Jining, February 15th - At around 10:40 AM on the 15th, a foreman climbed onto an 80-meter high crane arm at a construction site in the Jining New District to demand wages for more than 20 migrant workers. After five hours, a total of over 110,000 yuan in unpaid wages was returned, and only then did the foreman climb down from the crane arm.
The crane was approximately 80 meters above the ground. Li Hong stood on the crane arm for five hours.
At around 1 PM that afternoon, after coordination by multiple departments including the public security and fire services of the Jining New District, the Engineering Department of Fangyuan Residential Area handed over more than 110,000 yuan to Zhang Qian, Li Hong's wife. Subsequently, Li Hong climbed down from the crane. After being exposed to cold winds at a height of 80 meters for five hours, Li Hong appeared somewhat weak when he reached the ground. He firmly denied stealing any components from the construction site and said, "Now that I've gotten the wages, I can finally rest easy."
"Today, I came to the construction site to claim the wages, but I didn't expect him to climb up onto the crane," said Zhang Qian, who was among the onlookers and was most anxious because her husband Li Hong (a pseudonym) was on the crane. Zhang Qian told reporters that her husband is a foreman who led more than 20 people from their hometown to work on this construction site in December last year. They worked for over 40 days but were never paid. They had come to claim their wages several times before the Spring Festival but were unsuccessful every time. "The workers under me come to my house every day asking for money. We couldn't even celebrate the New Year properly..."
A responsible person from the Engineering Department of Fangyuan Residential Area, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that there was an incident of missing engineering components on the construction site before the Spring Festival. On the evening of December 26th last year, two baskets of components were found in Li Hong's car. "He didn't admit that he stole them, but he said that he would accept a fine. According to the safety management contract signed before the start of the project, those who steal collective property on the construction site will have their wages deducted. However, since we could not determine the quantity of the missing items, we did not penalize him financially." The responsible person also mentioned that Li Hong had worked with him for two years due to their familiarity. Therefore, after the incident of the stolen components, the construction site did not report it to the police or take action against him. But he did not expect such an event to occur.
At around 10:40 AM on the 15th, a reporter saw at the under-construction construction site of Fangyuan Residential Area in the Jining New District that next to a 26-story building, there was a standing crane about 80 meters high. A figure dressed in black was slowly moving towards the far end of the crane arm. With every step forward, the workers and citizens below would involuntarily gasp.