Mass layoffs in China's coal country threaten unrest

Hegang, China

IN the dank shower room where the miners soak, the coal dust from their bodies staining the water chocolate, a lone worker sat smoking a cigarette, staring at the floor.

He lingered, he explained, because since his pay had been cut in half, he had been eating dinner at his parents' apartment, and he dreaded the humiliation of going there again.

"If any of the leaders would do their job properly, the situation would not be like this," said the worker, Guo, 39. "If they want to sack me, they should just do it. Can it get any worse?" It probably will.

The mine's owner, the Longmay Group, the biggest coal company in north-eastern China, announced in September that it planned to lay off 100,000 workers. The elimination of about 40 per cent of the workforce at 42 mines…