27°C | Light rain
Dec 6, 2011
Hundreds of striking workers at an electronics plant in Shanghai vowed last night to continue their protest for a seventh day after talks with the Singaporean management failed.
The workers, mostly women, have been picketing the Hi-P International plant in east Shanghai's Jinqiao industrial zone since Wednesday over plans to relocate the factory to the outskirts of the city.
"We work long shifts, sometimes over 20 hours. Even with a company shuttle bus, the new factory will mean an hour and a half's travelling every day, so we won't have any time left to rest," said one worker from Sichuan. "Most of us have been working at this factory for many years, so we should be properly compensated if they want to break our contracts."
The at times rowdy strikers shouted and jeered as company officials tried to placate them late in the afternoon after nearly six hours of negotiations with workers' representatives.
"Pay us money, pay us money," they chanted as one executive attempted to explain transport arrangements for the new site.
The dispute is the latest in a wave of industrial action taking place in parts of the mainland and comes shortly after street cleaners in Nanjing downed tools last month.
In a sign of the authorities' jitters about unrest breaking out, there were at least three vans filled with uniformed and plain-clothes police parked near the factory. However, there were no reports of clashes.
The strikers said more than 1,000 workers were involved in the walkout, but Hi-P executive chairman Yao Hsiao Tung said yesterday only "around 200" of the 4,000-strong workforce were involved.
"We have no alternative but to move the factory, as the government has decided to change this area's zoning from industrial to commercial," Yao said. "We regret that this situation has arisen and want to resolve it as quickly as possible and according to the law."
He said the relocation was scheduled to take place in March.
"If staff are unwilling to move to the new site, then we are willing to assist them in their work problems," he said, without elaborating.
Yao said there was no truth to talk that the company had laid off staff.
"We have not fired any workers," he said. "In fact, we really need to hire more people, as the company is constantly expanding."
Workers at the factory downed tools for nearly two weeks in July and August in a dispute over plans to move part of the operation to Suzhou in nearby Anhui province.
william.clem@scmp.com Copyright (c) 2011. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.