Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – About 10,000 workers at a factory owned by United Win (China) Technology, in Jiangsu, went on strike last Friday to protest against a pay cut and poor work safety environment. Hundreds of police officers in riot gear charged and beat demonstrators, including female workers. More than a hundred workers were injured during the clashes, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported.
Workers went on strike after the company decided to cancel annual year-end bonuses for the second year in a row because of the slump in the economy.
Local sources also noted that since July 200 workers have shown signs of poisoning due to the use of chemical substances without adequate protection. At least 40 of them are still in hospital.
One worker on condition of anonymity said that three workers died and a larger number have been paralysed as a result of the poisoning.
Demonstrators tore down the company’s signs and took to the streets. Police intervention did not stop them. The crowd later dispersed after the company promised to pay the bonuses.
The factory in Jiangsu's Suzhou Industrial Park, United Win (China) Technology, is a subsidiary of Taiwan's liquid crystal display manufacturer Wintek Group.
The company tried to downplay the incident. Jay Wuang, Wintek's financial department manager, said it was not a strike but “a misunderstanding” with workers ''expressing their opinion''. He added that the company would pay the bonuses for 2009.
“'We have stopped using n-hexane once we learned of the workers' health problems. We have 13,000 workers in the factory but we cannot confirm if anyone has died from exposure to n-hexane,'' he explained.
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