Walking into the Workers’ Cultural Palace in Linshu County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, the 900-square-meter badminton hall is alive with workers sweating it out on professional courts. In the tea art training room, the fragrant aroma of tea mingles with cheerful laughter. At the union station, outdoor workers like sanitation workers and delivery riders sip hot soy milk while browsing through books. This Workers’ Cultural Palace, established in 1986 and fully renovated, has become a comprehensive “happy base camp” for workers, incorporating services, cultural activities, educational training, and sports.
Professional Venues: A Great Space for Sports
“Before, I had to find places to play everywhere, either in vacant lots in my neighborhood or at distant commercial venues,” said worker Wu Chundi excitedly. The newly built badminton area covers over 900 square meters, featuring four courts that meet professional standards, attracting many workers to exercise.
This is part of a pilot project for socialized operations, promoted by the county’s labor union in collaboration with the local financial company. It introduces a professional management team to ensure service quality while achieving sustainable development.
In addition to the badminton hall, the cultural palace offers free basketball courts, a gym, a Nintendo Switch room, and a dance machine room, providing convenient fitness and entertainment spaces right at the doorstep for workers.
“Worker Benefits Learning”: Turning Interest Classes into “Worker Welfare”
On Saturday afternoon, more than ten employees focused on learning green tea brewing techniques in the tea art training room. Amid the fragrant tea, the instructor covered topics from tea types and water temperature control to brewing techniques and tea etiquette, while students engaged in practice and exchanged insights.
This course is part of the “Worker Benefits Learning” public training project created by the cultural palace. Currently, it offers more than 20 courses, including tea art, knitting, calligraphy, yoga, and Peking opera, operating under the model of “workers ordering, unions dispatching, and the cultural palace receiving.” All courses are offered free of charge to employees. As of now, the “Worker Benefits Learning” project has hosted over 300 unique courses, with more than 6,000 participants.
Heartwarming Union Stations: A “Home” for Outdoor Workers
“Every month, I can get 10 breakfast vouchers at the station, and with these vouchers, I can enjoy free breakfast at designated shops; it’s all very well arranged!” exclaimed sanitation worker Wang Yuxiu, smiling as she held the vouchers she had just received.
The cultural palace has set up union stations specifically for outdoor workers in the urban area, offering free services such as hot meals, drinking water, rest areas, charging stations, and reading rooms. To date, 28 union stations have been established county-wide, including six intelligent stations, with two recognized as provincial demonstration stations.
