A construction foreman has died last week in a labor dispute, bringing more focus into the labor conflicts all over China, especially in the property and construction sectors.

Workers in the property and construction industries have been asking for their wages to be given before the Lunar New Year starts. However, researchers say house prices are in an all-time low, creating a problem with the wage distribution.

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Li Hangui, 38, the foreman who died last week, visited a work site in Nanning in southern China. He and another foreman were supposed to discuss the wage dispute between the contractor and around 100 workers but he had turned up dead instead.

According to the other foreman, who remains unidentified, the contractor suddenly became violent and attacked them with chairs. The foremen tried to leave but the contractor reportedly shouted to the attacker that he wanted Li and the other foreman dead.

The other foreman was able to survive but Li was reportedly hit in the head and chest with a knife and died before they reached the hospital. The contractor reportedly owed them CNY900,000.

According to reports, the Lunar New Year is the peak period for labor disputes as workers are pressuring their employees to pay them their accumulated wages. Labor tensions have been a problem all over the country since last year and have been intensifying since then.

The protests that were recorded amounted to 569 labor protests and 31 percent of this number occurred in the construction and building industries.

Just recently, construction workers in Kunming, Yunnan province, caused a traffic jam when they blocked the main roads in an attempt to have their wages be paid by a local developer. Other workers protested near the office of Zhong Hao Commercial Group Co., where most of them had banners displaying their concerns, while others distributed the images of Li, who was killed last week.

Liu, one of the workers, said: "At first we didn't press for the money as they kept telling us that the payments would come soon, next week or next month. But as New Year approached, we felt we had to take more drastic action, otherwise our money may never come."

Tagslabor dispute, foreman, death, Protest, Lunar New Year, housing market