Over 41 million migrant workers have joined the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), according to the union's statistics.

Trade unions across China have intensified their efforts to recruit migrant workers and protect their interests against unscrupulous employers, ACFTU officials said.

It is estimated that some 200 million rural labors are now earning a life in Chinese cities. Most of them are employed in dirty and backcracking jobs declined by city dwellers.

Migrant workers often work in bad working conditions and underpaid. Many ever have their meagre wages held by employers.

ACFTU said it has helped 2.65 million migrant workers reclaim a total of 1.7 billion yuan in withheld pay during the just past Spring Festival season.

ACFTU registered a record 8.5 million migrant-worker members in 2006, and plans to recruit 10 million more in 2007.

ACFTU officials said their aim is to expand membership to all the migrant workers in the next three years. 
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2007)