The center would offer legal training and consulting services for migrant workers, help them get unpaid salaries from employers and hear complaints about right infringements, said Yang Benlong, deputy director of the center.

The center's service hotline 027-86831000 and Web site www.wgyz.or were also opened Monday.

Similar legal centers would be established in other cities in Hubei, building a provincial web of legal aid services for migrant workers, said Yang.

Statistics show that there are more than 2 million transient workers in medium and larger cities in Hubei, including about 500,000 in Wuhan.

Hubei is a major source of migrant workers, with more than 4 million people working outside the province.

The center is being sponsored by the Hubei provincial judiciary department, construction department and the provincial leading group for juvenile delinquency prevention and control.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2004)