Some turn China train misfortunes into opportunity

By John Ruwitch

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - When worsening weather stranded hundreds of thousands of Chinese travelers in Guangdong this week, Cao Jie and Huang Tianquan saw an opportunity -- to hire workers.

Train delays due to record snowfall that knocked out power up the tracks have stranded hordes of people -- mostly migrant laborers trying to get home for the Lunar New Year holiday -- in the provincial capital Guangzhou.

The main railway station was besieged and the crowd was set to swell in the last few days before the biggest holiday on the Chinese calendar begins on Wednesday.

Food vendors hawked stir fried noodles and soup. A young boy sold knit gloves for 5 yuan ($0.70) a pair. The state news agency Xinhua said police would crack down on people profiteering from the crisis by raising prices.

The crowd, the cold and a bleak weather forecast forced many travelers to give up hope and return their tickets.

So Cao and Huang, managers at a toy factory in the city of Foshan, traveled to Guangzhou to find workers.

"We're trying to create a win-win situation," said Cao, as a group of about a dozen people cupping Styrofoam bowls of sweet soup gathered around a red and yellow sign he and Huang set up detailing the pay and work conditions at their factory.

"Do you need an I.D. card to get a job?" one woman asked.

"Yes," replied Cao. "Everyone with an I.D. is welcome."

A vast pool of migrant workers has turned China into the "workshop of the world". But with wages rising in places such as the booming Pearl River Delta, the workforce has proven fickle.

High worker turnover is chronic. Factories shut for Chinese New Year and bosses complain that swathes of workers simply don't return after the holiday as they seek work elsewhere.

"We are trying to prevent just that scenario," said Cao. His factory has lost 3-5 percent of its 2,500 workers each Lunar New Year, he added. Many factories are worse off.

Squatting to the side, Li Banghong, 23, said he had a ticket back to his home province of Guizhou, but a friend he had lost in the crowd was holding it.

"What else can I do?" he said, adding that he did not want to return to the shoe factory where he'd worked since September.

"The pay and conditions weren't so great," he said.