Migrant workers came into being in the late 1980s. Large-scale rural surplus labor flows to developed coastal cities, which has formed an unprecedented "migrant workers' tide" and also produced a special group of migrant workers living in urban social space. Migrant workers play an important role in the process of industrialization, urbanization and modernization in China. In the past 20 years, without migrant workers, the process of industrialization and urbanization in China would not have been so fast, and the emerging industries and open economy in coastal areas would not have developed rapidly. They have created wealth for society, increased income for rural areas, injected vitality into urban and rural development and made great contributions to national modernization. Attaching great importance to solving the problem of migrant workers is a major historical issue in building Socialism with Chinese characteristics.

First, the social contribution and present situation of migrant workers

(a) Social contribution of migrant workers. Migrant workers have been working under extremely difficult conditions since the first day they entered the city. They are favored by employers for their diligence, hard work, diligence and cheap labor. According to statistics, in 2007, the number of migrant workers in rural areas in China reached 654.38+0.26 billion, and the number of employees in township enterprises was 654.38+0.5 billion. Excluding double counting, the number of migrant workers reached 226 million in 2007. Now there are migrant workers working in every city, every industry and every front in China. In Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other big cities, high-rise buildings, buildings, halls, highways, railways, platforms and docks after the 1990s were mainly built by migrant workers. Most factories and workshops in many industries, from star-rated hotels and supermarkets to food stalls and food stalls, and coal and milk delivery stations in street communities, are also served by migrant workers. They have been integrated into all aspects of industrialization and urbanization in China and become an indispensable force in all walks of life.

Migrant workers have not only made outstanding contributions to the country, but also improved the gross national product and per capita income of their places of origin, and more importantly, solved the production and living problems of their families to a great extent. For example, in 2002, Anhui exported 6 million migrant workers, with an annual income of 24 billion yuan. In 2006, the labor income of migrant workers in a province of Henan reached 72 billion yuan, exceeding the total fiscal revenue of the province in that year, accounting for 40% of the per capita net income of farmers in the province. In 2004, the total amount of money sent home by migrant workers was 65.438+069 billion ~ 300 billion yuan, in 2005 it was 65.438+09/kloc-0 ~ 330 billion yuan, and it will continue to grow in the next 5 ~ 65.438+00 years. Migrant workers' remittances account for 20% ~ 50% of the income of families receiving remittances. This money plays an extremely important role in improving farmers' lives, ensuring children's education, maintaining rural social stability, and getting rid of poverty in poor areas. At the same time, farmers entering cities to engage in non-agricultural industries can enhance human capital, broaden their horizons, increase their knowledge and acquire technology, and lay a good foundation for them to return to their hometowns for employment again. It can be said that 226 million migrant workers have made inestimable contributions to the economic development and social progress of China. They used their youth and sufferings to bear the rapid expansion of industrialization and low-cost urbanization in China.

(b) Social exclusion of migrant workers. The so-called "migrant workers" refer to farmers who work in cities or workers engaged in non-agricultural industries, which is a combination of identity and occupation. From the definition of migrant workers, we can see that migrant workers themselves are a contradictory unity, a contradictory unity of identity and occupation asymmetry, and a contradictory unity of ideal and reality. They work in cities, but their registered permanent residence is still in the countryside. Their status is still farmers, and they are inextricably linked with rural land, marriage, family, production and life, raising children and supporting the elderly. Although migrant workers have made great contributions to the country and society, their own rights and interests and living conditions are quite miserable. They are excluded and discriminated in the city and become "marginal people" wandering in the city.

1 Political identity of migrant workers. Because the dual management system of urban-rural division is only loose and has not been completely eliminated, the vast majority of farmers who go to work and do business in cities are "moving without moving" and still retain their identity as farmers, thus forming a unique phenomenon in the modernization process of "migrant workers". Although they entered the city, they were not citizens; Although he works, he is not a worker. So they can't enjoy the public goods and services provided by the city government. They have created great wealth for the city, but they are regarded as the burden of the city; They have contributed youth and health to the city, but they can only go back to the countryside to heal. The city sent the migrant workers who were injured, disabled and sickly at work back to the countryside, but the asymmetry of rights and obligations was fully reflected in the migrant workers.

2. The economic status of migrant workers. Due to the limitation of identity and the influence of the division of community and functional labor market inside and outside the system, they can basically only seek "urban surplus jobs" in the "informal labor market", and most of them are engaged in "dirty", "tired" and "bitter" jobs that urban people disdain to do, such as construction, textile, cleaning and service industries, and most of them have low technical requirements, low income and lack of welfare protection. They pay a lot of labor, but get little. Wages are already very low, but they are often maliciously deducted by business owners. Some migrant workers worked for months or even a year, and finally the business owners and contractors ran away and found nothing. In recent years, this situation has become more and more, leading to more and more labor disputes and incidents. According to the survey, the total cost of a case of migrant workers' rights protection that requires less than 1000 yuan is about 1000 yuan, in which migrant workers need to pay 920 yuan directly after completing all formalities, and the time spent is at least 1-2 1 day, which is equivalent to the loss of 550 yuan ~ 1050 yuan. The cost and income of safeguarding rights are seriously unbalanced, and some migrant workers become beggars because of the cost of safeguarding rights.

3. Social environment of migrant workers. Because migrant workers are "marginal people" living at the bottom of urban society, although they work and live in cities, they are not integrated into cities; Although rural areas are linked by land, family, blood relationship and kinship, they are becoming more and more unfamiliar and alienated from rural areas. Most of them live in rented houses in the suburbs, and seldom associate with urban residents. The objects of communication are mainly fellow villagers and workers. From looking for a job, to helping each other in life, falling in love and getting married, and even maintaining personal and property safety, they all rely on the original blood relationship and geographical relationship in rural society to help them survive in cities. They are the "elites" in rural areas, the objects of envy and imitation of their hometown people, but they are at the bottom of the urban social structure and often suffer discrimination from cities and citizens. Because they have no sense of social identity, they are often in a state of confusion and confusion. They don't know where they belong, neither belong to the city where they work and live, nor are they more and more unfamiliar with the original countryside, which is most prominent among the new generation of migrant workers.

Education and spiritual life of migrant workers' children. There are two aspects that deserve special attention: First, it is difficult for cities to provide appropriate educational services for the children of migrant workers. Because primary and secondary education is basically for local residents, schools in cities are only open to urban residents, and children of migrant workers cannot enter local schools when they arrive in cities. Migrant workers had to use all kinds of forces to set up a "school for children of migrant workers". Although the latest document clearly stipulates this issue, how to provide special and standardized educational services for the children of migrant workers is still an urgent problem to be solved. Second, the cultural and recreational facilities for migrant workers are insufficient. This makes some migrant workers do not know what to do in their spare time, and quite a few people spend their time and money on unhealthy cultural and entertainment consumption. This situation leads to the emptiness of migrant workers' spiritual life and deviant behavior.

(C) the social harm of excluding migrant workers. The discrimination against migrant workers and the disregard and infringement of their rights and interests in the urban mainstream society have caused their dissatisfaction with the urban mainstream society, and even developed into social hatred and social revenge against a few migrant workers. As the weak in urban society, migrant workers are not completely passive when they are deprived and abandoned by urban mainstream society. They may respond to this society that ignores and abandons them through "social revenge". One is active retaliation, such as crime; Second, passive retaliation, such as self-abandonment, self-indulgence, forms some anti-social and anti-cultural special groups (prostitutes, drug addicts, swindlers, swindlers, etc.). No matter what kind of social revenge, the whole society will pay a heavy price for it. Many citizens often simply attribute the deterioration of urban social security to the influx of a large number of migrant workers, without thinking deeply about why they embarked on the road of crime, let alone reflecting on what role they or their social groups played in the crime of migrant workers. Therefore, for the rapid development and long-term stability of our country, we must change the status quo of discrimination against migrant workers.

Second, the importance and urgency of solving the problem of migrant workers' treatment of citizens

In recent years, the state attaches great importance to solving the treatment problem of migrant workers. On March 3rd, 2005, the 85th executive meeting of the State Council adopted "Work Points of the State Council in 2005", taking "formulating and perfecting various policies concerning migrant workers" as an important task; At the beginning of 2006, the State Council issued the document "Several Opinions on Promoting the Construction of a New Socialist Countryside" 1, proposing to "protect the legitimate rights and interests of migrant farmers"; On March 27th, 2006, the State Council No.5 document "Several Opinions on Solving the Problem of Migrant Workers" clearly pointed out that "the problem of migrant workers is related to the overall situation of China's economic and social development" and "solving the problem of migrant workers is the strategic task of building Socialism with Chinese characteristics". The signal sent by the State Council's series of documents is very clear: people-oriented is the basic connotation of building a harmonious society and implementing Scientific Outlook on Development; Protecting the rights and interests of migrant workers is related to China's economic and social development and building a harmonious socialist society. Must be formulated as soon as possible, as soon as possible to improve and implement.

Solving the problem of migrant workers is an urgent need to implement Scientific Outlook on Development. The important connotation of Scientific Outlook on Development is to adhere to the people-oriented principle and make overall plans for urban and rural development. This is determined by the purpose of our party's ruling for the people, and it is also the requirement of realizing the goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way. To implement Scientific Outlook on Development, we must implement the policy of industry feeding back agriculture and cities supporting rural areas, establish and improve the system of coordinating urban and rural development, promote the coordinated development of workers, peasants and urban areas, let urban and rural people share the fruits of reform and development, and gradually embark on the road of prosperity.

Solving the problem of migrant workers is an inevitable requirement for building a harmonious socialist society. The goal of building a harmonious socialist society characterized by democracy and the rule of law, fairness and justice, honesty and friendship, vitality, stability and order, and harmony between man and nature must enable all members of society to enjoy equal rights and enjoy the fruits of reform and development, which inevitably requires solving a series of problems involving the rights and interests of migrant workers. Only by creating a fair and good working and living environment for migrant workers can we promote social fairness and justice and form a dynamic, orderly and stable social situation. Third, some suggestions to solve the current problem of migrant workers' citizenization

Solving the problem of migrant workers involves a wide range and requires many efforts. At present, we should pay close attention to solving some universal and most realistic problems involving the interests of migrant workers. A fundamental fact is that discriminatory systems such as household registration system, education system, security system, personnel system and medical system still exist. This institutional exclusion leads to the fact that migrant workers can only be "second-class citizens" in cities. Therefore, we must solve the problem of migrant workers from the following aspects.

(A) truly provide equal employment opportunities and services for migrant workers. The key is to reform the employment management system that divides urban and rural areas, and gradually establish a unified and fair competitive labor market between urban and rural areas. It is necessary to further clean up and cancel all kinds of discriminatory provisions and unreasonable restrictions on migrant workers' employment in cities, and clean up the administrative examination and approval and administrative fees for enterprises to use migrant workers. Governments at all levels should take helping rural surplus labor transfer employment as an important part of public services. It is necessary to adapt to the process of industrialization, urbanization and modernization and the demand of rural labor transfer and employment, strengthen the vocational skills training of migrant workers, vigorously develop rural-oriented vocational education, and improve farmers' ability to transfer employment. It is necessary to strictly implement the labor contract system, strengthen the guidance and supervision over the conclusion and performance of labor contracts by employers, formulate and implement standardized labor contract texts, and establish labor relations with clear rights and responsibilities. In particular, it is necessary to protect the rights and interests of female workers and underage workers in accordance with the law, prohibit the use of child labor, and severely punish illegal acts of introducing and using child labor.

(B) to solve the social security problems of migrant workers. The social security of migrant workers should adapt to the characteristics of high employment mobility, so that the social security rights and interests of migrant workers in mobile employment will not be damaged; According to the law, migrant workers are included in the scope of work-related injury insurance, and all employers must go through the formalities of participating in work-related injury insurance for migrant workers in time. All co-ordination areas should adopt the way of establishing a co-ordination fund for serious illness medical insurance, focusing on solving the problem of hospitalization medical security for migrant workers during their work in cities, and migrant workers can also voluntarily participate in the new rural cooperative medical system. We should pay close attention to the study and exploration of migrant workers' old-age insurance with low rates, wide coverage and transferability, and link it with the urban and rural old-age insurance system. Where conditions permit, migrant workers with stable employment can be directly included in the basic old-age pension and medical insurance for urban workers.

(3) Establish an urban public service system covering migrant workers. It is necessary to gradually improve the urban public service system covering migrant workers in formulating development plans, formulating public policies and building public facilities. The government of the importing country should undertake the responsibility of compulsory education for the children of migrant workers who live together, incorporate the compulsory education for the children of migrant workers into the local education development plan and education budget, and accept the full-time public primary and secondary schools for the children of migrant workers. The governments of importing countries should also strengthen the disease prevention and control of migrant workers and the immunization of school-age children. Urban public schools should treat the children of migrant workers equally with local students in terms of fees and management, and may not charge them extra tuition fees and any other fees in violation of state regulations. Implement a management service system based on input and coordinated output and input.

(4) Improve the protection mechanism of migrant workers' rights and interests. It is necessary to guarantee the democratic political rights that migrant workers enjoy according to law and their right to participate in the democratic management of enterprises. Migrant workers should be treated equally with urban workers in evaluating technical titles, promoting positions, selecting model workers and advanced producers. It is necessary to strengthen law enforcement to safeguard the rights and interests of migrant workers, improve the system of reporting and complaining about migrant workers' rights protection, and do a good job in legal services and legal aid for migrant workers. We should give full play to the role of trade unions at all levels, the Communist Youth League and women's federations in safeguarding the rights and interests of migrant workers.

(5) comprehensively improve the quality of migrant workers. We should make great efforts to improve the quality of migrant workers in an all-round way, carry out professional ethics education among migrant workers, guide migrant workers to love their jobs, be honest and trustworthy, abide by the professional code of conduct, and become qualified industrial workers with good professional skills and good professional ethics; It is necessary to carry out publicity and education on popularizing the law, guide migrant workers to enhance their legal concept, know and abide by the law, learn to use the law, and safeguard their rights and interests through legal channels; It is necessary to carry out activities to create spiritual civilization, guide migrant workers to abide by traffic rules, care for the public environment, pay attention to etiquette, and develop a scientific, civilized and healthy lifestyle.

(6) Deepening the reform of the household registration management system. The existing household registration system in China is a "social shielding" system. It is necessary to gradually and conditionally solve the household registration problem of migrant workers who have been working and living in cities for a long time, gradually eliminate the difference between agricultural registered permanent residence and non-agricultural registered permanent residence management, and gradually eliminate the threshold for farmers to become citizens. In recent years, all localities have implemented the spirit of the documents of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council and the Ministry of Public Security on the reform of the household registration system, and proceeded from local conditions to continuously deepen the reform of the household registration system. According to the information from the Ministry of Public Security, Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Yunnan 13 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have successively abolished the division of dual-hukou nature between agricultural registered permanent residence and non-agricultural registered permanent residence, unified the urban and rural hukou registration system, collectively referred to as resident hukou, and realized the legal equality of citizenship. However, the reform of household registration management mode and the abolition of the dual household registration management mode of "non-agricultural population" and "agricultural population" do not mean the abolition of the fact that "agricultural population" and "non-agricultural population" exist, and cannot change the difference between urban and rural areas. The household registration reform must be carried out in conjunction with other reforms, that is, the "derivatives" such as employment, education, housing and social security attached to the back of the household registration are removed from the household registration book, so that the social security rights and interests of migrant workers can be included in the social security system together with urban residents.

Four, the current solution to the problem of migrant workers' citizenization should grasp three principles.

Migrant workers are new things in the process of industrialization, urbanization and modernization in China. To solve the problem of migrant workers, the most fundamental thing is to have correct guidelines. Specifically, to solve the problem of migrant workers, we need to follow the following important principles:

(a) fair treatment, equal treatment. It is to respect and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers, eliminate discriminatory policies and institutional obstacles for farmers to work in cities, and make them enjoy the same rights and obligations as urban workers. This is a concrete manifestation of adhering to the people-oriented principle and promoting social fairness and justice, and it is also an important symbol of the progress of modern social civilization. We should create a good atmosphere of understanding, respecting and protecting migrant workers in the whole society. No department, place or unit should have rules and practices that discriminate against migrant workers.

(2) Overall planning and reasonable guidance. It is to combine the transfer of rural labor force in different places with the transfer in situ. It is necessary to coordinate the employment of urban and rural labor force, do a good job in scientific planning, implement correct policies and measures, and guide the orderly transfer of rural surplus labor force. We should not only actively guide farmers to work in cities, but also vigorously develop township enterprises and county economy and expand rural labor force to transfer employment on the spot. Only in this way can we ensure the rational and orderly flow of rural labor force, prevent a large number of farmers from pouring into cities, especially big cities, and avoid the phenomenon of rapid population expansion and disparity between the rich and the poor in some countries.

(3) Based on the current situation. Focus on the long term. That is to say, we should not only solve the outstanding problems faced by migrant workers, but also rely on reform and development to gradually solve the deep-seated problems involving the interests of migrant workers, and form a system and system that fundamentally protects the rights and interests of migrant workers. The transfer and flow of rural surplus labor force in China will be a long historical process, and the special group of migrant workers will also be accompanied by the long process of industrialization, urbanization and modernization in China. To solve the problem of migrant workers, we must adhere to the combination of current and long-term, and the unity of orientation and operability.

To implement the above principles, fundamentally speaking, it is necessary to fully implement Scientific Outlook on Development's thought of building a harmonious society, respect, protect and treat migrant workers well, and take the road of rural labor transfer with China characteristics.