Telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to the Central China Bureau and Others on the Question of Wages for Retained Former Employees and Workers
(10 June 1949)

Comrades Tan and Tao [2] of the Central China Bureau, with copies to the East China Bureau, the Nanjing Municipal Committee, the Northwest Bureau, and the Shandong Sub-Bureau:

We have read and noted Comrades Tan and Tao’s telegram of 24 May [3] and the Central China Bureau’s reply telegram of 28 May [4]. Regarding the question of wages for retained former employees and workers, based on the experience in Beiping and Tianjin, factory and enterprise staff and workers should generally, for a short initial period, continue to hold their original posts and receive their original salaries. Those parts that are unreasonable may be gradually adjusted in the course of implementation, and those drawing salaries without performing duties should be dismissed. There is no need to rush to formulate new wage standards, nor can we adopt the method of granting temporary advances for a long period before new wage standards are drawn up. The method of granting temporary advances cannot be prolonged. If wages are still being advanced two or three months after liberation, the staff and workers will be dissatisfied, and this will inevitably affect their enthusiasm for production. The experience of the coal mines in Jinan and Huainan also proves this point. As for the retained former personnel in government organs, both temporary advances and the practice of retaining original posts and original salaries can only be adopted temporarily during the initial period of takeover. After the takeover work is concluded, they can be assigned positions according to their abilities on a case-by-case basis. They will not necessarily hold their original posts, and even more so should not receive their original salaries. Applying the method of retaining original posts and original salaries here is generally inappropriate. We consider this experience...

[1] This is a telegram revised by Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi for the South China Bureau. The text printed in Song typeface in the document is added by Mao Zedong, and the text printed in bold typeface is added by Liu Shaoqi.
[2] Tan and Tao, namely Tan Zheng and Tao Zhu, who at the time respectively served as Director and Deputy Director of the Political Department of the Fourth Field Army and the Central China Military Region.
[3] Chenjing, i.e., 24 May.
[4] Chenjian, i.e., 28 May.