City offers incentives for migrant workers to stay put in city during holiday
Hangzhou is offering 600 yuan (US$94.2) worth of cash and consumption coupons to every non-native who pays taxes and stays in the city during the Spring Festival holiday.
This measure is intended to reduce the flow of people during the weeklong holiday which is from February 1 to 7 in consideration of the recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Tianjin and Henan and Shaanxi provinces.
The Hangzhou Labor Union will offer 6 million yuan to impoverished workers, pandemic prevention workers, migrant workers, delivery employees and taxi and truck drivers during the holiday.
In efforts to stagger the arrivals of migrant workers returning from their hometowns, the union will subsidize 10,000 workers with 2 million yuan. They can apply for the subsidies on the city's platform called Labor e-Family through August 31.
Sanitation workers who stayed put in Hangzhou during the Spring Festival due to COVID-19 outbreak have a New Year dinner in this file photo.
As for the around 2,000 registered migrant workers who will stay in the city during the holiday, the union will provide every person with a gift package.
Application is also available for about 20,000 registered migrant workers for the Spring Festival benefits on the Hangzhou Labor e-Family platform. The union offers four options, and every worker can choose one: free postcard delivery, prepaid phone card, coupons for supermarkets or discount coupons for Didi Chuxing, a cab-hailing application.
The program will also organize 1,000 migrant workers to tour around the city for one day during the holiday.
In an attempt to enrich migrant workers' entertainment activities during the holiday, the union will open some gyms free and hold online cultural classes.
The union has announced the telephone numbers of legal service, providing free legal consultation, arbitration and litigation agency services for workers and offering legal guidance and services for enterprises when recruiting migrant workers.
Mental health amongst migrant workers has long been emphasized. An online mental and emotional self-assessment system will be launched on the Hangzhou Labor e-Family platform. Mental health livestreamings and lectures will be held during the holiday. Face-to-face counseling services are also available for migrant workers in need.
