September 24, 2026 — The Free China Movement (FCM) has launched a new Unpaid Wages & Worker Rights Assistance — Mainland China hub designed to help workers organize wage-arrears cases, preserve evidence, identify available legal channels and request non-legal support.
The new resource is intended for migrant workers, construction workers, factory workers, service workers and others who say they have not received wages or labor remuneration owed to them. It includes a step-by-step pathway for cases that are still at the complaint stage, in labor arbitration, already resolved by an award or judgment, or stalled during enforcement.
Why the new assistance hub matters
Chinese law formally recognizes disputes over labor remuneration as labor disputes. The Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law provides routes including negotiation, mediation, arbitration and, where applicable, litigation. It also states that workers may complain to labor-administration authorities about unpaid or underpaid remuneration and provides for court enforcement of effective mediation documents and arbitral awards when a party does not perform. Official text.
Independent monitoring has continued to document wage arrears as a recurring cause of worker disputes and collective action. China Labour Bulletin reported that wage arrears were the primary reason for most collective actions in its January 2025 dataset; its monitoring is not a representative national survey, but it illustrates the continuing enforcement problem. Source.
What assistance FCM says it can provide
The hub separates legal information from non-legal assistance. It explains evidence preservation, public legal-service and legal-aid channels, labor arbitration, court proceedings and enforcement. FCM states that it does not represent itself as mainland legal counsel unless a properly licensed professional separately assumes that role.
FCM’s non-legal assistance can include organizing a worker’s case chronology, building an evidence inventory, identifying referral channels, recognizing repeated complaints involving the same employer or project, preparing fact packets for journalists or researchers, and documenting verified cases with the worker’s informed consent and an appropriate safety review.
A case-stage pathway rather than generic advice
The resource asks workers first to identify where their case stands: wages overdue but no complaint filed; complaint filed without an effective response; arbitration underway; award or judgment already obtained; enforcement pending; or multiple workers affected by the same employer or project.
For workers who already hold a valid award or judgment, the page emphasizes that the practical problem may no longer be proving the wage claim, but enforcing an existing decision.
How to request assistance
Workers or their families can review the full guidance and prepare a ten-item case packet before contacting FCM. The page advises against sending unnecessary sensitive information such as full identity-card numbers, account credentials or home addresses.
English assistance page: Unpaid Wages & Worker Rights Assistance — Mainland China
中文援助页面： 欠薪与劳动报酬权利援助中心｜中国大陆