The handling of the yangjiazhangzi mining bureau large mass security incident

The Yangjiazhangzi Mining Bureau 40 km northwest of Huludao City is an enterprise directly under the Central Committee. It originally had 24,000 employees, of which 8,000 were retired, 8,000 were state-run and contract system workers, and 8,000 were collective employees. This mine is a hundred year-old mine, and after a hundred years of excavation, the mineral veins were exhausted. On October 8, 1999, with State Council approval, the Huludao City Intermediate People’s Court announced the official closure and bankruptcy of the Yangjiazhangzi Mining Bureau. Making reference to other announced mining policies, they set a policy of giving all full employees a base buyout compensation of 6,000 yuan plus the previous year’s local employee average monthly salary of 560 yuan times years of service, and giving all contract employees buyout compensation of the previous year’s local employee average monthly salary of 520 yuan times years of service with no 6,000 yuan base. After the mine closure and bankruptcy and announcement of the compensation method, employees of the mine continually made mass petitions at the Mining Bureau, City Party Committee, and City Government. The petitioning masses were made up of three types of people: all full employees, all contract workers, and retired employees with labor insurance, and they each had different demands. The fixed employees thought the one-time settlement fee was too low and wanted it increased, they demanded health insurance, and they demanded single child compensation fees. The contract workers wanted to receive the buyout compensation that the full employees received. The retired employees with labor insurance claimed they were seeking justice for their children. After November, 1999, some employees were not satisfied with the bankruptcy settlement policy determined by the state and made unreasonable requirements, setting off a series of mass petition incidents. During these, some petitioning masses engaged in behavior with excessive emotions, but the overall situation remained peaceful. After February, 2000, under the organization and planning of a small number of people with ulterior motives, troublemakers incited the masses, spread rumors, and caused disturbances, putting pressure on the government. On February 15, a small number of organizers and planners used a dispute between the Mining Bureau leaders and employees over the choice of location for their talks and the failure to hold the meeting on time to organize and incite more than 200 employees to take 11 medium-sized busses to petition at the Huludao City Government. The city leaders, Mining Bureau Director Yang Wentian, and Party Committee Secretary Li Jining jointly received the representatives of the petitioning employees. As the petitioners were not satisfied with the response to