Petition Tag - injured worker

Reflecting on Institutionalized Oppression:

Petition for a Reduced Sentence for the Injured Worker Liu Hanghuang on Humanitarian Grounds

On 16 June 2009, Liu Hanghuang, a factory worker in Dongguan, fatally stabbed two of his Taiwanese employers and left a third critically injured. This is definitely an unbearable tragedy for both sides, especially an irreparable regret for the family of the Taiwanese businessmen.

However, based on the following reasons, we hope that the courts in China can take into consideration the extenuating circumstances.

As a migrant worker from the Province of Guizhou, Liu Hanhuang hoped to improve the economic conditions of his family, but unfortunately his hand was severed in an industrial accident. All hope was lost with a crippled body. Liu had tried to discuss the issue of compensation with his employers for a year without reaching agreement. It is fully understandable how a worker in a subordinate position, facing the much more powerful company and lacking necessary support, felt both helpless and hopeless.

The fact that Liu attempted suicide by threatening to jump from a fifth-floor ledge at the factory before the murder bears witness to his pressures and pains. It is of course illegal and unacceptable to commit homicide, but a sympathetic understanding is indeed possible if this case is placed in the context of “going off to work → occupational injury → prolonged negotiation of compensation → the subordinate position of the worker → the worker’s pressures and pains.”

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Section 12 of the Workers Compensation Act of Alberta states in sub section:

(1) that The board has exclusive jurisdiction to examine,inquire into, hear and determine all matters and questions under this act or regulations and the action or decision of the board thereon is final and conclusive, and is not open to question or review in any court,

(2) no proceedings by or before the board shall be restrained by injunction, prohibition or any other proceeding or process into any court, nor shall any action be maintained or brought against the board or any member of the board in respect of any act or decision made in the honest belief within the jurisdiction of the board,

(3) The board has the authority to reconsider any matter it has dealt with and to rescind or amend any decision or order made by it.

(4)each matter shall be decided on the merits and justice of the case and the board is not bound to follow any previous decision or ruling of the board as a precedent in reaching its decisions or making its rulings.

(5) the board has the same powers as the Court of Queens Bench for compelling the attendance of witnesses and of examining them under oath and compelling the production and inspection of books, papers,documents and things.

(6)The board may cause depositions of witnesses residing in or outside of Alberta to be taken before any person appointed by the board in a manner similar to that prescribed by the Alberta rules of Court.

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