支持组织的推测，裕元集团补缴的社保金总额或高达人民币一亿到两亿元（合1,600万到3,200万美元），具体数额取决于有多少工人多年来的社保金被拖欠。'It's a long-time issue commonly seen throughout the entire Pearl River Delta,' said Zhang Zhiru, director of Shenzhen Spring Breeze Labor Disputes Service Center.
深圳春风劳动争议服务部(Shenzhen Spring Breeze Labor Disputes Service Center)负责人张治儒称，整个珠三角地区普遍长期存在这一问题。'Employers, workers and local governments all have long been aware of the under-paid social insurance for a long time but it's becoming an issue now because the workers are getting old,' Mr. Zhang said.
他说，雇主、工人和地方政府早就都意识到，社保长期存在缴纳不足的情况，但现在因为工人变老，这便成为了一个问题。That could mean Yue Yuen is not alone. Analysts and the government may be waiting to see where and when another shoe will drop.
这或许意味着裕元集团并非特例。分析人士和政府或许正在观察何时何地将再度发生此类事件。Liyan Qi
Liyan Qi