SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese
police detained around a dozen workers at a Singapore-owned electronics plant
in Shanghai on Tuesday as a strike involving over 200 workers extended into its
seventh day in the latest labour unrest to hit the country.
Around 80 workers also
submitted a petition to local authorities, seeking intervention against what
they said was a management plan for mass layoffs.
Strikes in China this year have
pitted workers frustrated about rising costs against companies struggling with
an external economic slowdown. The ruling Communist Party fears public
discontent could erode its authority and alarm investors.
"This hurts me so much. I
have worked hard for them. They are contravening labour law by asking us to
leave but not pay us any compensation. Why are the authorities siding with
them? Who can help us weak workers?" a female factory worker, who only
gave her surname as Wang, said.
Around a dozen workers at the
factory owned by Hi-P International were detained on Tuesday after they knelt
down at the main gate, blocking the shipment of heavy equipment being removed
from the factory that began earlier in the day, workers said.
The workers first stopped work
last Wednesday, denouncing what they said was a plan to relocate the plant to a
Shanghai suburb and demanding compensation for layoffs. Workers have said the
company planned to hire new staff.
On Tuesday police stepped up
its presence around the factory, cordoning off some roads, as blue-jacketed
workers held banners demanding management explanations.
Hi-P, whose shares were trading
up 2.4 percent on Tuesday, is an electronics contract manufacturer whose
customers include Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion , according to
media and analyst reports.
Hi-P could not be immediately
reached for comment. The firm has denied firing workers, saying it was in talks
"with the support of the authorities and the labour union".
In factory towns across the
export powerhouse of the Pearl River Delta, strikes have been triggered by a
cycle of slowing orders from the West and pressure for pay rises.
Thousands of striking workers
have crippled production for Western brands at shoe and bra factories in
Guangdong province and watch, sport and electronics plants to the south and
west.
Stoppages disrupted production
last year for automakers, including Toyota and Honda, exposing the demands of
150 million migrant workers. Many provinces boosted minimum wages.
But businesses struggling with
razor-thin profit margins, may have difficulty increasing pay this year.
(Reporting by Royston Chan;
Writing by Kazunori Takada; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Reuters
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