The following song “You Owe Me My Wages” was composed and sung by Shi Yong, an Internet musician, after he saw many posts about migrant workers asking for their back wages. Shi said that he wanted to stand up for the weak.
Lyrics translated by CDT:
Cuihua (his wife’s name), mom and dad, I won’t go back home for the Spring Festival,
Without wages in my pocket, I cannot face you all
Son and daughter, don’t ask me where the red envelopes are
I cry to the heaven and to the earth but where can I complain?
Why the boss himself has a luxurious life but has no money to pay the wages?
He has no reason to be so proud even when he drives a BMW or Mercedes because that’s what he owes us.
Repay my wages, Repay my wages
We are thousands of miles from home
We work so hard in the cities
We are from Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Hubei and Anhui
We build the high-rise buildings but we are ironically looked down on
We are not paid and there is nothing we can do about it.
I ask myself whether there is any justice and I calm myself down
I persuade myself that I am the creditor and that’s no doubt
You owe me, You owe me…
Another rap song is named “Migrant Workers’ Blood and Sweat—Asking for back wages”
Composer/singer: Xiao Chao
Click here to see the video
Lyrics translated by CDT:
I had a hard life in the mountain area
I needed to wait for my hen to lay eggs in exchange for cigarettes
One day I left the mountain with my uncle
I worked very hard in the construction site and earned six thousand yuan within a year
I was waiting for the pay and planned to spend the Spring Festival with my family
However, the boss said he was out of money and let me wait
After the third snow, the boss still didn’t pay me
He said he had no money to pay but he spent several thousand yuan to play Mahjong
He said he had no money to pay but he spent ten thousand yuan to get his mistress a new cell phone
People in the labor department were very warmhearted and they kept calling the boss until he powered off the cell phone
The boss said he was very angry because we sued him and he even threatened us
The Labor Department let me report it to the court
The court said it would process the case for us after New Year
We waited till then and the court did process the case
But the boss had run away with our wages
He said he had no money to pay but he spent several thousand yuan to play Mahjong
He said he had no money to pay but he spent ten thousand yuan to get his second mistress a necklace
Please check previous related posts below via CDT:
Slideshow: New Year and New Unpaid Migrant Workers
Photo Series: Who Is Gonna Take Responsibility for 150 Million Unpaid Migrant Workers?
