Window Washer Wang Wants Work

Window washer Wang wants more work.

Economic Slump Leaves Tough Choices for Shanghai Job Seekers (Shanghai): For many job seekers in China, opportunities for work are best found in coastal cities such as Shanghai, where more than half its 24 million people come from other parts of the country. But as the cost of living continues to rise and the Chinese economy slows, some are considering returning home to look for work. Those who do, though, are also finding it hard to leave.

Tough times; Wang Congran left his home in Henan province when he was 15 and has lived mostly in Shanghai since then. He tried working in a factory for a while, but once he switched to window washing, he was hooked and now prefers a different sort of production line. “I am used to the work and if I had to do something else, if I had to work in a factory, I don’t think I could stand it,” Wang said, adding that the pay for factory work is not that good.

For the past year or so, he said, finding window washing jobs has become increasingly difficult. China has more than 200 million migrant workers, individuals like Wang who flock to the cities for jobs and opportunities.

In many ways though, Shanghai has become his home. Wang and his wife live in the city, and like many other migrant worker couples, their children live hundreds of kilometers away with their grandparents in their hometown. He said the slowdown has affected his wife’s work too. Before, she could work 12 hours a day and get overtime pay. Now, he said, the TV factory where she works has limited her to eight hours a day.

The couple would like to stay in the city, but soon they may have to make a choice. Their current residence, which has been an affordable place to live until now, is slated to be torn down. “It’s hard to say [what will come next],” he said. “If the house my wife and I are living in is torn down, we may have no place to stay. Shanghai is much too expensive,” Wang said.

Shanghai Window Washers Killed In Accidental Fall

Two Shanghai window washers killed in accidental fall (Warning: Graphic images): Around 1:40pm this afternoon two window washers working outside the Pacific Business Center on Yan'an Road were killed when they fell from an unknown height onto a car parked below. Witnesses told reporters that they heard a loud band and then found the men lying on the ground -- their broken rope hanging from the 26 story building they were working on. Immediately after the fall, one of the men was reportedly showing signs of life, while the other appeared to be in extremely critical condition. However, both men soon perished at the scene before they were able to be treated. Our sentiments go out to those who work in such a treacherous environment.

Two window cleaners fell to their death from the 22nd floor of a downtown high-rise this afternoon when as a rope attached to their bodies suddenly snapped as they were cleaning the building's facade.

Witnesses said the accident happened around 1:40pm at a building at 889 Yan'an Road. They heard a bang and saw two workers lying on the ground. The workers first landed on a white car, then bounced off, leaving a depression on the car, witnesses said. The building's management company said they hired the two workers to clean the outer walls. There were four cleaners working on the building when the tragedy occurred.

Update: Two window cleaners working 22 floors up a high-rise plunged to their deaths yesterday, after a safety rope appeared to snap. The accident happened in heavy rain around 1:40pm at the Pacific Center at the crossing of Yan'an and Jiangsu roads in downtown Changing District.  Afterward, a rope that had secured the window cleaners could be seen, apparently snapped, hanging from the exterior of the building. Witnesses say they heard loud crashes and when they looked round they saw the two men lying on the ground. "I heard a bang as I was preparing to go out," said a resident living next to the office complex.

The workers fell from the 22nd floor while cleaning the exterior glass, police said. A car parked beneath the office building was damaged in the fall. The men were pronounced dead at the scene, their safety helmets, gloves and buckets scattered around their bodies. The bodies were not removed until around 4pm, as the police took photographs of the scene. Four workers had been cleaning the exterior glass on the 26-story building at the time of the incident, said witnesses.

The building's property management department said the team was hired to clean the exterior every four months. According to witnesses, one worker began to fall after his support rope snapped, taking with him a colleague he was linked to by a safety rope. "If it's true, then it was against all the rules, as workers should not be linked together," said a former window cleaner, surnamed Zhao, who worked in the business for six years. Zhao said each two-man team should be equipped with three ropes, with both workers hooking onto the middle one by a device called a latching lock, in addition to having their own safety ropes. "The lock will hold the workers even if one rope breaks," said Zhao. "They would just hang in the air instead of crashing to the ground." City work safety authorities said late yesterday that they were still investigating.